Brewing again

Last weekend I decided to brew another batch. Jenn has been wanting to try an as of yet unnamed coffee porter so I worked up a recipe and we'll see how it goes. The brew day was pretty uneventful except I was in the process of making a lasagna as well so there was a lot of running up an down stairs.

The interesting part of this brew is the coffee. I've read a number of articles and posts about brewing with coffee, some with conflicting suggestions. I ended up using some Dunkin Donuts coffee I had around the house. It's a medium roast and one of the fairly consistent suggestions I've seen is to use a lighter roast since the darker beans tend to shed more oil which can effect head retention.

How to add the coffee seems to be the biggest point of discussion. I decided to cold brew the coffee and add it at the end of the boil. I put about 6 tablespoons of grounds in a container and added cold water to about 2 cups. I refrigerated for about 2 days. The hope is that the cold brewing will minimize the bitterness in the coffee.

I filtered the coffee and added it to the end of the boil, just long enough to sterilize. The rest of the boil was a pretty typical porter. English pale malts, some crystal malts, and some chocolate malt. An ounce of Northern Brewer for bitterness and no additional hops since I don't want to over bitter and I want the coffee and malt flavors at the forefront. The malt bill is a little odd since I wanted to use up some leftover grains I had laying around, thus there's standard UK 2-row and Maris Otter as well as multiple kinds of crystal.

I racked to secondary today and the gravity was at 1.013 which is a little lower than the estimate. Either the yeast was particularly good this go around or I could have mashed a little higher to get more dextrins. The flavor is pretty good for a non-carbonated state. I'll secondary for a little while to let it clarify a little more before I bottle. I'll probably bottle the same time as the Festivus Feats of Strength.

Coffee Porter

Brown Porter

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 10/23/2010
Batch Size: 5.00 gal	Brewer: Trevor
Boil Size: 6.41 gal	Asst Brewer: Jenn
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 5 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 56.57 % 1 lbs 5.3 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 14.33 % 15.2 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 10.24 % 12.6 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.51 % 10.1 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.79 % 5.3 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.56 % 1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.6 IBU 0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 8.00 tbsp Coffee (cold brewed) (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.30 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.69 %
Bitterness: 29.6 IBU	Calories: 218 cal/pint
Est Color: 28.7 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body	Total Grain Weight: 9.28 lb
Sparge Water: 3.71 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Full Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 45 min Mash In Add 11.60 qt of water at 168.2 F 156.0 F 10 min Mash Out Add 4.64 qt of water at 202.4 F 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: Corn Sugar	Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 3.8 oz	Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F	Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Hit OG on the mark, no major problems with the brew day. A little under mark for volume. 10/28/10: Moved to secondary, gravity is 1.013
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