MOCHA CHOCALATTA (Breakfast Stout)

Mocha Chocalatta, ya ya yum yum.

STORY
Mocha Chocalatta is the love child of two of my hobbies. Fathered from my longstanding and favorite hobby/interest, beer (sorry boardgaming. You're a close second place), and mothered from my budding relationship with the coffee bean. It just seems natural to fuse these two dreamy liquids. 

I have enjoyed beer for quite some time now. I never fully embraced the BMC beer craze or the gluttonous gulping of Keystone Lite. Don't get me wrong though, I had many Natty Saturdays, and Hamms weekends, and Molson is still my go-to hockey beer (GO WINGS!). But, once I was exposed to craft beer (thank you, Shorts), it blew my world open. The mix of science and art tickles my nerd brain, as does the resulting elixir. Also, I really like being a beer snob. 

As for coffee, I was a strong opponent. I drank coffee on occasion, but never really got on the bandwagon. I associated coffee with cranky art students, the taste of coal, stained teeth, and annoying Starbucks lovers. To really hammer the point across, I would say "eXpresso". However, my prom date turned girl-who-didnt-like-me who, four years later, turned girlfriend turned baby-mama turned future wife, loves the black stuff. On a visit back to our college town she took me to Comet Coffee, and I had my first good cup of coffee. They used pour over cones and I found them fascinating. So when the holiday season rolled around, I bought her a set of the pour over cones and some nice coffee from MadCap. But, to my surprise I quickly found myself longing for a cup of her homebrewed coffee. She kindly admitted me into the coffee-circle and I have been a proponent ever since. And just like with beer, I really like being a coffee snob.

TL;DR: I love beer, I like coffee. I decided to make me a coffee beer.

RECIPE (PRINTABLE VERSION)
Grains (14.1 lbs)
     10.0 lbs Maris Otter
     1.0 lbs Chocolate
     1.0 lbs Roasted Barley
     .75 lbs Caramunich II
     .50 lbs Crystal 60
     .75 lbs Flaked Oats
Hops (21.0 AAUs)
     13.0 AAUs Nugget (0.9 oz | 14.0%)
     04.0 AAUs Goldings (1.0 oz | 4.0%)

Yeast

Wyeast 1469 (West Yorkshire Ale)

(High | 61-71% | 64-72°F)

Since coffee is one of this beer's headliners, let me take a few sentences to discuss it a little detail. First of all, there are several ways to perform a coffee addition. You can add beans during the late/end of boil, dry-bean (add whole or crushed beans directly to the fermentor), and many others. I chose to make a cold brewed coffee, which will be added during directly to the beer during bottling. I chose this method because the coffee generated from cold brew is less acidic and has minimal bitterness, but still maintains the bean's specific flavor profile. I don't want to screw with pHs, and use hops for bitterness, so I decided to take the path of limited complexity; cold brew. Also, old coffee typically tastes worse than fresh coffee. With that in mind, adding the coffee to the bottling bucket, reduces the total aging time of the coffee (at least when compared to boil and fermentation additions). However, it should be noted that coffee contains natural sugars, which can lead to revived fermentation and thus over-carbing, so take careful note to how much coffee (not cold brew) you add. I'll explain how to make cold brew below. 

STATS

OG: 1.066

FG: 1.017
ABV: 6.5%

SRM: 50

IBU: 45

MASH SCHEDULE

Strike
22 qts water @ 167°F for 1:00
Should settle to 154°F
Infusion
Maintain mash temperature of 150-154°F
Sparge
Prep water @ 210°F
Continue until 6.5 gallons gathered

*BG should be 1.056

BREW SCHEDULE

 All Nugget Hops @: 60
     All Golding Hops @ :15
     Irish Moss & Yeast Nutrient @ :10
     Cool in Ice Bath to 64°F
     Pitch Yeast

FERMENTATION SCHEDULE
     Transfer to secondary after 2wks (optional) 
     Bottle after another 1wk 
     Brew up some cold brewed coffee 1 day prior to bottling (see section below)
     Add cold brewed coffee to taste
          I used 3cups for 4.5 gallons
          See the Sessions links for incremental tasting notes
     Prime to 2.0-2.2 vol CO2 (~.75oz/gal)
     Conditional at room temp for 2wk (minimum)
     Cold condition for 1 wk
     DRINK!

     

SESSIONS

     Oct, 2015

COLD BREW COFFEE

24hrs before you plan to bottle, you need to make some cold brew. The process is super easy and takes no more than a few minutes, but depending on your level of mysophobia, extra sanitation requirements might draw that time out. Shout out to Zingerman's for cold brewing tips!

     - Grind 200g of your favorite bean (coarse)

          - Grinding whole beans is much preferred to using pre-ground beans

          - Grinds need to be coarse. Similar, to what you would use in a press pot

          - Experiment a little beforehand if you are unfamiliar with coffee

     - Add grounds to press pot / mason jar (or any steeping vessel)

     - Add enough water to wet (but not flood) all of the beans. Let sit for ~30sec

          - This is called the bloom, in the coffee world

          - In theory, the coffee releases stored gases, allowing the water to permeate more effectively

     - Add water until you have added 1400g total

     - Give the coffee a good stir and store in the refrigerator

     - After 24hrs strain out the grounds

     - Add coffee to bottling bucket (until it tastes the way you'd like)

For an in depth explanation of how to use coffee in beer recipes, I recommend you check out my coffee post. Its chalk full of detail which can help you figure out how to incorporate coffee into your beer and provides tips on selecting the perfect been.