Homebrew VIII: Brunch Stout

Brunch stout.

Thought I’d share a quick review of my latest brew, Northern Brewer’s Brunch Stout from an extract kit. It’s the first beer I’ve kegged, and the most complex kit I’ve brewed – and while I’m enjoying it thoroughly, I would do a few things differently next time.

First off, I started with 6.5 gallons of water, as opposed to 5.5 or 6, which is my usual starting point. As a result, this stout (though by no means a BIG beer) is perhaps not quite as “big” as it ought to be.

Second, in addition to a massive amount of specialty grains and a pound of Belgian Candi Syrup (from beets and dates, as I recall), this kit contains a full pound of French roast coffee. The instructions say to crush the whole beans coarsely and add them to the wort, which I did. They do not say whether or not to remove them – I used a wire colander to scoop all that I could back out of the wort at the end of the boil, but some remained for the length of primary fermentation.

The result? Northern describes their brunch stout this way:

Brunch: a portmanteau of "breakfast" and "lunch". Brunch Stout: a collision of brunch as a particularly indulgent meal time, and a particularly indulgent stout. 60 IBUs, loaded with sumptuous malt, acidic and tangy coffee, and wildly fruity Candi syrup, this is a stout that does not know when to stop. There's something here for every interpretation of this decadent mid-cycle ritual, from the sweet to the savory, the simple to the intricate. Explore the limits of American-style stout as you know it with your new deviously delicious companion.

By contrast, what streams from my tap is a nice coffee stout, nearly black with a creamy mocha head. The flavor, to my palate, is almost exclusively strong black coffee and dark roasted malt, with more French-roast bitterness than hops. A pint left to warm a bit acquires some dark fruit hints as it approaches room temperature: blueberries and plums, perhaps, but they’re subtle. It reminds me of Guinness Foreign Extra or Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal Imperial Stout – a great stout, but not quite the multilayered egg-bake of a beer described.

Next time: Less water, and the coffee goes in a hops bag – plus I might screen it as it goes into the primary fermenter.

Pledge Week at Tappa Kegga Bru!

Well, I made the leap: Last Sunday, I transferred my Northern Brewer brunch stout to a sanitized 5-gallon pin-lock keg and hooked up the CO2 to carbonate (three days or so at 20 psi), then on Wednesday I sanitized the plumbing, hooked it it up, reduced to 10 psi, and pulled the first pint. I purchased the entire set-up (including a mid-size fridge spray-painted gold and a bunch of extra equipment) from a guy on Craigslist, and unbeknownst to me, a small flat O-ring was missing -- as a result, when I returned for a second pint, the system had lost pressure, and a small pool of stout had formed on the top of the keg and the liquid fitting. I remedied that today, with a 40-cent purchase at Northern on the way home. Resanitized, reassembled, and works like a charm! (Photos courtesy of Gabriel Thorp.)

Reducing to serving pressure.

Clearing the sanitizer from the lines -- don't waste too much!

Satisfaction.