Coffee Porter
This Brown Porter gets plenty of coffee character from the specialty grains, but we’ve included instructions on how to add some fresh homebrewed java at the end for all you coffee lovers and caffeine junkies. It’s the perfect breakfast beer! To purchase this kit, click here.
Statistics
Original Gravity 1.052
Final Gravity 1.015
Alcohol Content 4.8%
Ingredients
6.6 lb. Muntons Light Malt Extract
1 lb. Hugh Baird Carastan Malt 30° L
1 lb. Franco-Belges Kiln Coffee Malt ° L
½ lb. Thomas Fawcett Brown Malt ° L
1½ oz. U.S. Fuggle Hop Pellets (Bittering)
½ oz. U.S. Fuggle Hop Pellets (Flavoring)
Wyeast # 1099XL Whitbread Ale Yeast
Procedure
A few hours before you begin to brew, prepare your liquid yeast according to the package instructions. We assume that you are familiar with basic homebrewing techniques, so these procedures are abbreviated.
1. Divide the cracked grains among 5 of the muslin bags (no more than ½ pound per bag) and add them to your brew kettle along with 1½ gallons of cold water. Heat slowly.
2. Steep the grains in hot water (about 145° – 160°F) to extract flavor and color — do not allow to boil. After about 30 minutes, remove the grain bags and then bring the water to a boil.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and add the malt extract. Keep the kettle off the burner and stir until the malt extract is completely dissolved.
4. Put the pot back on the burner and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, place the bittering hops into muslin bags (no more than 1 oz. per bag), add them to the pot, and set your timer to boil for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the pot to avoid boil-overs.
5. After 45 minutes of boiling, add ½ teaspoon of Irish moss, or 1 Whirlfloc tablet, to help clarify your beer (optional).
6. After 50 minutes of boiling, add the flavoring hops (in a muslin bag) and boil for 10 more minutes.
7. After 60 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat. Put a lid on your pot and cool it in an ice bath (use your sink) for about 30 minutes. Remove the hop bags from the kettle.
8. Pour 2 gallons of cold water into your sanitized fermenter, add the cooled wort (the stuff in your pot), and top up with additional water to 5 gallons. Aerate the wort with vigorous stirring, rocking the fermenter, etc.
9. Make sure the wort is below 80°F before adding yeast. Take a hydrometer reading if desired. Add the yeast.
10. Store the fermenter where the temperature will be a fairly constant 65° – 70°F. Active fermentation may take only a few days, or it can last up to 2 weeks. A hydrometer reading is a great way to determine when the fermentation is done. Keep it in the primary fermenter until active fermentation is complete (no signs of active fermentation for the last 2 to 3 days).
11. For a superb fresh coffee character, cold-brewed coffee can be added toward the end of primary fermentation (optional). Soak ¼ lb. of your favorite coffee beans (ground) in 2 cups of cold water overnight, then run through a coffee filter and add the liquid to your fermenter. (Alternatively, you could put coarsely ground beans into a muslin bag and add them directly to the fermenter for 4-5 days.) As always, good sanitization is important. You can sanitize muslin bags and coffee filters in boiling water.
12. When ready to bottle, siphon beer into your sanitized bottling bucket, leaving sediment behind. Boil the priming sugar in 1-2 cups of water for a few minutes, gently stir into the beer, and bottle as usual.