Like a modern day Noah, but crafty, I have been saving two of every beer I’ve made.

Not including the coffee beer I just made, there have been 12 in all, and my intent is to drink them before my coffee beer is gone and my sparkling ale (which I am making later) is ready to bottle.

The brews I’ve made so far are:

1. Nut Brown Ale
2. Espresso Stout
3. Amber Ale
4. Wheat Beer
5. Coffee Beer
6. Amber Bitter
7. Amber Bock
8. Porter
9. Espresso Stout (w/ Wichita Coffee)
10. American Ale
11. Amber Wheat
12. English Bitter
13. Coffee Beer (w/ Wichita Coffee)

I haven’t been able to take pictures yet, but believe me, it is dark, and very tasty.

We used drip brewed coffee this time rather than espresso, so I am calling it a “coffee beer” instead of another “espresso stout.” The Sumatra also has a bolder, almost smokey flavor that makes the beer taste more like a lager than a stout or ale.  We ended up with 68 bottles this time and are leaning towards another amber bock for June.

24 bottles have been given away so far and the response is pretty much the same as all the other times… it’s amazing.

This weekend BEER mom and I brewed up another one of our award winning concoctions – chili. The exact recipe we use is top secret, mainly because it wins at chili cook-offs, but here is a list of ingredients it includes:

• Black Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Diced Tomatoes
• Stewed Tomatoes
• Tomato Paste
• Chili Seasoning
• Ground Beef
• Corned Beef
• Yellow Onions
• Green Peppers
• Red Peppers
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Cilantro
• Mushrooms
• Jack Daniels
• Jalapeños
• Celery

The end result looks something like this:

Next month BEER mom and I are going to brew our own style of American Ale.

I used my own secret recipe this time, and my own beans, since I didn’t roast coffee last time I made it.  It won’t be ready for her 21st birthday, but that’s ok because I wouldn’t want to share it with her friends anyway. We will bottle it next weekend and should be able to drink it by the 18th.

If anyone would like to sample some let me know.  I have just over 50 bottles left and only found three other people to try any so far.  Not many of our friends enjoy good beer or fresh coffee as much as I do, so I’m not going to give it away to just anyone.

Hit me up on twitter or by other means if you want any.  Once I get down to around 20 I am going to start planning my next brew.

I admit, I first got into it Thursday evening but was too busy updating all our sites to post anything then.

This coffee beer is just as dark as my espresso stout (which was made with espresso rather than drip brewed coffee) but is a little lighter in body and doesn’t come with the same after taste.  Those of you who have been following me on twitter probably know all about that by now.  I know many of you are also waiting to try some.

I’m also pleased to announce the first ever bi-monthly BEER dad beer tasting party, and the larger announcement – if economic and market conditions appear suitable (I’m currently doing research) I may consider starting a full blown brewery.  More on all that later.

I flew out of Wichita last Saturday to set up for a trade show and worked at my company’s Chicago office for most of the week, then returned Friday afternoon.

While in Chicago I enjoyed several brews local to the area, and decided when I return I would make another coffee beer since that has been my favorite so far. BEER mom and I began the brewing process this Saturday by roasting a couple pounds of fresh coffee to use in the ale.

I stored the roasted beans until tonight to let them reach their full flavor, but sampled some this morning to ensure I reached the strength and aroma I was going for.

Tonight I started the brew by grinding the coffee and getting it going while sanitizing all my supplies and boiling water on the stove.

Once everything was clean and the water was boiling I added the 1 kilo of corn sugar the stout called for and poured the first of the coffee into the fermenter. Meanwhile I was also warming the wort so it would be easy to mix in with the sugar.

Now once again, in about 4-6 days or whenever the bottle caps I ordered arrive (which ever comes last) we will be bottling more coffee beer. It’s fermenting down in the basement like all the other times, only this time there is also some nice new paint thanks to BEER mom.

If you are wondering about Kaden, I just wrote about him on That Smith as well.

I gave in to my urges Tuesday night and tried my first bottle. Then another Wednesday, and a third last night. At first I thought the conditioning wasn’t finished, or maybe something went wrong because my first sip began very bitter. Then I recognized that bitter flavor as the taste of espresso.

It has been a while since I’ve had a shot of pure espresso (a taste for plain espresso takes a while to acquire), and I didn’t believe the flavor would carry over to after the beer was ready. Especially since the shots were disbursed into 63 separate bottles. Surprisingly though, it did.

The brew ended up around 7% abv, which means one bottle will yield the same results as two or more of what your friends are drinking. It also carries the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, so, although I don’t plan to do any testing, you’re probably be safe to drink one on your way to work. I didn’t want it to turn out overly powerful so I used a 60/40 blend of caffeinated vs. decaffeinated espresso beans.

One thing I noticed when I was drinking the one before bed last night is that it seemed to take forever to finish, which is good if you enjoy beer, and I felt more full afterward – something I never experienced with other beers.

Today I decided to research this feeling and discovered it is common among porters and stouts because the grain and hops used to create the wort lead to heavier ale with a pronounced bitterness, and powerful malt flavors. Stout is different from other types of beer because of its fuller body and bitterness, and according to experts, is best served near room temperature.

As for my coffee beer, it has quite a kick and will probably take a few sips for the common person to get used to. I would hate to see it go to waste, so unless you are a fan of coffee and dark, bitter beer, don’t plan on me letting you try any. It is very delicious though.

The rest of it is in the garage. Chances are I will probably give in and try one in a few days though.

Once everything was sanitized we primed each bottle with a teaspoon of corn sugar, then she handed them to me one by one. I filled them and handed them off to her to be capped, and this time I actually had enough bottles, so we didn’t have to get creative.

The batch made 63 bottles, which are now conditioning under our bar until it’s time to move them to the fridge. The recipe says they will be ready after a week, but I plan to wait at least two before seeing how they turned out.

Photos from bottling night below.

Fermenter w/ bubbling airlock

Sanitized bottles

Filling the bottles

Bottles ready for capping

BEERmom capping the brew

Capped and ready for conditioning