The breakfast stout, just thinking about it makes my mouth water a little bit. The perfect blend of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt flavors. If you’re interested in brewing your own, you’ve come to the right place! What follows is my breakfast stout extract recipe!
What is a Breakfast Stout?
A breakfast stout is a beer that should remind you of the warmth and comfort of a wholesome Sunday breakfast. Most breakfast stouts utilize flaked oats, cacao nibs, and coffee to impart a full mouthfeel combined with delicious Mocha/Java flavors from the chocolate and coffee.
There is no official style guideline, but a great commercial example of this style would be Founder’s Breakfast Stout.
Recipe:
I wanted this beer to have a full mouthfeel, have a good amount of coffee and chocolate flavors, and overall just remind you of a good ol’ fashioned breakfast.
To accomplish this, flaked oats were added to the grain bill to help impart a creamy and full mouthfeel. Extra Dark Belgian Candi Syrup was added during the boil as this imparts roasted coffee, dark fruit, and toasted bread notes- all of which sound like a wholesome breakfast to me!
Coffee was added during two parts of the brewing process with this beer- the boil and at bottling. This was performed as you get slightly different flavors and aromas when using different methods. This is discussed in detail in my article, here.
Cacao nibs were used to lend the chocolate flavors and aromas to the beer. How these were added will be discussed in detail towards the end of the article.
This beer is sure to be a favorite among your family and friends especially as we approach the winter season!
Stats:
Volume: 5 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.080
Final Gravity: 1.025
Predicted IBU: 63.31
Predicted SRM: 50
ABV- 7.3%
Steeping Grain:
1.25lb Roasted Barley
1lb Crystal 75L
8oz Chocolate Malt (350L)
4oz Victory Malt
8oz Flaked Oats
Steep at 157F for 20 minutes
Extract:
6.6lb Golden Light LME (60 minutes)
2lb Golden Light DME (60 minutes)
Hops:
1.5oz Nugget (60 minutes)
Other Additions:
1lb Belgian Candi Syrup D-180 (30 minutes)
1/2 tsp Irish Moss (10 minutes)
4oz Medium Roast Coffee (coarsely ground) (boil 20 minutes)
4oz Cacao Nibs (primary fermentation after 5 days) soaked in vodka, discussed in detail below
8oz. Cold Brew added at bottling, details below
Water:
Local Flagstaff, AZ Tap Water
3 gallon steep, 3 gallon boil
Yeast:
Safale S-04 (1 packet)
Directions:
Heat water to 157°F (°C). Add crushed specialty grain and steep for 20 minutes. Remove steeping grain. Heat to boiling. Remove pot from heat, add both liquid and dry malt extract. Return wort to boiling. Boil for 60 minutes, following the hop schedule. Add coarsely ground coffee at 20 minutes. Add Irish moss at 10 minutes.
After the boil, chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 64°F. Add water to bring up to 5 gallons total. Aerate the wort and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 67°F (18°C) for 2-3 weeks. Add cacao nibs to fermentor after 5 days. Cold crash the beer to 35°F after fermentation has completed. Bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.25 volumes of CO2. Add 8oz of cold brewed coffee at bottling or kegging.
Tips:
When adding coffee to the boil, I prefer to add it with 20 minutes or less in the boil. It can be pushed back to flameout (the very end of the boil), and added during the whirlpool step if you prefer. The reason that you do not want to add the coffee sooner is because you can extract harsh bitter or astringent notes from the coffee if boiled for too long.
I like to coarsely grind the coffee either with a burr grinder or by using a meat tenderizer. I recommend placing the coarsely ground coffee in a muslin bag for easy clean up!
Cold brew was added at bottling with this beer. This gives you a bit more of the coffee flavor without the associated bitterness. I added coarsely ground beans to a french press and let it sit for about 12 hours prior to adding to the beer.
When adding the cacao nibs, I soaked them in vodka for about 5 days prior to adding to the fermenting beer. This method can be used when adding just about any spice or adjunct. The vodka will help to sanitize the addition, and it can extract the flavors from it as well. There is some debate on this, but you can add the both the cacao nibs (or other additions) and the vodka to the beer, or just the vodka portion. I prefer to add everything to the beer.
You do want to wait about 5 days into fermentation to add the cacao nibs as fermentation is generally most active during the first 5 days, if added prior, you will lose aromatics and possible flavor from the additions.
Thank you very much for stopping by!
For information on how to brew using the extract method, please see my post here.
If you’re interested in learning more about brewing stouts, look no further than the Classic Beer Styles book on stouts!