Espresso Ale

Receipe from my LHBS.

Recipe

Batch size: 5 gallons Target gravity: 1.046

• 7 lb dark liquid malt extract
• 12 oz crystal malt
• 5 oz black patent malt

Hops:

• 2 oz Willamette @ 60
• 0.5 oz Willamette @ finishing

Yeast: Nottingham dry yeast

Extra stuff: 0.5 lb ground espresso, brewed

Brew Day

November 15, 2008: Brewed the espresso in the drip coffee maker and added it after the boil. Gravity after that was 1.044. Left damn warm in fermenter -- 30 C -- but it was midnight by this point and I was bagged.

Bottling

December 7, 2008: Final gravity 1.015. Strong coffee taste. 4.75 gallons/18 litres yield, which isn't bad.

Tasting

December 19, 2008: Strong coffee flavour, all right. Not bad, but much better mixed about 1:1, or 1:2, with a lighter beer (like the Strathcona Pale Ale. Not much of a head.

April 26, 2009: Poured about 5 litres down the drain; this was a disappointment. Again, not bad if you mix it with other beer, but I just couldn't be bothered. Too bitter a flavour from the coffee. If I were to do this again, and I'm not convinced I would, I'd cold brew the coffee.