Coffee Stout - 8/7/2013

The two drinks I regularly allow myself to indulge in, is coffee and beer.  It is only natural this relatively new beer style is one of my favorites, and does not seem to be as available as other stout varieties.  I will admit, that I myself have never attempted this style for what ever reason. I know I have enjoyed the Stone Espresso Stout, Evolution Rise up Stout, and the Twisted Pine Espresso Stout - and perhaps a half dozen or so not coming to mind.

For my attempt, I heavily relied on Mike (the Mad Fermentationist) for a base recipe and approach.  Like Mike, I will add the coffee to the keg for 2 days during the carbonation phase.  Hit the jump for the recipe and more - including an epiphany I had on brew night...

In the recipe, you will see "toasted oats" which (at least to my knowledge) do not exist.  I buy the store brand rolled oats (not quick oats) in the large-ass container - technical term.  To toast, I put them on a baking sheet or casserole dish as thinly as possible, then into a 400* oven for about an hour.  About every 10-15 minutes, I stir the oats to try to make as even a toast as possible, but it is nearly impossible to get it even.  Below you can see the below and after shots, Id say its about a 30-40L change based on eyeballing it.  One side note, your kitchen will smell amazing after toasting!

I combined all the ingredients, milled and decided on a random Tuesday night I was going to make the beer - thankfully I had the starter going for about 36 hours in advance, and it was at high krasen when I heated my mash water.  Since I am home this week, watching my kids while the ex is on vacation, I had the advantage of mashing in at 10:30 PM, without worrying about dragging in meetings all day the next day.  The Mash continued to have issues during re-circulation which was so annoying.  It had never happened before, and I dont know why I kept running into it that night.  But thats when it struck me...  I have not used my HLT in about 3-4 batches.  I have been using my BK to heat mash and sparge water.  My stand is ideal for a Brutus 20 hybrid.  My design is one where I will not direct fire the mash.  I will try to figure out how to handle step mashing via recirc, but for the most part, it will become a dedicated batch sparge, single infusion device, unless I look to make a dedicated RIMS chamber.  Since I have off this week, I may jump on this now with the goal of getting it done by Sunday.  More to come...

Below is the recipe.  I will say I came in way under on the OG, closer to 1050 than 1057.  I was annoyed, but not so much to add more fermentables to the carboy.  I was over on volume as well, so that should account for about 304 gravity points making it more acceptable, but I am striving for consistencyi, and have more progress to make in that space.  Since I am going to overhaul the system, no sense in killing myself on this issue now.

Coffee Stout

American Stout

Type: All Grain	Date: 8/6/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal	Brewer: Ryan Lockard
Boil Size: 8.76 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Stainless Kegs (10 Gal/37.8 L) - All Grain
End of Boil Volume 6.76 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal	Est Mash Efficiency 85.1 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.6 % 2 lbs 4.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2 18.2 % 1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.1 % 12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.1 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 50L (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.0 % 6.1 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 90L (90.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.1 % 1.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 44.0 IBUs 1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 8 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG	Measured Final Gravity: TBD SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.7 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: TBD %
Bitterness: 44.0 IBUs	Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 35.0 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out	Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 6.1 oz
Sparge Water: 6.38 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE	Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Mash In Add 19.48 qt of water at 161.8 F 150.0 F 75 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 6.38 gal water at 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle	Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 3.73 oz	Carbonation Used: Bottle with 3.73 oz Corn Sugar
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F	Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage	Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes
Toast the Oats - 1 hr at 400* Carmel 50 is a 50/50 blend of Cara 40 and Cara 60 Add 2 ounces of coffee crushed beans to keg for 1-2 days
Created with BeerSmith