Name: The Porter Beer Bars The Barn Owl Recipe
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h
Yield: 53 servings
Ingredients: 10 lbs Maris Otter pale malt (crushed); 1 lbs Munich malt (20L); 1 lbs Chocolate malt (350–400L); 0.5 lbs Black patent malt; 0.5 lbs Roasted barley; 0.5 lbs Caramel / Crystal 80L; 1 lbs Lactose (milk sugar); 1 oz Northern Brewer (or East Kent Goldings) hops (4.5% AA); 1 tsp Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - mash adjustment (optional); 1 packet High-attenuating English ale yeast (e.g., Wyeast 1098 or Safale S-04); 1 tsp Yeast nutrient (optional); 3 pieces Whole vanilla beans (Madagascar); 4 oz Dark roasted espresso beans (coarsely cracked) or brewed espresso concentrate; 8 oz Cold-brew concentrate (strong) - optional to emphasize coffee; 8 oz Brew-strength brewed espresso (to pasteurize if adding hot) - optional; 5.5 gallons Brew water (adjusted for chloride:sulfate to favor malt/sweetness); 3 gallons Sparge water

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

Imperial Stout: inspired by the iced vanilla latte! Dark & roasted malts, milk sugar, espresso & vanilla beans

Heat ~4.5 gallons of strike water to achieve a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C) when mixing with the crushed grain. Add gypsum to the strike water if using. Dough in and thoroughly mix the crushed grains into the strike water to reach 152°F. Hold for 60 minutes for full conversion; stir after 20–30 minutes to ensure even temperature.

Heat and mash in

Raise mash temperature to 168°F (76°C) by adding hot water or direct heat, hold 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve wort runoff.

Mash out

Recirculate wort until clear, then collect into your boil kettle. Sparge with ~3 gallons of water at 170°F (77°C) until you collect approximately 6.5–7 gallons of wort pre-boil (target pre-boil volume to yield ~5.5 gallons finished after boil and trub loss).

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. At 60 minutes remaining, add 1 oz Northern Brewer hops (bittering). Boil for the remainder of the 60-minute schedule. No late hopping for flavor/aroma is necessary for this style, but you may add a small 5 minute addition if desired for subtle hop complexity.

60-minute boil

With 10 minutes left in the boil, add the 1 lb of lactose and stir to dissolve. Lactose is unfermentable, so add it during boil to sanitize and integrate sweetness and mouthfeel.

Add lactose

At flameout, cool the wort quickly to ~68°F (20°C) using a wort chiller. Transfer to a sanitized fermenter, leaving trub behind as practical. Top up with pre-boil water if needed to reach 5.25–5.5 gallons. Aerate well (oxygenate) the wort by vigorous shaking, splashing, or using an aeration stone. Pitch the yeast (rehydrate dry yeast per manufacturer or pitch a healthy starter for liquid yeast) and add yeast nutrient if using. Ferment at 66–68°F (19–20°C) for primary fermentation for 7–10 days, or until vigorous activity slows and specific gravity drops near expected terminal gravity.

Sanitize a small knife and split each vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out of the pods into a sanitized jar and add the pods as well. Lightly toast the split beans in a dry skillet for 30–60 seconds if you want a slightly deeper caramelized vanilla character (optional). Add the beans and seeds to a sanitized 8–12 oz sterile vodka (or neutral spirit) and let macerate at least 24–72 hours to extract and sanitize; this is optional but reduces contamination risk. Typical ratio here: 1–2 oz vodka per bean.

Prepare vanilla

Option A (preferred for cleanliness): Make a concentrated cold-brew concentrate using the 8 oz coarse-ground espresso beans in ~32 oz cold water for 12–24 hours, then filter and reduce or dose to the beer to taste. Option B: Brew 8–12 oz of very strong espresso/coffee and cool quickly; if adding hot coffee, you may add at packaging to avoid infection risk. If using whole/ground beans directly, use coarse cracked beans placed in a sanitized mesh bag and add to secondary for 3–5 days, tasting daily—you risk extracting harsher astringency if left too long.

Prepare coffee

After primary fermentation has slowed (approx 7–10 days and gravity near stable over 2–3 days) rack the beer to secondary (optional carboy or keg) to clarify and for flavor additions. Add the prepared vanilla extract (all seeds + pods and the vodka) and either cold-brew concentrate or brewed espresso. A suggested starting dose: 3 whole beans (scraped + pods) in vodka as prepared above plus 4–8 oz cold brew concentrate depending on desired coffee intensity. Start at the lower end (4 oz) and taste after 48 hours; you can add more if desired. Age on the additives 3–7 days, tasting daily. Do not leave on coffee grounds for long—risks bitterness/austere flavors.

Once the desired vanilla/coffee balance is reached, cold crash the beer to ~35–40°F (2–4°C) for 24–48 hours to drop out particulates. If kegging, transfer to a sanitized keg leaving sediment behind and carbonate to 10–12 psi (2.2–2.5 volumes CO2) depending on your serving conditions. If bottling, prime with appropriate dextrose to achieve 1.8–2.2 volumes CO2, bottle, and condition at room temperature for 2–3 weeks, then cold condition for an additional 1–2 weeks for clearing.

Store the beer for at least 2–4 weeks to allow flavors to marry; imperial stouts often improve with additional aging (3 months+).

When sampling, look for a rich, roasty chocolate profile balanced by creamy lactose sweetness and a smooth vanilla-espresso aroma and finish. If coffee is too harsh, reduce ground contact time or switch to cold-brew concentrate next batch. If vanilla is weak, increase bean count or infusion time; if too strong, remove pods/seeds earlier next time or dilute with more base beer.

Maris Otter pale malt (crushed)

Munich malt (20L)

Chocolate malt (350–400L)

Black patent malt

Roasted barley

Caramel / Crystal 80L

Lactose (milk sugar)

Northern Brewer (or East Kent Goldings) hops (4.5% AA)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - mash adjustment (optional)

High-attenuating English ale yeast (e.g., Wyeast 1098 or Safale S-04)

Yeast nutrient (optional)

Whole vanilla beans (Madagascar)

Dark roasted espresso beans (coarsely cracked) or brewed espresso concentrate

Cold-brew concentrate (strong) - optional to emphasize coffee

Brew-strength brewed espresso (to pasteurize if adding hot) - optional

Brew water (adjusted for chloride:sulfate to favor malt/sweetness)

Sparge water

The Barn Owl

Make The Barn Owl Recipe in just 24h . Imperial Stout: inspired by the iced vanilla latte! Dark & roasted malts, milk sugar, espresso & vanilla beans

The Barn Owl

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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