Coffee in stout

[delboy]

kenmc, i think the secret is to use vanilla extract and not the cheapy nasty essence stuff. I used some in a recipe i got for a caramel wheat vanilla ale and it was delicious.
The only downside is its about £5 for 100ml and you need to add about that much to a batch to get the true benefit.

If you are thrifty and patient you can buy some vanilla pods and drop them into a bottle of vodka and make your own

[BarryNL]

Ah... I couldn't disagree more. I think Porterhouse beers are very poor.

Really? I think certainly the Plain Porter and the Wrasslers are excellent. The Porterhouse Red is certainly a favourite too. The lagers I'm not particularly excited by, though the Hersbrucker is certainly drinkable.

Maybe it just doesn't travel well to London. I've only tried it in Dublin - I'll have to check out the London branch next time I'm over.

[J_P]

Can't say I've ever tried porterhouse beers and I can't remember the last pint of Guinness I drank however if you ever get chance to sample "Java Jolt" by Darwin you will not be disappointed. Apparently it's brewed with coffee, myself and a couple of mates finished off the barrel one night in our local.

As I've mentioned before I'm no Jilly Goulden but I know what I like and this pint is tip top of an autumn evening.

I'll second Chris The Fish in saying it's never too early to experiment, admittedly it took me until brew 3 to tinker but from the aroma when bottling I certainly don't regret it (I haven't tasted it yet though).

Add coffee to your stout? I'd say do it, from your blog you've something of a "Johnny Wordsmith" so we'll all know what it tastes like when you review it and will be able to make an informed judgement as to whether we want to follow!

[Stonch]

Ah... I couldn't disagree more. I think Porterhouse beers are very poor.

Really? I think certainly the Plain Porter and the Wrasslers are excellent. The Porterhouse Red is certainly a favourite too. The lagers I'm not particularly excited by, though the Hersbrucker is certainly drinkable.

Maybe it just doesn't travel well to London. I've only tried it in Dublin - I'll have to check out the London branch next time I'm over.

It's all keg stuff, served under nitro pressue (at least in London).

I can just about tolerate keg ales and stouts in the absence of cask, as long as they're unpasteurised, served at the correct temperature and aren't given the horrific "nitrokeg" treatment. Porterhouse fail on all but one count.

I just don't understand why an outfit like Porterhouse can't cask condition their beers.

[PieOPah]

Getting back onto the coffee subject....

When I was brewing kits, I decided to try a coffee stout.

I took one Coopers Stout Kit and made it like normal. The only difference was that I added 3 pots of freshly brewed coffee. After each pot had brewed, I mixed up the coffee to loosen it up again, but I never added any more. Obviously this meant that each pot was weaker than the last, but as a first, I didn't want to over do it.

The coffee flavour was quite subtle so if I was to do this again, I would probably add 1 extra spoon per brew (so slightly stronger) keeping the old stuff in there.

I liked it and would happilly try something similar again.

[eskimobob]

If you are thrifty and patient you can buy some vanilla pods and drop them into a bottle of vodka and make your own

I've made Vanilla Stout before and the way I did it was to cut three vanilla pods up into small 5mm chunks and then boil them in 250ml water for 10 mins before adding to the secondary. Tasted lovely

[delboy]

If you are thrifty and patient you can buy some vanilla pods and drop them into a bottle of vodka and make your own

I've made Vanilla Stout before and the way I did it was to cut three vanilla pods up into small 5mm chunks and then boil them in 250ml water for 10 mins before adding to the secondary. Tasted lovely

Yeah i think as long as you use the real thing or the extract you can't go wrong. The essence stuff is just vile!!!

[kenmc]

You live in Dublin? Why do you drink anywhere other than the Porterhouse?

Ok, the music probably gets repetitive after a while, but the beer more than compensates... even if you do have to let it warm up for 10 minutes before drinking it.

Unfortunately, sometimes, other people get to pick the pub, dammit. Also there's a better place now - called The Bull and Castle, almost across the road from the main porterhouse, They are a 'gastropub' but with a german beer-hall upstairs, and 57 different bottled beers eg Goose Island IPA, Samiclaus, Schndeider Weiss, Chimays etc.

I'm very partial to the Porterhouse Red I have to admit, and a pint of plain is lovely too. They recently had a limited edition Chocolate Truffle stout which was absolutely divine. Although you'd be hard pushed to have more than 3 or 4 pints in a sitting. Rumor has it they also now have all the bottled varieties of Sierra Nevada - stout, IPA etc. Needs verification though.

[kenmc]

It's all keg stuff, served under nitro pressue (at least in London).

Over here they have TSB, a hand drawn bitter. Dunno if they use a cask breather though. Maybe they can't get away with that over in the UK??

[BarryNL]

It's all keg stuff, served under nitro pressue (at least in London).

Over here they have TSB, a hand drawn bitter. Dunno if they use a cask breather though. Maybe they can't get away with that over in the UK??

I'd guess they don't and just have one barrel open at a time which is why, if you order a pint in the upstairs bar, they phone someone in the downstairs bar to bring one up.

[bettyswallocks]

Im a tea drinker personally although had a coffee the other day and thought this could do with a pint of stout in it.
cheeers

[Chris The Fish]

Im a tea drinker personally although had a coffee the other day and thought this could do with a pint of stout in it.