I have in my secondary the dry irish stout from NB. I am trying to find the “right” stout for my wife and I. I plan on splitting the 5 gallon batch to smaller ones; I have 4 Mr. Beer Kegs that can hold ~2.5 gallon of liquid. I 1.25 would like to add roughly 1.25 gallons to each batch. The four flavors I am going for are:
Coffee/Chocolate tasting stout
Coffee tasting stout
Dry Irish stout with nothing down to it
Chocolate tasting stout
I have whole organic coffee beans, roasted cacao beans ground up to a fine powder (purchased this way), and whiskey.
I thought about sanitizing my coffee beans in a small amount of whiskey to add small notes of a whiskey flavor, but I do not care if I get any flavor or some. Is this a wise method? Then soak my coffee beans in my secondary via a nylon hop bag? for 46 hours? or do I crush the beans up and create a coffee solution and then pour into my batch?
For my chocolate notes; do I prepare the cacao power like the above mentioned coffee beans? Brew like coffee and add x amount of liquid to the secondary or soak with whiskey and put in a nylon hop sack? http://www.swansonvitamins.com/funfresh … w-8-oz-pkg
As you can see I am seeking guidance/advice on how to obtain coffee tasting stout, and chocolate tasting stout and the methods to get their?
Also: Am I exposing to much air in my mr. beer keg to oxidize the beer before I bottle it? Since the mr. beer keg can hold 2.5 gallons and I am only adding 1.25 gallons to them?
I had my stout in the primary for 3 weeks and secondary for 3 weeks.
My sugestions to add coffee is to add a shot when you bottle. MR Beer has a java chocolate porter recipe on there site. Now on the chocolate powder. i wouldnt add it gunks up and clouds your beer. i would have used nibs in my secondary be my suggestion.
I am not an expert on using additions, but I have an opinion.
Cacao nibs would be best to use in the secondary with steeped pale chocolate malt for depth of flavor in the boil. Crushed or ground cacao nibs would release all their oils into the stout. The oils would be a head killer.
Brew some strong coffee, that still has a flavor you can drink when it is cold. Just brewing a very strong coffee for the addition may add bitterness. Add this in small increments to a sample of the stout. When you have the flavor you want, interpolate for the total volume you need for the batch size. Then cut back the amount by 20%. The flavor will most likely seem more intensified when the beer is fully conditioned.
I would not split your 5 gallons into 4. You may end up with only 4.5 gallons above the trub also. You will have a lot of headspace and the only protection from oxidation will be the CO2 that comes out of solution after racking.
Split your batch into two to start with. Save your yeast if you used the liquid and get ready to brew another batch.
Hope this will help. Good luck.
Whoops, already in secondary. Chocolate steeping malt would be for next batch.
Whiskey plus coffee beans will produce a whisky-based coffee extract. I use this trick to make a better tiramisu. It isn’t an ideal solution, but you could give your beans a rough grind, add enough whiskey to cover, let it sit for a few days, strain, and add the extract. It won’t be coffee stout, but it could be interesting.
I think since this is my first time brewing the dry irish stout recipe I will leave half of it un touch.
The other half I plan to soak a portion of the coffee beans in the beer for two days before bottling so I get a good coffee aroma for my beer (using a nylon hop sack), and then I will test a measured amount of my stout with a brewed coffee solution, and find the right ratio of the stout and coffee; once I do I will calculate for the total volume and add accordingly - I will also take flars suggestion and subtract 20% off.
I will save my ground up cacao powder for future use.
I plan to do in the next couple days; correct me if this is heading towards disaster
I think since this is my first time brewing the dry irish stout recipe I will leave half of it un touch.
The other half I plan to soak a portion of the coffee beans in the beer for two days before bottling so I get a good coffee aroma for my beer (using a nylon hop sack), and then I will test a measured amount of my stout with a brewed coffee solution, and find the right ratio of the stout and coffee; once I do I will calculate for the total volume and add accordingly - I will also take flars suggestion and subtract 20% off.
I will save my ground up cacao powder for future use.
I plan to do in the next couple days; correct me if this is heading towards disaster
:mrgreen:
Thanks guys[/quote]
I think I should explain why I said subtract 20% after you achieve the flavor you want in the beer.
You are tasting small samples of the beer and coffee mix while trying to work up a good ratio for the flavor profile you wish to achieve. When you are enjoying your first full glass of conditioned beer your mouth/taste buds will be absorbing and holding the flavors from the entire glassfull. Coffee flavor can seem more pronounced by the time you have finished the first glass. If the coffee flavor is to strong, you won’t want that second glass.
