Brewed: Morning Mud

By scot in Beer Recipes, Home Brewing on Saturday, January 9th, 2016

Every winter I try to brew up at least one stout. I brewed a batch Pot Licker Milk Stout in November. It was my first experience with coffee in a home brew of my own. I liked it. Nothing like another go around.

Morning Mud, the name, is a play on breakfast, oatmeal, and coffee as it is an Oatmeal Stout with coffee. Thesaurus.com comes in handy in those situations. I am not a wordsmith. Morning is obviously a take on breakfast while mud is a slang synonym for coffee.

The make-up of the recipe is inspired by a clone recipe of Wake ‘N Bake by Terrapin Brewing Company that I found on HomeBrewTalk.com. If memory serves me, I believe I looked at Breakfast Stout by Founders Brewing Company clone recipes as well. No matter which or both of these recipes inspired me, I wanted coffee in the finished beer. I leaned more towards Wake ‘N Bake for inspiration as I didn’t want a huge beer but ample enough to hold up to the coffee and cocoa nibs.

Cold steeping coffee getting ready for secondary.

Probably the biggest decision I had in the recipe formulation: use black patent malt or a de-bittered black malt. Since the final recipe called for coffee in the boil and in secondary, I thought that the coffee would lend enough bitterness. Also, black patent lends an ashy flavor and aroma that shows up late in the taste, something I don’t care for. Will the beer have enough balance without the black patent? I will know in six weeks or so.

The coffee is the same light and medium blend that I used in the aforementioned Pot Locker Milk Stout. I will be adding close to an ounce per gallon for two days prior to bottling. My mouth is watering. Enjoy!

Morning Mud Oatmeal Stout

General Information:
Brew Date: Saturday, January 09, 2016
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: S05, .5 Danstar BRY-97
Yeast Starter: N/A
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.50
Original Gravity: 1.062
IBU: 61.9
Color: 45.5 SRM
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Alcohol by Volume: 7.5%
Primary Fermentation: 28 days @67*F, 2 days @67*F w/ 2 ounces of coffee

Grain Bill:
13.5# Maris Otter
1.5# Oats
1.0# Chocolate
12.0oz Roasted Barley
8.0oz Caramel 120L
8.0oz Debittered Black Malt III

Mash:
Saccharification @156.2*F

Hop Bill:
1.00 ounce Magnum @60 minutes
1.00 ounce Willamette @25 minutes
1.00 ounce Willamette @10 minutes

Extras:
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 minutes
1.0 tsp Irish Moss @ 15 minutes
2.5 ounces cocoa nibs @ 15 minutes
2.0 ounces coffee @ 0 minutes
2.0 ounces coffee @ 2 days

Updates:

• 2016-01-10: Fermenting at ambient first floor temperature: 68*F.
• 2016-02-19: Placed 3.0 ounces of coffee in muslin bag, steeping in cold water.
• 2016-02-21: Racked to secondary on top of coffee infusion.
• 2016-02-22: Bottled, 30, 22 ounce bottles. Bottle crown label: OS.
• 2016-03-17: Tasting.

Useless Fact: The average North American will eat 35,000 cookies during their life span.