Coffee Stout Homebrew - Recipe and Results

As the weather changes, there really is something sensual about a dark stout overflowing with flavor combinations designed to cheer us up after a cold day of low sunlight. And, in my opinion, there is no better beer for that than a coffee stout/porter. The heavy malt gives us feelings of a delectable dessert and the coffee bitterness sweeps through to balance it out. It is a treat worth seeking out, and in our case it is a treat worth brewing.

Stouts can be a little daunting with so many ingredients and flavors that, in our minds, seem to clash, but the flavors are our friends. They add to that overall dessert feeling with caramel, chocolate, malty layers, and oats. It makes for a complete dish in a dark drink. So, why not add a little excessiveness?

Well, I can say that we did. We mashed our malt for 60 minutes in 3.5 quarts at 150℉. And here is our malt bill for our 1-gallon recipe.

Malt:

• 2 lbs 2-row

• 3.2 oz Caramel 40L

• 3.2 oz Chocolate malt

• 3.2 oz Munich

• 2.4 oz Roasted Barley

• 2.4 oz Flaked Barley

• 2.4 oz Flaked Oats

• 1.6 oz Black Malt

The malt bill is a bit excessive and also quite accidental, as in we added some of the ingredients because we had them leftover from other batches. But if you can’t do it in a stout, when can you do it?

After the mash we sparged with 1-gallon of water at 170℉.

Onto the boil.

We boiled for 60 minutes and here are our additions.

Boil:

• 0.2 oz Magnum - 60 minutes (start of boil)

• ⅕ tsp. Irish moss - 15 minutes remaining

• 0.2 oz Cascade - 10 minutes remaining

• 0.2 oz Cascade - 0 minutes (Flameout)

• 0.4 oz Ground Coffee - 0 minutes (Flameout)

• 2 minute whirlpool

We then cooled our budding beer to 70℉ and added our yeast: 4 grams Cali Ale yeast preactivated in 40 ml warm water for 20-30 minutes. And after two weeks we bottled our beer with 0.71 oz of Corn Sugar dissolved and boiled in ½ cup of water for five minutes.

Now, for the waiting game.

I must admit, I enjoy a good stout but really detest one that is way overdone. So, the pressure is on for our first impressions.

First Impressions:

• On the Eyes--Completely opaque (we can thank our Black malt for that), and crowned with a milk chocolate-colored head.

• On the Nose--Pleasant chocolate immediately hits the nose, followed by a nice waft of coffee. The roasted malt comes through, and just a touch of Cascade citrus. So far, so good. Now, for the first taste.

• On the Palate--The aroma of chocolate wasn't lying, giving the first wash over the tongue a fudge pop flavor. It finishes dryly with a touch of roastiness from the barley and a good amount of bitterness and smokiness from the coffee (we used Chiapas). What I really enjoy is the floral and citrus notes that come through from the late additions of Cascade hops. It helps to add some zest to our beer, which is quite stout and has a pretty high alcohol content. It has nice balance (better than I expected, in fact) and it is quite smooth from the addition of oats.

Verdict:

I think this is a darn good Coffee Stout for our first try. I like the balance of it, and the coffee and Cascade worked well to tone down the decadent sweetness of the malt. I would make this beer again, especially with more focus on percentages in the malt, though this ratio seemed to work quite nicely. After recently trying many beers that used cold brew coffee compared to ground coffee, I think it would be an interesting addition to keep the bitterness and acidity in check. Worth a try.

Overall, I enjoyed the sweetness from the malt, the bitterness from the coffee, and the gentle Cascade notes running through like citrus essence in a chocolate cake. Can’t wait to try it again next year.

Keep Brewing!

Mr. Brew