RECIPE #82 & 83: Breaking the Habit (Coffee Porter)

When I first brewed my Coffee Porter it was because my wife told me to stop adding Brett to everything.  I was going to make 10 gallons of Porter, and then add Brett to half of it for secondary.  She told me to add coffee instead.  So I did... to the plain version.  The beer that ensued was a wonderful marriage of roast and cocoa.  It was difficult to tell where the coffee started and the beer stopped.  When Becca told me to do it, I did, assuming it would be a fun beer to make once, she would be happy, and I would still get to make the Brett finished version I really wanted.  Little did I know that this would be one awesome beer and is now being refined to house a spot in my Flagship beers for the brewery.


This version got a couple tweeks to it.  I changed out the hops for Crystal since my homebrew shop didn't have any Challenger, and that's okay as I didn't really like the woody notes it threw in the original (nor do I like it enough to keep it on hand).  I also swapped out the Munich malt for Vienna.  Vienna is one of the malts that will be blended into my base grist for the brewery, so their is no point in getting Munich for just one beer, plus I tend to like Vienna a little more.  I also changed up the yeast on half.  I wanted to see if the yeast I want to use as a house strain would work for this beer, again, no sense in having an extra ingredient (yeast) to make a flagship beer unless I have to.  The last change was completely beyond my control.  When I brewed the first version I picked a great coffee not realizing it was a one-off single origin from the roasters.  When I went to get more they didn't have it any more.  I went with one of their yearly offerings that is supposed to throw cacao, caramel, and hibiscus.  Of course the first two go great with the base, and I am hoping that the hibiscus pairs well with the pineapple from the Trois.  So far the wife likes both versions!

NAME: Breaking the Habit

STYLE: Coffee Porter

TYPE: All Grain

SIZE: 10.5 gallons

OG: 1.055

FG: 1.012 (1469) / 1.010 (644)

ABV: 5.8% (1469) / 6.0% (644)

SRM: 28

IBU: 32 (Modified Tinseth)

Efficeincy: 76% (clogged hop screen)

Grain Bill:

Great Western Pale Malt

Weyermann Vienna Malt

MFB Chocolate Malt
British Dark Crystal 75/85L

Hop Bill:

Magnum, Crystal

Yeast:

WY1469 West Yorkshire vs WLP 644 Trois

Water:

Ca 51; Mg 10; Na 13; Cl 40; SO4 64; HCO3 93; pH 5.56

Extras:
Wandering Goat Cafe Femenino Peru - 4oz total, 2oz per keg, whole beans.

Process:
01/24/2015 Brewed alone.  First time using my own mill.  Had the mill jam and the rollers stop.  Had to empty the hopper, and free up the rollers, then start again.  Crush looks really good, small uniform kernels and fairly whole husks (lautering went smoothly).  Mashed in at 1.5 qt/lb 150*F for 60 minutes plus a 10 minute vorlauf via pump.  Batch sparged with 185*F water at 5.5pH.  Collected 13.25 gallons preboil.  Boiled for 60 minutes adding hops per recipe.  10 minute whirlpool and then chilled to 66*F in 30 minutes.  Transferred into 2 6 gallon Better Bottles via pump.  Hop screen clogged shut again leading to an hour long transfer, and disfiguring the screen to get enough flow to fill the fermentors.  Pitched decanted yeast starter/slurry, and set temp to 70*F at 2pm.  West Yorkshire was forming krausen by 10pm, blowoff eminent by 6am.  Brett Trois about 8 hours behind.

Day 3 bumped temp up to 72*F

Day 5 bumped up to 75*F and maintained

Day 7 samples show FG achieved already ~1.010 5 points lower than I was shooting for.

Day 12 took off heat and let drop to 60*F

Day 13 racked to purged keg under CO2 pressure and added coffee beans suspended in hop bags.  Maintained 68*F for 36 hours.  Coffee notes have a little too much green bell pepper, really hoping that calms down fast.

Day 16 - 2/9/15 - Removed coffee, purged, put into keezer at 37*F set to 35 psi.

Day 18 - 2/11/15 - Dropped back to 11 psi, burped keg, starting to drink less than 3 weeks from brewday.