Breakfast Stout, first trip away from kit brewing

calvin_zola

Hi all,

A few months since I have posted here. I am now nearly a year into my homebrewing, so far I have been using kits etc and I have made some lovely heritage lager, irish stout, cerveza, canadian blonde and an IPA. I feel it is now time for me to step up a level and I think I will try this recipe first at on the BYO website -

http://www.byo.com/stories/issue/article/issues/258-januaryfebruary-2009/1911-founders-brewing-company-breakfast-stout-clone

Ingrediants are as follows -

Founder’s Brewing Company Breakfast Stout

(5 gallons/ 19 L, extract with grains) OG = 1.078 FG = 1.020 IBUs = 60 SRM = 59 ABV = 7.5 %

Ingredients:

6.6 lbs. (3.0 kg) Briess light, unhopped, malt extract
1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) light dry extract
22 oz. (0.62 kg) flaked oats
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) roast barley malt (450 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-chocolate-900-ebc-1-kg-2058-p.asp
9.0 oz. (0.25 kg) debittered, black malt (530 °L)
7.0 oz. (0.19 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Sumatran coffee
2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Kona coffee
2.5 oz. (71 g) dark, bittersweet baker’s chocolate
1.5 oz. (43 g) unsweetened chocolate baking nibs
14.3 AAU Nugget pellet hops (60 min.) (1.1 oz./ 31 g of 13% alpha acid)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./ 14 g of 5 % alpha acid)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops (0 min.) (0.5 oz./ 14 g of 5 % alpha acid)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (last 15 minutes)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (last 15 minutes
White Labs WLP 001 (American Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
0.75 cup (150 g) of corn sugar for priming (if bottling)

Now before I move onto buying these ingrediants etc can I just put down what I myself would buy at this minute or use and can somebody correct me if anything is wrong or if they would use anything else -

6.6 lbs. (3.0 kg) Briess light, unhopped, malt extract
would a brewferm lme do for this?
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-malt-extract-light-15-kg-1571-p.asp

1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) light dry extract
I am just going to use a munstons spraymalt light dry extract i have in the house already

22 oz. (0.62 kg) flaked oats
flahavans porridge oats?

1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-chocolate-900-ebc-1-kg-2058-p.asp
this is the stuff?


12 oz. (0.34 kg) roast barley malt (450 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-roasted-black-1400-ebc-1-kg-2059-p.asp
this is the stuff?

9.0 oz. (0.25 kg) debittered, black malt (530 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-roasted-black-dehusked-1500-ebc-250-grams-1510-p.asp
dehusked? I cant find debittered black malt on HBW

7.0 oz. (0.19 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
I presume this is the crystal malt -
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-cara-crystal-120-ebc-1-kg-1511-p.asp

2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Sumatran coffee
2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Kona coffee
with regards to the coffee, so I have to get sumatran or kona, I like coffee and already have about 20 different types around the house, could I just pick my two favourites and sub them in instead?

2.5 oz. (71 g) dark, bittersweet baker’s chocolate
1.5 oz. (43 g) unsweetened chocolate baking nibs


14.3 AAU Nugget pellet hops (60 min.) (1.1 oz./ 31 g of 13% alpha acid)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops (30 min.) (0.5 oz./ 14 g of 5 % alpha acid)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops (0 min.) (0.5 oz./ 14 g of 5 % alpha acid)
I know where to get the hops already so Im good for these

1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (last 15 minutes)
youngs yeast nutriant? i have it already

1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (last 15 minutes)
have it already

White Labs WLP 001 (American Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
where would ye guys suggest I get these yeasts, can't seem to find em on the irish homebrew sites..

0.75 cup (150 g) of corn sugar for priming (if bottling)
I will use carbonations drops


Any help and advice is appreciated, also how would ye guys add the coffee and the chocolate??

John_C

7.5% is a bit heavy for a breakfast stout. I normally make mine between 2.5% and 3%.

I normally give the coffee a course grind and add it into the fermenter a few days after pitching the yeast or, if you're using one, into the secondary.

calvin_zola

John_C wrote: »

7.5% is a bit heavy for a breakfast stout. I normally make mine between 2.5% and 3%.

I normally give the coffee a course grind and add it into the fermenter a few days after pitching the yeast or, if you're using one, into the secondary.

cool, and do you throw the coffee in direct to the fermenter, or put it in a muslin bag? how would you add the chocolate, if it melted would it clog the mix... im new to adding chocolate and coffee to all this

Martyn1989

calvin_zola wrote: »

6.6 lbs. (3.0 kg) Briess light, unhopped, malt extract
would a brewferm lme do for this?
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-malt-extract-light-15-kg-1571-p.asp

1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) light dry extract
I am just going to use a munstons spraymalt light dry extract i have in the house already

22 oz. (0.62 kg) flaked oats
flahavans porridge oats?

1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-chocolate-900-ebc-1-kg-2058-p.asp
this is the stuff?


12 oz. (0.34 kg) roast barley malt (450 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-roasted-black-1400-ebc-1-kg-2059-p.asp
this is the stuff?

9.0 oz. (0.25 kg) debittered, black malt (530 °L)
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-roasted-black-dehusked-1500-ebc-250-grams-1510-p.asp
dehusked? I cant find debittered black malt on HBW

7.0 oz. (0.19 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
I presume this is the crystal malt -
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-cara-crystal-120-ebc-1-kg-1511-p.asp

2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Sumatran coffee
2.0 oz. (57 g) ground Kona coffee
with regards to the coffee, so I have to get sumatran or kona, I like coffee and already have about 20 different types around the house, could I just pick my two favourites and sub them in instead?

1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (last 15 minutes)
youngs yeast nutriant? i have it already

White Labs WLP 001 (American Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) yeast
where would ye guys suggest I get these yeasts, can't seem to find em on the irish homebrew sites..

Looks a great recipe!
Your looking at buying 1kg bags there, you'll have a lot left over grain and unless stored properly sealed up it dosn't stay fresh. If HBW have 500g options go for them or you can get get them from the Homebrew Company.

American recipes often use liquid malt extract and dry malt extract which I never understood?
Any light LME will do the job but if you wanted you could replace it with all DME, but DME tends to be more fermentable so take that into consideration.

Oats used in brewing just have to be rolled, Flahavens are perfect, are you mashing or steeping your grains?

I think you mixed up your links a little
the chocolates fine

The roasted barley malt (black malt) is this http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewferm-barley-malt-roasted-black-1400-ebc-250-grams-1506-p.asp

The debittered black malt seems to be some special grain with a less astringent flavour, in this forum (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/debittered-black-malt-alternative-97082/#post1056188) they say you can use caramalt which would be something like this http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=69_72&products_id=613, another option would be just add a bit extra regular black malt instead.

Definatly feel free to play around with one or two of your own coffees, maybe look up the ones they use and try match up the flavours to some of your own.

Any yeast nutrient will do.

I'm a fan of the Safale US-05, it always works well for me and its cheap. If it were me I'd just go that route.

calvin_zola

thank you Martyn, very helpful

Martyn1989 wrote: »

Looks a great recipe!
Your looking at buying 1kg bags there, you'll have a lot left over grain and unless stored properly sealed up it dosn't stay fresh. If HBW have 500g options go for them or you can get get them from the Homebrew Company.

no bother, 500g bags cheaper anyway

Martyn1989 wrote: »

American recipes often use liquid malt extract and dry malt extract which I never understood?
Any light LME will do the job but if you wanted you could replace it with all DME, but DME tends to be more fermentable so take that into consideration.

I might just do that seeing as I have loadsa bags of DME, won't be doing this for a few weeks though so they could be gone at that stage

Martyn1989 wrote: »

Oats used in brewing just have to be rolled, Flahavens are perfect, are you mashing or steeping your grains?

the chocolates fine

yeah im just going to get some of the mothers dark cooking chocolate and flog it in at the end of the boil
now with regards to mashing or steeping the grains, can you tell me the difference, i was going to put oats and grains into a muslin bag boil for a bit and let steep for a while, then add the malt extracts... am i approaching this wrong?

Martyn1989

calvin_zola wrote: »

now with regards to mashing or steeping the grains, can you tell me the difference, i was going to put oats and grains into a muslin bag boil for a bit and let steep for a while, then add the malt extracts... am i approaching this wrong?

When mashing your soaking the grains in 65C-67C water for an hour or more to convert the starches into fermentable sugars, your also gaining colour, flavour and body and so forth. When your steeping your soaking the grain for about 30mins in 65C water with the aim to just extract colour, flavour and body etc. With an extract recipe your getting your fermentables from malt extract but colour and flavour from grains, partial mash your getting fermentables from malt extract and grains and all-grain fermentables come solely from grain.

I only ask because I learnt from the guys on here that oats must be mashed to release their characteristics and that steeping just won't do it, but I have seen a few USA oatmeal stout recipes that say to steep them. Looking at your recipe it seems to be an extract recipe with a decent size grain bill.

Edit: Beoir.org is great for this stuff, follow the instructions in this article and you can't really go wrong http://www.beoir.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56:extract-brewing-an-illustrated-guide&catid=16:extract-brewing&Itemid=47

calvin_zola

Martyn1989 wrote: »

When mashing your soaking the grains in 65C-67C water for an hour or more to convert the starches into fermentable sugars, your also gaining colour, flavour and body and so forth. When your steeping your soaking the grain for about 30mins in 65C water with the aim to just extract colour, flavour and body etc. With an extract recipe your getting your fermentables from malt extract but colour and flavour from grains, partial mash your getting fermentables from malt extract and grains and all-grain fermentables come solely from grain.

I only ask because I learnt from the guys on here that oats must be mashed to release their characteristics and that steeping just won't do it, but I have seen a few USA oatmeal stout recipes that say to steep them. Looking at your recipe it seems to be an extract recipe with a decent size grain bill.

Edit: Beoir.org is great for this stuff, follow the instructions in this article and you can't really go wrong http://www.beoir.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56:extract-brewing-an-illustrated-guide&catid=16:extract-brewing&Itemid=47

will have a read of that now

willabur

I use cold extraction for imparting coffee flavour. Soak your coffee grind in cold sanitised water over night in the fridge and introduce late in fermentation.

I am playing with the idea of using it at mash, boil and fermentation stages kinda like hops (with the exception of the mash of course )

calvin_zola

willabur wrote: »

I use cold extraction for imparting coffee flavour. Soak your coffee grind in cold sanitised water over night in the fridge and introduce late in fermentation.

I am playing with the idea of using it at mash, boil and fermentation stages kinda like hops (with the exception of the mash of course )

will go along the lines of this aswell, burnt coffee could affect the stout so i will do cold extraction

willabur

its true that burnt coffee is no good - 92 degrees seems to be the ideal extraction for expresso but you do not want to overextract which leads to bitterness

For me that would suggest that the time to introduce coffee to the brew could well be just after you switch on your wort chiller

calvin_zola

willabur wrote: »

its true that burnt coffee is no good - 92 degrees seems to be the ideal extraction for expresso but you do not want to overextract which leads to bitterness

For me that would suggest that the time to introduce coffee to the brew could well be just after you switch on your wort chiller

do you throw the coffee grains in aswell, i imagine they would just settle at the bottom

willabur

For cold extraction I filter out the grain before putting it into the fermenter.

I tried with whole coffee beans once and one of them got stuck in my syphon... what can happen, will happen