A Stout Challenge

My friend Frank is visiting again from Mexico, and so I thought I'd take him by the local brew store. We checked 0ut the kegging systems, and talked about different types of beer that we could brew.

Being the good host that I am, I gave Frank the option, and he chose stout. To be specific, he took the standard Irish dry stout as opposed to an Imperial stout.

As we got the boil going, my wife came in and made a request for coffee. So as we were brewing a pot of coffee, it clicked. I used to enjoy the Red Hook Espresso Stout; why not bring it back in an un-official capacity.

I do a partial boil, so once that was in the carboy, I added a liter of freshly brewed strong coffee, and then the rest of the water. Then I added about 5 tablespoons of coffee grounds into the carboy before adding the yeast.

I got this crazy idea about brewing an iced mocha stout, and had ground up some cocoa nibs, but we had a change of heart. As it turns out, adding chocolate to the primary fermentation inhibits the yeast and could spoil the beer. Luckily, Frank has culinary expertise and was there to keep me grounded. So what I might do is add cocoa powder to the priming sugar, and introduce the chocolate in the conditioning phase.

Frank and I did the brew on Sunday (yesterday), and as of this evening the yeast are exuberant. They seem to be sharing the top with the coffee grounds without complaint so far.

I'll do another post to detail the conditioning and provide measurements if I decide to go for the Ice Mocha Stout.

As my eldest son is turning 7 and having a lego party at the house, I will also brew some cream soda this weekend.

Cheers!