Gregory and I decided to brew another batch of our Baltic porter (Baltic Tiger) so we’d have a dark brew to drink through the winter. We were originally just going to brew another regular version, but decided to tailor this batch to our friend and business partner, Chris Richardson’s, tastes by adding coconut, vanilla, and cacao nibs.
For the specialty ingredients additions, Gregory soaked 6 oz. of cacao nibs and 3 vanilla beans in Bullet rye whiskey for a week before toasting 1 pound of coconut flakes in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. He added both of these to the beer in a tertiary fermenter, and a week later we bottled it with brown sugar as our priming agent.
We again used California lager yeast, and cold steeped the roasted grains. It was nearly a two month process from brewday to bottling, but we did no extensive cold maturation this time around. We also tweaked the grain bill a bit for this version.
Recipe and tasting notes below:
Toasted Coconut, Vanilla, and Cacao Nib Baltic Porter
Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5.5
Total Grain (Lbs): 21.01
Anticipated OG: 1.088
Anticipated SRM: 56.0
Anticipated IBU: 27
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Grain
42.84% — 9.00 Lbs. Munich 6°L
28.56% — 6.00 Lbs. U.S. 2-Row
07.14% — 1.50 Lbs. Melanoidin Malt
04.76% — 1.00 Lbs. Chocolate Malt
04.76% — 1.00 Lbs. Flaked Rye
02.38% — 0.50 Lbs. Crystal 120L
02.38% — 0.50 Lbs. Special B
01.81% — 0.38 Lbs. Roasted Barley
01.81% — 0.38 Lbs. Black Malt
01.19% — 0.25 Lbs. Chocolate Rye
01.19% — 0.25 Lbs. Chocolate Malt
01.19% — 0.25 Lbs. Chocolate Wheat
Hops
1.00 oz. Perle (Pellet, 5.5% AA) @ 90 min.
0.45 oz. Fuggle (Pellet, 3.6% AA) @ 90 min.
1.00 oz. Fuggle (Pellet, 3.6% AA) @ 30 min.
0.50 oz. Fuggle (Pellet, 3.6% AA) @ 10 min.
0.50 oz. East Kent Golding (Pellet, 5.0% AA) @ 1 min.
0.50 oz. East Kent Golding (Pellet, 5.0% AA) @ 0 min.
Extras
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min.
6.00 oz. Cacao Nibs
3.00 Vanilla beans
1.00 Lbs. Toasted Coconut Flakes
Yeast
Wyeast 2112 — California Lager
Water Profile
Seattle
1.00 g Calcium Chloride
Mash Schedule
Single Infusion – 90 min @ 155F
Notes
11.28.16 — Made a 1L starter of California Lager yeast
11.29.16 — Cold steeped 1.26 Lbs. of roasted grains in 2.5 quarts of room temperature water for 24 hours.
Brewed on 11.30.16 with Gregory
11.30.16 — Added cold steep addition @ 10 min. to flameout
11.30.16 — Chilled wort to 65F and pitched the starter
12.02.16 — Signs of moderate fermentation activity
12.07.16 — Transferred to secondary
01.10.17 — Soaked 6 oz. of cacao nibs and 3 vanilla beans in Bullet rye whiskey
01.17.17 — Toasted 1 Lbs. coconut flakes @350F for 15 minutes
01.17.17 — Added the coconut, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans to beer in tertiary fermenter
01.24.17 — Bottled 5.5 gallons @ 2.2 volumes CO2 using brown sugar as priming agent
Tasting Notes — 02. 26.17 (bottle pour)
Black in color and opaque with a billowy tan head which laces thin and lingers. Toasted coconut dominates the nose with a hint of caramel, vanilla, and roasted malts supporting. Coconut is front and center on the palate, giving way to bittersweet chocolate and a hint of black licorice. Boozy alcohol notes and flavors of dark roast coffee meet mid palate and dry out the finish. Bittersweet chocolate and espresso notes linger for some time.
Calculated OG: 1.086
Calculated FG: 1.021
Approx. ABV: 8.5%