Fall is under way and we celebrated with our 15th brew day. We are once again trailblazing with a new recipe; a breakfast-style (a la Founders Breakfast Stout), brewed with flaked oats and conditioned with coffee.
As mentioned in many previous posts, I try to experiment a little for each new beer. But, after oaking and maple-ing The Full Mountie, using lactic acid additions in Funky Phantom, utilizing specialty yeast in Que Sarah Sarah, using zest & fruit with Fumigator, I decided to take a slightly more lackadaisical approach to this recipe. I will be adding coffee to this recipe, but will do so during the bottling phase. I'll explain more about that decision in the main post, but suffice to say it is the simplest and most controlled means of adding coffee to beer.
I am really wanting to brew a Gotlandsdricka, the ancient homebrew of the Swedish vikings, as an homage to my Swedish heritage, but ingredient scarcity keeps pushing this one back. However, I'd be damned if I left my fermentors empty for a full month. So despite having a birthday party, and two other family get-togethers on the schedule, I managed to wring out some time for a Sunday brew session. By the time I arrived at my brewhaus (aka mother's house), I had a 6hr window to brew this batch up (for reference's sake, brew day is typically a relaxed 8hr affair). Miraculously, Sarah (my sister / beer assistant) and I pitched the yeast 5 minutes before I had to depart for a dinner with the in-laws.
Despite the time crunch, the brew session was hitch-less. We cleaned, mashed, boiled, cooled, and pitched seamlessly. Our mash temps were on target (although a little high up-front), boil went well (also a little hot up-front, but boil-over was essentially none existent), and cooling went speedily (with the help of $10 in ice).
I am going to let this beer ferment for at least 2wks in the primary, but based on my upcoming schedule might skip the secondary. Either way, a few days before bottling I will brew up some cold brewed coffee, and eventually add it (to taste) along with my priming sugar.
Also, I haven't been able to lock down a name yet. I brainstormed a couple ideas; Java the Hut; La Vida Mocha; and Mocha Chocalatta. Java the Hut, was my personal favorite, but there are evidently quite a few beers with this name already. La Vida Mocha (a shout-out to Ricky Martin, and Shrek 2), is the name of a coffee shop chain. Therefore, I think I'm going to reluctantly go with Mocha Chocalatta (from the Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, & Pink classic track, Lady Marmalade). Its surely not our best, but it is super fun to say.
I am really wanting to brew a Gotlandsdricka, the ancient homebrew of the Swedish vikings, as an homage to my Swedish heritage, but ingredient scarcity keeps pushing this one back. However, I'd be damned if I left my fermentors empty for a full month. So despite having a birthday party, and two other family get-togethers on the schedule, I managed to wring out some time for a Sunday brew session. By the time I arrived at my brewhaus (aka mother's house), I had a 6hr window to brew this batch up (for reference's sake, brew day is typically a relaxed 8hr affair). Miraculously, Sarah (my sister / beer assistant) and I pitched the yeast 5 minutes before I had to depart for a dinner with the in-laws.
Despite the time crunch, the brew session was hitch-less. We cleaned, mashed, boiled, cooled, and pitched seamlessly. Our mash temps were on target (although a little high up-front), boil went well (also a little hot up-front, but boil-over was essentially none existent), and cooling went speedily (with the help of $10 in ice).
I am going to let this beer ferment for at least 2wks in the primary, but based on my upcoming schedule might skip the secondary. Either way, a few days before bottling I will brew up some cold brewed coffee, and eventually add it (to taste) along with my priming sugar.
Also, I haven't been able to lock down a name yet. I brainstormed a couple ideas; Java the Hut; La Vida Mocha; and Mocha Chocalatta. Java the Hut, was my personal favorite, but there are evidently quite a few beers with this name already. La Vida Mocha (a shout-out to Ricky Martin, and Shrek 2), is the name of a coffee shop chain. Therefore, I think I'm going to reluctantly go with Mocha Chocalatta (from the Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, & Pink classic track, Lady Marmalade). Its surely not our best, but it is super fun to say.
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