Fall BKB Community Brew?
andrew jensen wrote:
pumpkin...blah! Keep the pumpkin in my pie and away from my beer.
+2
The Coffee & Cream porter gets my vote!
I'll go for coffee & cream. Sounds good.
How's about a basic recipe, FP?
FirePitBrew wrote:
Hogarthe wrote:
combine the coffee stout and brown porter ideas and do a coffee porter.
Coincidentally, I'm currently working on a recipe for a friend; its a coffee and cream imperial brown porter using cold steeped coffee and lactose.
Alright FirePitBrew. You volunteered and looks like we are headed towards brewing that recipe you were working up as our Fall Community Brew. Are the details of it ready for discussion/brewing?
I like the coffee and cream idea, sounds delicious.
I would suggest incorporating the coffee by method of a cold steep for a few days, then add it to primary post ferm or a secondary. When adding to the end of boil, not only are a lot of aromatics lost, but the flavor can be bitter even with the balance of the lactose.
I personally drink my coffee black- however I think this gives an astringency to what should be a somewhat rich and creamy finish.
I will probably wind up adding some vanilla bean to mine as well. A sucker for that vanilla porter.
For inspiration I would suggest a bottle of Southern Tier's creme brulee stout. mmm mmm good!
Sorry guys I've been out of town for a few days.
I was just mentioning my idea for a coffee and cream imperial brown porter because Hogarthe suggested combing the coffee stout and brown porter, but if you guys want to make it then we can put it into action. The recipe hasn't been brewed before nor is it even finalized so some input would be appreciated. Also, this was to be an "imperial" version; do we want to keep it a big beer or knock it down to a more sessionable alcohol content?
6 gallons
75 % Efficiency
OG: 1.080
IBU: 41
SRM: 27.5
14 lb Marris Otter
1 lb Brown Malt
1.5 lb Crystal 40
.50 lb Pale Chocolate
.25 lb Chocolate
Black Patent - not sure how much
Coffee
Lactose
1.25 oz Northern Brewer - 60 min
.50 oz EKG - 15 min
Not sure if the BP is needed with the coffee addition but I really like BP in dark beers
Coffee Addition - Not sure which brand or how much but I was already planning on doing as Thirsty suggested. Cold steep and added to secondary
Lactose - Never used it before, thinking about using 1/2 - 1 pound
What do you think about yeast? Gotta be something English. I've had good results with 1098 British ale, bad results with 1028 London Ale, and was thinking about trying 1968 London ESB Ale yeast.
Not sure if the EKG addition is necessary but I always add EKGs late in the boil in my English beers for just a little hop presence.
Oh and I like Thirsty's vanilla bean suggestion so maybe a bean or two in secondary.
Alright let me know what you guys think.
This sounds like the makings of a very interesting beer. I think a little bit of oats in there would add to that smooth creamy mouthfeel and maybe just stick to the pale chocolate. I think the 1968 would work fine for this beer. My two cents.
FirePitBrew wrote:
Not sure if the BP is needed with the coffee addition but I really like BP in dark beers
I have never really got a straight answer from anyone, but I read awhile ago in a BYO article that BP was the distinct difference that makes a porter cross over the edge and become a stout. It could have been subjective, and I have seen a gazillion porter recipes calling for small %s of BP, however I like my porters to be noticably a porter, smooth and rich, I think the BP can give a bit too much harsh edge, I suppose everything in moderation is subtle and could be undetectable, so maybe it dosnt much matter.
Have you used Maris otter for 100% of your base malt before? The one time I did the beer came out with a really strange candy like sweetness. I'm not entirely sure the MO was the problem, or maybe it was just one of several problems with the batch. I haven't had a chance to remake that brew and change the base malt to find out if the MO was the problem. I just wouldn't want that taste to end up in a coffee and cream porter.
thirsty wrote:
I have never really got a straight answer from anyone, but I read awhile ago in a BYO article that BP was the distinct difference that makes a porter cross over the edge and become a stout.
I've actually noticed the controversy to be over roasted barley rather than black patent.
FWIW, I use 6-8 oz of black patent in all of my stouts and porters; usually works out to be 2-3% of the total grist.
Hogarthe wrote:
Have you used Maris otter for 100% of your base malt before? The one time I did the beer came out with a really strange candy like sweetness.
I've used a 100% MO base malt in several of my beers; all my English, Irish and Scottish style beers to be specific. If anything, it should add a touch of toastiness or biscuitiness. Perhaps it was something else in the recipe or residual fermentable sugars.
FirePitBrew wrote:
I've actually noticed the controversy to be over roasted barley rather than black patent.
Ahh, yur right, and I am drunk- finally got an early night from work and started kickin back the Leffes a bit early. I was totally thinking RB instead of BP, WTF??!!
I would agree to cut back on the BP, or go to RB, maybe even a light RB. I'm thinking a smooth, not harsh brew.
Maybe kinda like a real dark cream ale flavor & mouth feel.
Shit guys, it's after 5pm, I'm in a hotel in Wichita, KS. And I'm gonna go find a beer.
I'm OK with dropping the black patent. I think I couldn't make up my mind as to which direction of the porter spectrum I was taking this beer.
What do you guys think about the OG? Do we want to keep it this big of a beer?
What about IBUs? I think ~40 is good as I don't want this being too sweet.
How much lactose? I've seen as much as a pound going into sweet stouts but I've never used the stuff before. Anyone with some experience with it want to chime in?
Back in the winter of '06 BKB did a community Sweet Stout with 1 lb of lactose. In my opinion it was too much. I think we are going to have a medley of flavors that i would assume we would want to balance rather than have any one stand out over the rest. I say a half pound should work but to be honest that was the one and only time that I have used it.
As far as IBU's go 40 ish sounds alright, but I would suggest only using a bittering addition. We have coffee, cream, chocolate and vanilla flavors going on in this thing. I don't know maybe some flavor hops would work in combination with these but likely not.
I'm afraid that if the beer isn't this big Thirsty might not brew it 
FirePitBrew wrote:
Hogarthe wrote:
Have you used Maris otter for 100% of your base malt before? The one time I did the beer came out with a really strange candy like sweetness.
I've used a 100% MO base malt in several of my beers; all my English, Irish and Scottish style beers to be specific. If anything, it should add a touch of toastiness or biscuitiness. Perhaps it was something else in the recipe or residual fermentable sugars.
I posted on another forum about it, back when I first made the beer and some people there swore it was the MO, others said it might have been mashed too high temp., resulting in more dextrins. Also, if I had added more hops to it, the bitterness might have overcome the sweetness. I'm planning on rebrewing the beer sometime and making a change or 2 to see if it will come out without the weird sweetness.
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