Final Verdict: Perk-A-lator Stout

We managed to go a full 7 days beyond the one month aging for our Perk-A-lator Stout. Part of the reason for the extra week is that the key players were stuck in Orlando and/or Phoenix when we should have been crackin' the hootch.

After a little chilling in the fridge we hit the first capped bottle - b/c we are big dorks we marked the first bottle just so we could know what we were tasting. The beer pours dark and full in a way that only a good stout can. By dark we mean opaque, lost in the middle of woods in the dead of night with no stars while the Blair Witch is looking for you kind of dark. The head is heavy with a nice chestnut color but it settles down rather quickly. The scent provides a slight hint of coffee. Taking a nice big first swig - because we are daring and only sissies take a tiny first sip - and the stout flavor jumps out at you. The carbonation is good but not great. There is a slight coffee finish. Overall, Perk-A-lator came out with smashing success for a homebrew. We are quite proud and have been downing it heavily since opening the first bottle.

As close as we are to brewing experts there are a few drawbacks. The first being that the coffee flavor, while present, could be a bit more full in the after taste. We mentioned that the carbonation is good but not great and we stick by that - if we could take it down have a notch the brew would be smooth as silk. If you're shooting for something as smooth as Guinness we just missed. Finally, the scent after pouring is pretty good but there's a slight tinge of pungent - maybe alcohol smell. You really have to focus to pick it up but it's there.

This is not a movie so we're not going to bother making up a lame scale of beer bottles or pint glasses. Regardless, it's the best brew since bringing on my trusted assistant. It's also a close second to our pride and joy Oatmeal Stout (brewed before we discovered the blogosphere).

Hit the Bottle

We passed through the primary and secondary fermentation stages of our Perk-A-lator Stout with reckless abandon. Most of it is hazy and cloudy and we would have it no other way.

Today we bottled a case worth of the brew - just a bit over of two gallons worth. The final gravity was 1.020. The recipe calls for a final gravity of 1.021 so we were almost spot-on. We added just under one half cup of brown sugar (original recipe calls for 2/3 cup for five gallons) for our three gallons. It was admittedly rudimentary math so carbination could range from flat to way too much head - which is obviously only possible when brewing beer. The aroma was that of a good stout. It was a close-to-black body with hints of deep brown. In short, we have high hopes for this one.

Give us another month or so before tasting and we'll offer up the final review.

Perk-A-lator Stout

A friend at Gheorge reminded me that I should be focusing more on the homebrews than my cubicle requirements. So....it was just this past Labor Day making it the proper time to labor over the grains and pots to create the latest home brew - a coffee stout for the upcoming fall season. Aided by my trusty assistant (pictured left), we set to the brewing process. We are smack dab in the middle of the primary fermentation which requires a solid 2 weeks of drinking while waiting for the brew to age. Secondary fermentation is 3 weeks. The good news is that means enjoying Oktoberfests of all sorts. The bad news is that means this coffee stout takes a freakin' long time to brew - so my trusty assistant and I will be pissy if it tastes like skunk.

While we're waiting it's worth opening a cold brew and posting ingredients and particulars in the event our 1 or 2 loyal readers wants to know what poison was just sprung upon them. Follow us:

Original Gravity: 1.066

Ending Gravity: 1.020 (or something close to it)

Primary Fermentation: 2 weeks

Secondary Fermentation: 3 weeks

7.25 lbs Briess dark malt extract (dry)

.75 lbs Briess Crystal 80 malt

.25 lbs black malt

.5 oz Mt. Hood Hops, pellets (in boil 65 minutes)
.5 Mt. Hood Hops, pellets (in boil 20 minutes)

7 tspns Starbucks Sumatra Blend

1 tspn LD Carlson Irish Moss

1 tspn LD Carlson Gypsum

White Labs 004 Irish Ale Yeast

.66 cup brown sugar for priming

Steep black malt and crystal malt in 2.5 gallons of water for 21 minutes at 166 degrees F. Remove grains and bring to boil. Stir in extract. Re-establish boil and add .5 oz hops. Keep at steady boil for 30 minutes and add Irish Moss and gypsum. Boil for 15 minutes and add remaining hops and ground coffee. Boil for final 20 minutes and remove from heat.

Transfer to the primary fermenter and add water until 5 gallons. Cool to 74.7 degrees F and pitch yeast. Ferment for 2 weeks, move to secondary fermenter for another 3 weeks. Prime with .66 cups brown sugar and bottle for 3-6 weeks (since this is our first brew with this recipe exact aging after bottling is yet to be determined - stay tuned for details).

We "borrowed" this recipe from the book Homebrew Favorites - a gift from my trusty assistant. You'll find among the pages a tasty sounding Espresso Stout. Tip of the hat to home brewer Greg Kushmerek of Belmont, MA and his kick ass motto "Brew Free or Die"