Name: Bend Brewing Companys Canadian Coldfront Imperial Smoked Coffee Porter Recipe
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: 10.5 lbs Pale Ale Malt (2-row); 1 lbs Munich Malt; 0.75 lbs Crystal/Caramel 80L; 0.5 lbs Chocolate Malt; 0.25 lbs Roasted Barley; 0.25 lbs Black Patent Malt; 0.5 lbs Flaked Oats; 1 lbs Lactose (optional, for mouthfeel/sweetness); 6 oz Cold-smoked or Sumatra/Java Smoked Coffee Beans (coarsely cracked); 2 oz Regular coffee beans (same origin if desired) for flavor balancing; 1 oz Willamette (or East Kent Golding substitute); 0.5 oz Magnum (for bittering, or similar high-alpha hop); 0.5 oz Cascade (aroma/finish, optional); 1 pack High-attenuation ale yeast (e.g., Safale US-05 or Wyeast 1056 / White Labs WLP001); 1 tsp Yeast nutrient (optional); 1 tsp Irish Moss or Whirlfloc (optional for clarity); 5 gal Mash water (treated to moderate hardness; adjust for darker beer profile); 4 gal Sparge water; 1 tablet Campden (optional, to remove chlorine); 1 tsp Gypsum or Calcium Chloride (for water profile adjustment); 4 oz Corn sugar (dextrose) for bottling; 1 to taste Sanitizer (no-rinse)

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Heat 5.0 gal of mash water to approximately 165°F (74°C). Add gypsum or calcium chloride if using. Dough-in with the crushed grains to reach a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C). Stir thoroughly to eliminate dough balls.

Heat and Mash In

Hold the mash at 152°F (67°C) for 60 minutes. This temperature gives a balance of fermentable sugars and body appropriate for an imperial porter aiming for 9.3% ABV while keeping mouthfeel smooth.

After 60 minutes, perform an iodine test (optional) to confirm conversion. Raise mash to 168°F (76°C) for a 10-minute mashout to improve lautering if desired.

Sparge with approximately 4.0 gal of water heated to 170°F (77°C) or until you collect enough wort for a boil volume of roughly 6.5–7.0 gallons (accounting for evaporation) — target pre-boil gravity around 1.090–1.095 to reach ~9.3% ABV after fermentation and attenuation.

Sparge

Bring the collected wort to a rolling boil. Start a 90-minute boil (longer boil helps concentrate sugars and increase final ABV and color stability for imperial beers).

At 90 minutes remaining: add 0.5 oz Magnum (or other high-alpha hop) for bittering. (If using a shorter schedule, scale additions accordingly—this recipe assumes a 90-minute boil.)

At 20 minutes remaining: add 1.0 oz Willamette for flavor contribution, and add 1 tsp Irish Moss or Whirlfloc if using.

At 10 minutes remaining: add 0.5 oz Cascade (optional) for a gentle finish aroma if desired. Also add lactose now if using (1.0 lb) — lactose is non-fermentable and will increase sweetness and body.

With 5 minutes left: remove a small sample for gravity measurement if needed and sanitize appropriately. Continue boil to completion.

Prepare the smoked and regular coffee beans just before adding to the cooled wort. Coarsely crack the beans; do not grind to a fine powder (to avoid over-extraction and clogging).

Option A — Cold-steep (recommended for clean coffee flavor): Place the 6 oz smoked coffee and 2 oz regular coffee in a sanitized jar and cover with 2 cups (approx. 470 ml) of cold, boiled (then cooled) water. Let steep refrigerated for 12–24 hours, shaking occasionally. Strain through a fine mesh or coffee filter and reserve the cold-steeped concentrate. Add the concentrate to secondary fermenter (or to primary after active fermentation has slowed) to taste; start with 12–16 oz of concentrate for 5 gallons and adjust in future batches.

Option B — Post-boil steep: After flameout and cooling to ~180°F (82°C), add the cracked smoked coffee to the wort in a sanitized steeping bag for 10–15 minutes for a more robust, roasted coffee character. Be cautious — hotter steeping extracts more bitterness and smoke. Remove bag and chill wort quickly.

For this imperial smoked coffee porter, the cold-steep method is recommended to preserve nuanced smoky coffee aroma without excessive astringency. The smoked coffee provides the distinctive Canadian 'cold front' smoked element.

After boil completion, chill the wort quickly to 68°F (20°C) using an immersion chiller, plate chiller, or ice bath. Aim to get to yeast pitching temperature within 30–60 minutes to reduce infection risk and DMS production.

Transfer chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter. Top up with water if needed to reach 5.5 gallons (target post-boil batch size). Aerate thoroughly (shake, splash, or use oxygenation) to provide yeast with oxygen for healthy fermentation.

Pitch the yeast (one pack of high-attenuation ale yeast; make a starter if using liquid yeast or if the gravity is high for better headcount). Target fermentation temperature 64–68°F (18–20°C) for a clean profile. Expect vigorous fermentation given the high starting gravity.

Allow primary fermentation to proceed at 64–68°F (18–20°C) until activity slows (typically 7–14 days). Monitor gravity. Because this is a high-gravity beer, fermentation may be slower; keep yeast healthy and consider a diacetyl rest later if needed.

If the SG stalls prematurely, gently rouse the yeast or raise temperature to the high end of the range (70–72°F / 21–22°C) for 24–48 hours to encourage completion.

After primary fermentation has slowed and gravity readings are stable for 2–3 days (usually after 10–14 days), rack to a secondary fermenter for conditioning. This also reduces the amount of yeast and trub the coffee will contact, preserving delicate flavors.

Add cold-steeped coffee concentrate to the secondary. Start conservatively: add ~12 oz (by volume) of cold-steep concentrate to 5 gallons, taste after 24–48 hours and add more (up to a total of 16–24 oz) if desired. If you used the post-boil steep method, you may add the steeped coffee at this stage instead of earlier.

Condition on coffee in secondary for 3–7 days, tasting periodically. Avoid excessive contact time to prevent over-extraction and harshness. If you want more smoke character, you can add a small additional amount (1–2 oz) of cold-smoked beans in a sanitized muslin bag for 24 hours and then remove.

Once desired flavor is reached and final gravity is stable (target FG ~1.018–1.022 depending on attenuation — this will approximate 9.0–9.5% ABV), prepare for bottling or kegging.

If bottling: boil 4 oz corn sugar in 1 cup water, cool, and add to bottling bucket. Rack beer on top of priming solution and gently mix to evenly distribute. Fill and cap bottles. Condition at room temperature for 2–3 weeks to carbonate; then cold-condition for 1–2 weeks to mature flavor.

If kegging: force carbonate to ~2.2–2.6 volumes CO2 and age cold for 1–2 weeks to allow flavors to meld.

Cold condition for at least 2 weeks before drinking to allow smoothing of harsh alcohol notes. This imperial porter benefits from additional aging (4–8 weeks) for best integration of smoke and coffee.

Estimated bitterness of this recipe is ~25 IBUs. Adjust hop additions if you want more or less bitterness; keep hops moderate to let malt, smoke and coffee shine.

If you want less smoky character, reduce smoked coffee to 3–4 oz and increase regular coffee proportionally. To increase sweetness/mouthfeel, keep lactose; to have a drier finish omit lactose (it will push FG lower and potentially increase ABV slightly).

Because of high original gravity, ensure adequate yeast pitching rate (use a healthy starter or multiple packs) and oxygenation to ensure complete fermentation.

Pale Ale Malt (2-row)

Munich Malt

Crystal/Caramel 80L

Chocolate Malt

Roasted Barley

Black Patent Malt

Flaked Oats

Lactose (optional, for mouthfeel/sweetness)

Cold-smoked or Sumatra/Java Smoked Coffee Beans (coarsely cracked)

Regular coffee beans (same origin if desired) for flavor balancing

Willamette (or East Kent Golding substitute)

Magnum (for bittering, or similar high-alpha hop)

Cascade (aroma/finish, optional)

High-attenuation ale yeast (e.g., Safale US-05 or Wyeast 1056 / White Labs WLP001)

Yeast nutrient (optional)

Irish Moss or Whirlfloc (optional for clarity)

Mash water (treated to moderate hardness; adjust for darker beer profile)

Sparge water

Campden (optional, to remove chlorine)

Gypsum or Calcium Chloride (for water profile adjustment)

Corn sugar (dextrose) for bottling

Sanitizer (no-rinse)

Canadian Coldfront Imperial Smoked Coffee Porter

Make Canadian Coldfront Imperial Smoked Coffee Porter Recipe in just 24h . 9.3 % Alcohol by Volume25 IBUs

Canadian Coldfront Imperial Smoked Coffee Porter

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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