Smooth Brew Stout

Well, it didn't take long from the last time I posted to get the desire to brew again. I decided to go with the appropriate brewing choice for the year, so I made the final stout of the season for me, and this time it is a vanilla coffee stout. I was inspired by some of the wonderful stouts I'd been enjoying, and it seemed a crime to not give it one more go befor I run into my spring beers.

 

The brew itself was pretty simple, mostly due to the fact that I dialed down the recipe to accentuate the speciality malts and ingredients. There was a generous amount of sugar and DME used in this batch to keep costs down, but I think the addition of the coffee will dial down the generic maltiness in a big way. It is going to be roughly 7% with approximately 50 IBUs, so it will be big enough for the season, but will not overwhelm the drinker. This will be a great one to have when the weather is still cold and the driveway needs shoveling.

 

The thing I'm most proud of about this batch is that it is utilizing Intelligista coffee (espresso to be specific). Not only is this a great coffee in its own right, a number of really amazing beers have used this exact same kind of coffee, so it is cool to have a connection to them. I  plan to brew up a pot of coffee, cool it down, and add it to the secondary, where I will add some more vanilla beans for dry hopping. From my research, this is the smartest way to do coffee, because it adds some bitterness/flavor/aroma without adding needless tannins. The vanilla beans, since they were mostly in a sterile enviroment (sealed bag), will not be boiled, but rather soaked for about 10 minutes in StarSan ("Do not fear the foam").

 

I suspect I should be enjoying this beer right around Valentine's Day, which will make this a fantastic gift for a certain malt muse (yeah, go on and keep on enjoying your new nickname).

This beer was a simple run, mostly getting me ready for my next batches that will be a real challenge: Maibock & Oktoberfest. Stay tuned for those as the season moves us along.

As always, drink well and be merry!

UPDATE 1: Here is a picture of the carboy after 24 hours of fermntation. I'm pretty happy with the results, to say the least.

UPDATE 2:  The coffee has been brewed (8 oz), cooled, and added to the secondary along with the beer. It smells so damn good!

UPDATE 3: A small sample was taken for myself and my resident coffee stout geek (AKA Coren), and we both thought this will need a bit more coffee. I am going to do it in small additions on bottling day, so watch out for that update!