Brew #9: Mocha Stout, October 19, 2014

Brew #9 was based on an extract kit from Bailee's Homebrew, house brand.  I had it in my mind that I wanted to make a java stout and for simplicity and budgetary reasons I decided to start with an existing extract kit and doctor it, rather than build a recipe from the ground up.  I was very happy with this one, but it still provided a few "learning opportunities" which I'll spell out as they come up in this post.  Additions to the base recipe included some English roasted barley, and extra pound of DME, cocoa powder, and a quart of espresso.

Recipe
Batch Size: 5 gal
Boil Size: 3 gal
Target OG: 1.056-1.060
Target FG: 1.014-1.018
Style: Stout
Recipe Type: Extract with specialty grains
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Water:
Acadia bottled spring water

Specialty Grains:
appx 2 lbs of mystery specialty grains (remember Bailee's doesn't share what is in their kits)
4 oz English Roasted Barley

Fermentables:
6.6 lbs Dark LME
1 lb Light DME
1 lb Dark DME

Hops:
1oz  Northern Brewer (pellets) @ 60 min.
1/2oz East Kent Goldings (pellets) @ 30 min
1/2oz Cascade (pellets) @ 15 min

Other:
8oz Hershey's Cocoa Powder @ 55 min.
1qt brewed espresso @ bottling

Yeast:
Safale S-04, pitched dry

Brewing Notes
10/19/14 - Brew Day:

• Sanitized (star san) my cold side equipment in the big mouth bubbler primary.
• Heated 3 gal water to 155 F in 5 gallon economy stainless kettle on the stovetop.
• Steeped specialty grains in muslin bag for 25 minutes.
• Removed the grain bag and held it above the kettle to drain.
• Brought to boil
• Removed kettle from the burner.
• Added all malt extracts and stirred well
• Returned the kettle to the burner and brought back to boil
• Set timer for 60 minutes and added hops per the recipe schedule.  All hops were added in a single nylon mesh bag.  At the appropriate addition time, I would pull the top of the bag open, put in the hops, and close it back up.  This is a good way to burn your fingers.
• At 55 minutes, added the full 8 oz package of cocoa powder directly to the boil while stirring.
• At 0 minutes, moved the kettle to the ice bath in my sink to chill. At this time I pulled the hop bag, and tried to drain it over the kettle.  It seems the cocoa powder gummed up the fine nylon bag to the point where it took nearly the entire chilling time to get the bag to drain fully.
• I chilled the 3 gallon volume to 100F, then added 2 gallons that I had put in the refrigerator earlier.  Then I siphoned to the BMB and topped off with about another half gallon of room temperature water to get to 5 gallons.  This was generally my standard practice, which I probalby established around Brew 2 or Brew 3, but this was the first time I actually wrote it down.
• Took an OG reading of 1.070, corrected to 1.072
• Sprinkled the yeast directly on top of the wort.
• Put the BMB in the beer corner of the dining room with blowoff tube just in case (standard practice now).

10/19 - 10/26/2014 - Primary Fermentation:
Nothing of note during primary fermentation. Racked to 5 gallon glass carboy on 10/26.  Gravity was 1.022.  With the clear fermenter, I base the timing of racking from primary to secondary on visual cues.  I'm looking for a large reduction in airlock activity, that the krausen has fallen back into the beer, and that the trub has been settled for a few days.

10/26-11/8/2014 - Secondary Fermentation

11/7/2014 - Brew Day #2:
This time it was espresso.  I do have an espresso machine in my kitchen, so I bought a 1 lb bag of espresso beans, ground them fresh, and brewed espresso until I had a quart in a sanitized mason jar, then sealed it up and put it in my fridge.  I'm not going to say what brand of espresso I used because that company does not need any free advertising even if I only have 1 reader.  It may have had a green mermaid on the bag.

11/8/2014 - Bottling:
Bottled per our standard practice with 5oz of corn sugar boiled in 2 c water to prime. I also added the chilled espresso to the bottling bucket. Gravity was 1.022 before adding the espresso, which I calculated to mean 6.5% abv.  Yield was 49 12 oz bottles.

11/19/2014 - First Taste:
Where was my patience?  My note says "still pretty flat." Of course it was still pretty flat, it was only 11 days to condition.  And it was mid-November, which means it was probably 66-68 degrees ambient in my dining room and cooler on the floor.  I served a few of these around Thanksgiving and they were still on the flatter side.  By Christmas, they were much more consistently carbonated and through the rest of the winter it continued to improve in flavor.  The coffee flavor mellowed out some and the chocolate came through a little more, turning into a well-balanced "mocha" flavor.This is something I would try to impress upon a new homebrewer: Bottle conditioning is not just about carbonation.  The flavor continues to develop/blend/mellow in the bottle over some time, especially on darker or more complex beers.  I know it is hard to be patient.  I find it easier to be patient with a steady cycle of brewing so that while one is conditioning, the previous one is just coming into its prime.   If I brewed this or something similar again, I would consider possibly adding some lactose sugar to add a little more sweetness.