So, here they are! Probably hard to read in this format but the mocked up champagne bottles look great (if I do say so myself) and almost all of the pertinent info can be gleaned from my previous posts on these beers. Hopefully we can get the Kaffinator(it’s really cool) label up with some of the photos from the coffee addition soon! “Old Habit” label art is in the works and should be brewed the week after next.
-The Chief
When I started thinking about designing a coffee beer, I really wanted to do something different. I’ve had some outstanding Stouts and Porters that are java-flavored- but the idea here is to try something new. Since we’ve been brewing a lot of Pilsner this year, we’ve had a really nice, clean German Lager Yeast on hand. The thing about the aforementioned styles (Porters and Stouts) that makes them suitable for coffee additions is the dark, roasty malts used. They are very similar and complimentary to coffee, and in fact, there are many darker beers out there that conjure flavors of “Joe” without using any at all. These beers also often have a good deal of residual sugar in them (dark caramel and chocolate malts are mostly non-fermentable) so they really help to offset that assertive bitterness that a good, dark roasted coffee should possess. So I started thinking that we ought to make a nice malty lager with a big coffee backbone. I was bouncing around some names for a bit (Kaffee Bier, German Breakfast, Etc.) when I realized that this would essentially be a dark doppel bock, infused with caffeine. Many of you are probably aware of some of the classics- Celebrator, Optimator, Salvator, etc.- and as soon as I began playing with these names “Kaffinator” was born.
We’ve always wanted to collaborate with local espresso institution “Gimme! Coffee”. For those not in the know, they are an Ithaca -based roastery with 4 espresso bars here in Tompkins County and a new one in the uber-hip “Williamsburg” neighborhood in Brooklyn (which also happens to be a hotbed for great beer bars). Our companies are roughly the same age, each are growing at healthy rates and, in this writers opinion, are producing outstanding beverage products with the best available ingredients. They are a great analog to IBC.
So I reached out to Kevin, the owner. To my surprise and delight, he grabbed hold of the project with both hands and initially offered to pull enough espresso for the entire flavor addition. That turned out to be unfeasible (pulling 40 or so gallons of shots would likely kill even the most intrepid of baristas), so we compromised and agreed on a one pound per barrel addition in the brew-kettle (french press style) plus a bucket full of straight shots to be added post-fermentation. Wowza! Kevin and Jeff (their tech-guy) arrived on Friday with 25# of freshly roasted and ground French-Roast and we dunked it right in the whirlpool. We even did some shots of the infused wort that dripped out of the straining bags after we pulled them out! ZOOM! the fermentation took right off, and it has a really pleasant espresso presence, that will get kicked into overdrive with the shots later on. You can’t wait!
The facts:
81% German Standard Munich malt
14% German Melanoidin Malt
2.5% German Chocolate Wheat Malt
2.5% French ‘Kiln Coffee’ Malt
44 IBUs German Magnum (get it?) Hops- First Wort Addition
1#/bbl Freshly (like within 2 hours) roasted and ground Gimme! French Roast Coffee
German Lager Yeast
1 quart/bbl freshly pulled espresso (post fermentation)
7% ABV
I’m Buzzing,
The Chief
Next time: tasting notes on White gold and IPAbbey, and hopefully the label art!
I got in really early to prime the White Gold with some freshly fermenting beer. The process is called “Krausening,” where a finished beer is carbonated in the package(bottle or keg) by using a small amount of active yeast.  The idea is that the main byproducts of beer fermentation are carbon dioxide and ethanol, so the CO2 gets trapped in the sealed container and goes back into solution giving us a sparkling product(and some additional alcohol). Another kind brewer (thanks, David) gave me an excel sheet that calculates the exact amount to use based on how much carbonation is desired. This is our first time EVER doing anything like this on this scale(650 gallons), so all of our fingers and toes were collectively crossed.
The rest of the crew showed up around 8 o’clock, and after much debate about how to unpack, hand-fill, hand-crown, rinse then repack and stack the cases, we were off and filling by 1030(next time will be considerably smoother, I hope). We had six guys total (big thanks to Danny, Scott, Alex, Frank and CJ for putting up with my stress) and our efficiency topped out at six 750mL bottles per minute(damn slow relative to our 16 head filler that chugs along at 50 or so bpm)and was as low as zero per minute at times. Of course, I had calculated that we could go 4X that speed, so the day got pretty long, and we fell a little short of our goal of 225 cases(got 159, or 1900 bottles) . I hope that means that the bottles will be even more coveted! Of course it also means that more of this beer will be available in draft form.
We do not have a “warm room”(especially at this time of year) per se, so the cases and kegs got stacked near one of our big overhead heaters to help encourage that final refermentation. It took all of my willpower to wait an entire week before testing a bottle for CO2 volumes, but I am pleased to report that the krausening has worked and the beer is almost ready for release. We’ll be bottling the IPAbbey(it’s REALLY hoppy) on Wednesday, March 21st, so get ready for some upcoming release events!
-The Chief
Next time: KAFFINATOR!
I realized that it’s been a while since I promised to write a bit more about the Excelsior! Series- and now that the primary fermentations of the first two installments(white gold and IPAbbey) are complete I have a much better idea of what they will be like as beers, and we have some of the label art finished up, so it seems like high time I deliver. Keeping up with Blogging is harder than some people make it look.
“Excelsior” is a word that I’ve always thought was pretty cool. It’s New York State’s official motto, and it appears on our state seal along with a rising sun and images of the goddesses Liberty and Justice(which was a favorite of my late grandfather). For those of you who geeked out on other stuff before you found craft beer, it may be remembered as Stan Lee’s signature sign-off at the end of each installment of “Bullpen Bulletins” in Marvel Comics. If you are inclined to be more literate than that, you’ll probably know of the poems “Excelsior” by Longfellow, Whitman and James Thurber- or at least that Martin Prince (probably a future beergeek) thinks of it as his catchphrase.
It’s Latin, and I don’t speak Latin, so I looked it up in my Funk & Wagnalls. It means “ever upward, still higher, more lofty, more elevated.” I thought it to be an apt description of what I am trying to achieve with these beers. The intention, simply put, is to push the limits that we’ve placed(consciously or not) on our beers, whether it be in our brewing process, our approach to style and branding, or our imaginations. Because they are largely experimental, each version will be an evolution of those which have preceded it. Our promise is to keep pushing with these beers. “Ever Upward” if you will, and we welcome your feedback about them.
We’ll be bottling White Gold (by hand, natch) this Friday, and the IPAbbey the following week. They’ll take a week or three to condition in the bottle and then we’ll have them rolling out pretty regularly after that, provided that you all drink them. I’m ready to announce that the next two on the slate are “Kaffinator” Double Espresso Bock(a collaboration with local institution gimme! coffee) and “Old Habit” Strong Rye. From there, who knows… but the sky’s the limit!
Next up: bottling 600 gallons by hand.