re: Homebrewing: In-Process Thread

So, my next homebrew up to bat is my night owl coffee stout i brewed last year. It came out very nice. Upon reflection, the only thing i found that it was a little sweeter than i wanted, but the coffee did cut the sweetness a little, but there a few other things i wanted to improve upon. So here is my old recipe compared with my new recipe (changed bolded).

Night Owl Coffee Stout (Version 1)

Estimated OG: 1.083 SG
Estimated Color: 50.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 62.4 IBUs

11 lbs 2.0 oz Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 7 71.2 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8 9.6 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 9 4.8 %
10.0 oz Black Barley (Briess) (500.0 SRM) Grain 10 4.0 %
10.0 oz Carafa Special III (Weyermann) (470.0 SR Grain 11 4.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 12 3.2 %
4.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) Grain 13 1.6 %
1.65 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 14 55.4 IBUs
0.50 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 15 4.3 IBUs
0.50 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 16 2.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 17 -
4.00 oz Coffee (Secondary 5.0 days) Other 20 -


Mash @ 155 for 75 min.


Night Owl Coffee Stout (Version 2.0)

Estimated OG: 1.082 SG
Estimated Color: 59.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.3 IBUs

11 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) Grain 10 65.7 %
2 lbs 2.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 11 12.1 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 12 7.1 %
1 lbs Carafa III (Weyermann) (525.0 SRM) Grain 13 5.7 %
14.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 14 5.0 %
12.0 oz Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 15 4.3 %
1.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 75.0 min Hop 16 53.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 17 4.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 19 -
4.00 oz Coffee (Secondary 5.0 days) Other 20 -
1.00 oz Cocoa Nibs (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 18 - (This is optional)

Mash @ 152 for 60 to 75 minutes


So i'm upping my flaked oats amount (which i'm considering toasting). Upped my chocolate malt, and added roasted barley to compliment the debittered carafa 3, to get a slight taste of the burnt coffee flavor. I removed the 15 minute hop addition, and slightly reduced the IBU's. Also, version 1 finished at 7%, trying to get this one to finish at 8% by reducing my mash temperature. I'm also hoping this cuts down on some of the sweetness of last years batch.

Also, any advantages of using roasted barley in conjunction with de-bittered carafa 3? The 1st recipe, i used debittered so i wasn't getting strong burnt notes, and was hoping it was a bit smoother. I want to add some slight burnt notes, but hoping it isn't overpowering. I've had a stout before that used too much roasted barley, and it tasted like cigarettes.



Let me know your thoughts.