Coffee Stout recipe

[ChristinaS1]

In another thread BradChad asked how he might go about making a coffee stout, or coffee chocolate stout. I have given this some thought and have come up with the following recipe Brad. I take it you want it to be a bit sweet, so it is in the sweet stout style.

 

1.7kg OS Lager kit

1.3kg LME

150gm Carafa Spec 3.9% hot steeped

100gm Thomas Fawcett chocolate malt 2.6% hot steeped

75gm Franco Belges Kiln Coffee malt 2% hot steeped

300gm C60L 8% hot steeped

150gm Thomas Fawcett roasted barley 3.9% cold steeped overnight in fridge

300gm Lactose 8%

22L

Nottingham yeast (rehydrated) fermented at 20C.

 

OG 1.055 FG 1.016 ABV 5.1% EBC 62.5 IBU 30 BU:GU 0.54

 

If it does not taste enough like coffee at bottling time you can add instant coffee, which has no oils and will not negatively affect head retention.

 

If anybody has some suggestions for improvements, please share.

 

Good luck. If you decide to make it, please let us know how it turned out. I am quite a coffee fan myself and am tempted to make the recipe, but I can only handle one batch of stout per year.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

 

[ChristinaS1]

Post deleted.

[Gag Halfrunt]

What? Instant coffee in beer?

Not International roast I hope.

Seriously but, have you done this Christina and with what results?

[ChristinaS1]

Hi Greg,

 

I have never brewed with coffee of any type. I am hoping the instant coffee isn't needed, LOL!

 

I have read of some folks "dry bean" with cracked, lightly roasted coffee beans, similar to dry hopping, and they claim to get good results. If I were going to use something other than instant coffee, that is probably what I would do.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[ICzed]

I made a milk coffee stout once. Bought some fair trade South American whole coffee beans, ground them up and made 1 litre of black coffee - cold steeped for 24 hours. Then I added the coffee straight to my keg when I racked off the beer into it.

 

Also - can't say I've ever seen that Franco Coffee Malt in Australia before

[ChristinaS1]

Also - can't say I've ever seen that Franco Coffee Malt in Australia before

 

Ah, that explains a lot. Too bad.

 

Were you happy with the coffee flavour of your milk coffee stout?

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[tonyj3]

I made several, using the Dublin stout can mix, dark malt, and a decent handful of ground coffee, donated by my local barista.

No props, tasted fine, sad they all got drunk, would like to seen one at a year old, or there abouts.

I found trial and error was a reasonably experiment. Tried not to complicate it.

cheers

 

[ICzed]

Also - can't say I've ever seen that Franco Coffee Malt in Australia before

 

Ah' date=' that explains a lot. Too bad.

 

Were you happy with the coffee flavour of your milk coffee stout?

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.[/quote']

 

Yeah it was nice, coffee wasn't too over powering at all.

[ChristinaS1]

Hi folks,

Sorry that I have not posted for a while, but I have been busy with renos on our "new" old house and have not been brewing. No partial mash this time, as I am too busy.

I have finally gotten around to trying out the Franco Belges Kiln Coffee malt, 150-180L, which is a little darker than Thomas Fawcett's Brown Malt, but a little lighter than TF Pale Chocolate. I chewed on some grains at my LHBS and compared them to Thomas Fawcett's Pale Chocolate. The Kiln Coffee malt had a strong toasty flavour and some coffee in the background; the TF Pale Chocolate was much less toasty and had a nice hint of chocolate in the background. Base solely on how they tasted when chewed, I think the Kiln Coffee malt will pair well with roasted barley (which is in the Cooper Irish Stout kit) and that TF Pale Chocolate will pair well with black patent (which is in the Coopers OS Stout kit). If one can't get Kiln Coffee malt, I think TF Brown Malt would be a good substitute. 

When I went to buy the Irish Stout kit at my LHBS, the Coopers version was expired, so I ended up going with Mount Mellick's.

1.8kg Mount Mellick Irish Stout

1.375gm light DME

125gm lactose (not much, but all I had in the house)

175gm C60L

75gm Honey malt

75gm Franco-Belges Kiln Coffee malt

6gm kit yeast in a Shaken not Stirred starter.

That kit yeast, which is said to be S-33, is some vigorous. I made the starter at 7:30p.m. It was already bubbling by 11:30p.m. and done by 8:00a.m. the next day.

I added the crystal and honey malt to the recipe because I read that that Kiln Coffee malt can be quite sharp, and that a little goes a long way, and that it needs some sweetness to balance it. The recipe doesn't fit into any official stout category, but I am hoping it tastes a lot like coffee, and that it tasty.

I will update the post later with the results. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Edited January 12, 2019 by ChristinaS1

[ChristinaS1]

PS I see that Simpson's Brown malt (which I can't get, but you might) runs 160-225L,  which pretty much overlaps with the FB Kiln Coffee malt. Indeed, Simpson's describe the flavour of their Brown malt as "Coffee Beans." 

Cheers,

Christina.

[lnmrley]

On 1/13/2019 at 12:20 AM, ChristinaS1 said:

Hi folks,

Sorry that I have not posted for a while, but I have been busy with renos on our "new" old house and have not been brewing. No partial mash this time, as I am too busy.

I have finally gotten around to trying out the Franco Belges Kiln Coffee malt, 150-180L, which is a little darker than Thomas Fawcett's Brown Malt, but a little lighter than TF Pale Chocolate. I chewed on some grains at my LHBS and compared them to Thomas Fawcett's Pale Chocolate. The Kiln Coffee malt had a strong toasty flavour and some coffee in the background; the TF Pale Chocolate was much less toasty and had a nice hint of chocolate in the background. Base solely on how they tasted when chewed, I think the Kiln Coffee malt will pair well with roasted barley (which is in the Cooper Irish Stout kit) and that TF Pale Chocolate will pair well with black patent (which is in the Coopers OS Stout kit). If one can't get Kiln Coffee malt, I think TF Brown Malt would be a good substitute. 

When I went to buy the Irish Stout kit at my LHBS, the Coopers version was expired, so I ended up going with Mount Mellick's.

1.8kg Mount Mellick Irish Stout

1.375gm light DME

125gm lactose (not much, but all I had in the house)

175gm C60L

75gm Honey malt

75gm Franco-Belges Kiln Coffee malt

6gm kit yeast in a Shaken not Stirred starter.

That kit yeast, which is said to be S-33, is some vigorous. I made the starter at 7:30p.m. It was already bubbling by 11:30p.m. and done by 8:00a.m. the next day.

I added the crystal and honey malt to the recipe because I read that that Kiln Coffee malt can be quite sharp, and that a little goes a long way, and that it needs some sweetness to balance it. The recipe doesn't fit into any official stout category, but I am hoping it tastes a lot like coffee, and that it tasty.

I will update the post later with the results. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Hi Christina,

I'm new here and loved your stout recipe. I want to try to brew it. But two years have already passed. Have you tried brewing it again? Maybe there are some new features in this recipe?

Thanks in advance.

[ChristinaS1]

19 minutes ago, lnmrley said:

Hi Christina,

I'm new here and loved your stout recipe. I want to try to brew it. But two years have already passed. Have you tried brewing it again? Maybe there are some new features in this recipe?

Thanks in advance.

No, I have not made it again. As I recall I was not crazy about the coffee malt in it. 

[lnmrley]

4 minutes ago, ChristinaS1 said:

No, I have not made it again. As I recall I was not crazy about the coffee malt in it. 

It's a pity, I thought there were some more recipe updates. Maybe can you tell me what I should pay attention to when brewing?

[ChristinaS1]

4 minutes ago, lnmrley said:

It's a pity, I thought there were some more recipe updates. Maybe can you tell me what I should pay attention to when brewing?

Sure. Most important is  sanitation, to make sure you pitch enough yeast, and keep your fermentation temp 18-21C. Most kits don't come with much yeast and are designed to be brewed with sugar or brew enhancers. If you end up using malt extract you will need to use more than what comes with the kit. 

In terms of stouts, they already have a lot of roasted malts in them so I don't recommend adding more (ie., black malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, coffee malt, brown malt) unless you also increase the gravity with a good amount of malt extract to balance it, and are willing to age it. 

Cheers,

Christina.

[lnmrley]

18 minutes ago, ChristinaS1 said:

Sure. Most important is  sanitation, to make sure you pitch enough yeast, and keep your fermentation temp 18-21C. Most kits don't come with much yeast and are designed to be brewed with sugar or brew enhancers. If you end up using malt extract you will need to use more than what comes with the kit. 

In terms of stouts, they already have a lot of roasted malts in them so I don't recommend adding more (ie., black malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, coffee malt, brown malt) unless you also increase the gravity with a good amount of malt extract to balance it, and are willing to age it. 

Cheers,

Christina.

Oh, thanks a lot! This is very useful information! Later I'll write what I got.

Edited August 12, 2021 by lnmrley

[Pickles Jones]

4 minutes ago, lnmrley said:

Oh, thanks a lot! This is very useful information! Later I'll write what I got.

This Stout is quite good, Belgium Chocolate Stout. You can find it on the Coopers Recipe page.

I brewed a batch 13 months ago and I am drinking now. Turned out really nice. Wasn't sweet and the chocolate had mellowed out. In other words you couldn't taste it.

[RDW]

I did the Laneway Latte Stout craft recipe which asked for 30g coffee beans ‘dry hopped’ as it were for 4 days. I checked after 24 hrs and the coffee taste was very strong so I removed. I drank the last bottle at 6mths old a few weeks ago and the coffee taste was there and was beautiful...soft, smooth and not at all bitter. I was talking to one of the brewing assistants at West Side Ale Works about it and they said be careful when using whole beans as they can leave a very bitter and astringent taste very quickly, so if using the whole bean route, taste regularly and get ready to fish them out!

Edited August 12, 2021 by RDW

[Journeyman]

10 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

Wasn't sweet and the chocolate had mellowed out. In other words you couldn't taste it.

So, just a stout then...

My coffee stout was a bit 'meh!' for a few months, then was smooth as silk and a coffee hit to bruise your eyelids as they snapped open. But after maybe 12 months an odd taste developed, almost like a vegemite back bite. It's not undrinkable but also not recognisable as the stout I was drinking a few months back.

Anyone got any ideas about what might have changed?

It was this...

Edited August 12, 2021 by Journeyman

[Shamus O'Sean]

Hey @Journeyman, I cannot tell you what might have changed in your brew above.  It looks perfectly fine.  I had a similar experience with the Coopers Russian Imperial Stout I did in early 2019.  It was at its best between 1 - 6 months.  At 12 months it had developed a similar vegemite back bite.  Again, not undrinkable, just a sharper flavour.  Nowhere near as smooth as around 6 months. 

Maybe that is how they are meant to age and what we taste as not so great, is exactly how they are meant to taste around that age.

[Journeyman]

17 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey @Journeyman, I cannot tell you what might have changed in your brew above.  It looks perfectly fine.  I had a similar experience with the Coopers Russian Imperial Stout I did in early 2019.  It was at its best between 1 - 6 months.  At 12 months it had developed a similar vegemite back bite.  Again, not undrinkable, just a sharper flavour.  Nowhere near as smooth as around 6 months. 

Maybe that is how they are meant to age and what we taste as not so great, is exactly how they are meant to taste around that age.

That's both helpful and not so much.  It's good to know I'm not alone in what happened but still a puzzle. My impression was stouts, particularly at higher ABV, kept improving steadily. I've seen people posting about drinking stouts years old.

[BreweyMcHops]

On 6/22/2017 at 6:38 AM, ChristinaS1 said:

In another thread BradChad asked how he might go about making a coffee stout, or coffee chocolate stout. I have given this some thought and have come up with the following recipe Brad. I take it you want it to be a bit sweet, so it is in the sweet stout style.

 

1.7kg OS Lager kit

1.3kg LME

150gm Carafa Spec 3.9% hot steeped

100gm Thomas Fawcett chocolate malt 2.6% hot steeped

75gm Franco Belges Kiln Coffee malt 2% hot steeped

300gm C60L 8% hot steeped

150gm Thomas Fawcett roasted barley 3.9% cold steeped overnight in fridge

300gm Lactose 8%

22L

Nottingham yeast (rehydrated) fermented at 20C.

 

OG 1.055 FG 1.016 ABV 5.1% EBC 62.5 IBU 30 BU:GU 0.54

 

If it does not taste enough like coffee at bottling time you can add instant coffee, which has no oils and will not negatively affect head retention.

 

If anybody has some suggestions for improvements, please share.

 

Good luck. If you decide to make it, please let us know how it turned out. I am quite a coffee fan myself and am tempted to make the recipe, but I can only handle one batch of stout per year.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

 

To make a stout... now...first off..start with a larger kit... !??

[Classic Brewing Co]

4 minutes ago, BreweyMcHops said:

larger    lager, sorry can't help it.

 

[Pale Man]

22 minutes ago, BreweyMcHops said:

To make a stout... now...first off..start with a larger kit... !??

Its the base malt. The chocolate and roast barley addition make it a stout. Pretty much the same you'd do in an all grain but extract form.

[ChristinaS1]

6 hours ago, Pale Man said:

Its the base malt. The chocolate and roast barley addition make it a stout. Pretty much the same you'd do in an all grain but extract form.

Exactly @Pale Man!

Both stout kits already contain about 10% (possibly more) roasted malts (black malt in the case of the OS kit; roasted barley in the case of the Irish Stout kit). If you add more roasted specialty grains to either of them, such as pale chocolate, dark chocolate, brown malt, coffee malt, roasted barley, or black malt, it can get really roast-y. 

If you really want to start with a stout kit (use the Irish Stout kit for a coffee stout), and assuming you are adding 1.5kg light LME, I recommend limiting additions of roasted specialty grains to 100g, which will bring you up to ~13.8% roasted grains....Anything above 13% can get very acrid in a low ABV stout. The exception to this is if you use Midnight Wheat or the Carafa Special roasted malts, which are far less astringent, or are making a high ABV stout. High ABV stouts can handle 15% roasted malt, but they are often aged for quite a while....

BTW, if you use dark LME, instead of light or amber, you are already adding a bunch more black malt.

Cheers,

Christina.