Free Will Brewing Company: C.O.B. (Coffee Oatmeal Brown) with Coconut & Chocolate clone
According to Free Will Brewing Co., this is a “Coffee, oatmeal, brown ale. Incredibly rich undertones of brown sugar, caramel and graham cracker. One pound of Speakeasy coffee per brewery barrel added post fermentation creates a prominent nose and taste of coffee.” This clone recipe includes a variation on the base C.O.B. beer with the addition of coconut and cocao.
Free Will Brewing Company: C.O.B. (Coffee Oatmeal Brown) with Coconut & Chocolate clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.082 FG = 1.020
IBU = 26 SRM = 20 ABV = 8.6%
Ingredients
13 lbs. (5.9 kg) Maris Otter pale malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Briess Carabrown® malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) flaked oats
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) UK brown malt
0.25 lb. (0.11 kg) British crystal malt (45 °L)
0.25 lb. (0.11 kg) pale chocolate malt
6.5 AAU Pilgrim hops (90 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 11% alpha acids)
2.75 AAU Pilgrim hops (5 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 11% alpha acids)
5 oz. (142 g) ground coffee
2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Baker’s shaved coconut (secondary)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Ghana cacao nibs or 0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) unsweetened cocoa powder (secondary)
Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) or White Labs WLP002 (English Ale) or Lallemand Windsor yeast
2⁄3 cup (133 g) dextrose (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains and mix with 5.3 gallons (20 L) of 164 °F (73 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear. Sparge the grains with 3 gallons (11.3 L) water and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 L) of wort.
Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. Chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C), aerate, and pitch yeast.
Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for 7 days, then drop the temperature to 60 °F (16 °C) for 24 hours. Add the cacao nibs and coconut, and age for 14 days. Crash the beer to 36 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours, adding the ground coffee after 12 hours, and bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.25 volumes.
Partial mash option:
Reduce the pale malt in the all-grain recipe to 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) and add 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) pale liquid malt extract. Mill the grains and place in one or more grain bags. Mix with 2.3 gallons (8.9 L) of 164 °F (73 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152 °F (67 °C). Hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Remove the grain bags, and place into a colander. Wash the grains with 2 gallons (7.6 L) hot water and let drain fully. Add liquid extract and stir until completely dissolved and top off to 6 gallons (23 L) of wort. Bring to a boil and boil for 90 minutes. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.
Tips for Success:
Brewmaster John Stemler notes that the brewery, when adding the coconut and cacao to the beer, bags and autoclaves the ingredients – but due to standard food processing requirements it is highly likely that you can add them directly from unopened containers without fear of infection! For the coffee addition, he states, “We get fresh roasted Colombian and have it ground coarse like for a French press. Post fermentation we crash the beer to 36 °F (2 °C) in the fermenter and just drop the coffee in the top of the tank. It stays in contact for 36 hours, then gets strained to the bright. We dose at a rate of 1 lb. (0.45 kg) per barrel, so about 0.5 oz. (14 g) per gallon (4 L). I’d do 1 oz. (28 g) per gallon (4 L) for homebrew scale batches I think. The short contact is key to not getting the vegetable off flavors from coffee.”
