Please critique my "pumpkin" coffee porter

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Maestro0708, Sep 4, 2017.

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  1. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    Hey guys,

    October is fast approaching and I am wanting to do a beer with pumpkin pie spices. Since I was also planning to do a coffee porter I decided to try both at once and go for the "pumpkin spice latte" thing.

    What I essentially did here was take the brewing classic styles recipe for robust porter and converted LME to DME, and added pumpkin pie spices and coffee. Any and all advice/help is most welcome and appreciated.

    5.5 gallons
    7 lbs Light DME
    1 lb Munich DME
    1 lb Crystal 40
    .75 lb chocolate malt
    .5 lb black patent malt

    1.75oz Kent goldings @60
    .75oz fuggles @15
    .75 KG @0

    1 tsp cinnamon @5
    1/4 tsp ground ginger @5
    1/4 tsp nutmeg @5
    1/4 tsp clove @5

    3oz coffee grounds "dry beaned" for 48 hours

    Yeast - US-05 dry yeast
     
    #1 Maestro0708, Sep 4, 2017
  2. Mohican88

    Mohican88 Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2010 Ohio

    I would consider decreasing the IBUs to 25-30 and cut the spices in half. The current amount of hops is probably 35-40 IBUs which to me seems like it would clash with the spices. As for the spices, you can always add more at the same time you dry bean it, but you can't take them out if it's too much. Balancing all the elements is going to be the key to making this beer as you envision.
     
    #2 Mohican88, Sep 4, 2017
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  3. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Can't say I'd likely be a big fan of this beer, but the latte inspiration made me think lactose. It's probably more of a mental association than gustatory one.
     
    #3 pweis909, Sep 4, 2017
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  4. Bryan12345

    Bryan12345 Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2016 Texas

    Consider splitting it into two batches. One with the milder ratio of spices, and the other with the "go big or go home" ratio. FWIW :slight_smile:
     
    #4 Bryan12345, Sep 5, 2017
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  5. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    Thanks guys,

    I'll tone down the hops a bit, and probably the spices too. Id be much happier with subtle spice flavors than i would be with overpowering ones, and as @Mohican88 suggested, it's always possible to add more, but if I add too much, I can't undo that.
     
    #5 Maestro0708, Sep 6, 2017
  6. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    I agree with the earlier comments, and I would also say... why make life hard on yourself? It's fine to set up the hops to add up to a round number of ounces so you don't have leftovers. Also, I would stick with EKG and just drop the Fuggles. Or vice versa, but I have always preferred EKG to Fuggles.
     
    #6 minderbender, Sep 6, 2017
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  7. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    So i bought 3oz Kent goldings for this beer, not bothering with the fuggles, and expecting to decrease my hops as suggested by @Mohican88

    My problem is when I enter the beer into beersmith, even the original 1.75oz is only giving me 10 ibus. Any ideas why or how I should proceed? The hops are 4.6% AA
     
    #7 Maestro0708, Sep 15, 2017
  8. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    @VikeMan can you offer any insight?
     
    #8 Maestro0708, Sep 16, 2017
  9. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Are you saying 1.75 ounces of 4.6% AA hops @ 60 minutes in a 5.5 gallon batch is only yielding 10 IBUs? There's something wrong with that. Just eyeballing it, I think you be around 25-ish IBUs with that.

    ETA: I don't use BeerSmith, so can't offer much advice there, other than to recheck all your recipe input and maybe the brewhouse parameters.
     
    #9 VikeMan, Sep 16, 2017
  10. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    Yeah, that's what beersmith is saying, but I wonder if my equipment profile might not be set up correctly. I used the brewers friend ibu calculator and got 18.12 ibus.

    The brewing classic styles recipe shows 33 ibus
     
    #10 Maestro0708, Sep 16, 2017
  11. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    i used the how to brew equations ( IBU = AAU x U x 75 / Vrecipe ) and came up with 17.96 ibu

    So maybe the brewers friend calculator is pretty accurate (if my math is)
     
    #11 Maestro0708, Sep 16, 2017
  12. crcostel

    crcostel Initiate (0) Feb 26, 2006 Illinois

    When I throw your ingredients in Brewers Friend I get 25.42ibu.
     
    #12 crcostel, Sep 16, 2017
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  13. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    Boil size seems to have been the issue. Since I am doing a partial boil, my boil gravity was having an effect on hop utilization. But I only add half of my extract at the start of the boil, and the rest towards the end ever since @SFACRKnight recommended doing so, so I correct for this, I believe.
     
    #13 Maestro0708, Sep 16, 2017
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