Brewed: Loblolly

By scot in Beer Recipes, Home Brewing on Saturday, January 27th, 2018

Loblolly coffee oatmeal stout came about as I am constantly bombarded by the great aromas of specialty coffees at work. I am not a coffee drinker though, I am an appreciative stalker of the fantastic aromas that I waft each and every day.

It made me think back to my coffee experiment a couple of years ago. I found in that experiment that I appreciated the 1.0 ounce per gallon of coffee version the best. I knew that I had to add approximately this amount of coffee to the beer post fermentation.

Formulating the recipe for with the Loblolly Coffee Oatmeal Stout

I had to figure the best way to get coffee in the beer. Two processes crossed my mind:

• Rack the beer on top of coffee juice into secondary.
• Using a funnel, pour the coffee juice directly into primary, post fermentation.

The first option requires an extra step, racking to secondary, that I didn’t want to do. Lazy. I have grown accustom to making NEIPAs, dry hopping directly in primary, therefore secondary is no longer an option I prefer. Still, I know that pouring the coffee juice into primary, post fermentation, could and would introduce oxygen into the beer.

The aforementioned coffee juice was created via a simple process:

• I had the coffee ground “normal”. Not fine and not coarse.
• Place a coffee filter (large) into a bowl that was plenty big.
• Put the coffee inside the filter.
• Fill the bowl with enough vodka to cover the coffee grounds. Note: take into account that the filter will soak up liquid until is is saturated.
• Place a plastic bag on top of the cold steeped coffee juice.
• Steep for a few days.

This is the basic process that I use for most steeping. The vodka doesn’t add flavor or aroma but kills any microbes that may be hiding in the ingredients that are used to make the juice additive.

I hope this beer comes out well. Enjoy!

Recipe for Loblolly Coffee Oatmeal Stout

General Information:
Brew Date: Sunday, December 31, 2017
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: S-04, not hydrated
Yeast Starter: none
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.061
Finishing Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 59.7
Color: 3.8 SRM
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Brewhouse Efficiency: 61.55%
Alcohol by Volume: 5.12%
Calories per ounce: ~16.5
Primary Fermentation: start @62*F, slow rise for 3 days @70*F

Grain Bill:
8.00 pounds Maris Otter
2.00 pounds Flaked Oats
1.00 pounds Roasted Barley
10.0 ounces Chocolate Malt
0.50 pounds Caramel 80L
0.50 pounds Cara Malt

Mash:
Saccharification @156.9*F

Hop Bill:
1.00 ounces 2015 Magnum @60 minutes

Extras:
1.0 tsp Irish Moss @15 minutes
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient @15 minutes
4.0 quarts of rice hulls

Updates:

• 2018-01-27: @62.4*F, slow fermentation.
• 2018-01-28 (morning): @60.9*F, faint fermentation.
• 2018-01-28 (afternoon): @60.6*F, faint fermentation. Put on heat at 68.0*F.
• 2018-01-29 (morning): @67.9*F, great fermentation.
• 2018-01-29 (evening): @67.1*F, nary fermentation. Set heat at @70.0*F.
• 2018-01-30 (evening): @70.1*F, fermentation finished.
• 2018-02-04: took off heat.
• 2018-02-07: @58.1*F, added juice from vodka and 4 ounces of coffee.
• 2018-02-10: kegged.

Useless Fact: Standing anywhere in the state of Michigan a person is within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes.