Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast (clone)

About This Beer

This is a clone of Mikkeller’s Beer Geek Breakfast, a celebrated coffee oatmeal stout. The recipe leans into the oat-forward body that defines the original, using a substantial 1.9 kg of flaked oats (24% of the grist) to build that characteristic silky mouthfeel. A layered roast bill combines light and dark chocolate malts with roasted barley and brown malt, aiming for espresso depth without harsh astringency.

The most distinctive addition is a small amount of Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt, which adds a subtle floral smokiness unique to New Zealand-grown manuka wood. And true to the Beer Geek Breakfast concept, cold-steeped coffee is added at packaging to carry the aroma through to the glass.

Ingredients

The roast grain selection here is worth unpacking. Gladfield’s chocolate malts use a proprietary process that keeps the husk moist during roasting, which significantly reduces the bitter and astringent edge that comes from scorched husk. Using both the light and dark chocolate varieties alongside roasted barley gives a broader roast spectrum: espresso and dark chocolate from the roasted barley, coffee and cocoa from the dark chocolate, and a softer chocolatey note from the light chocolate malt.

Brown malt contributes a dry biscuity, toasted hazelnut quality that sits underneath the roast character rather than competing with it. Weyermann CaraAmber adds toffee sweetness and body without pushing the crystal malt character too far.

The coffee addition uses cold extraction, filtered through an aeropress with a paper filter before adding to the fermenter at packaging. This controls extraction strength cleanly and avoids the harsh over-extraction that can come from adding coffee grounds directly.

Brew Day

Brewed on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4. Mash in at 70°C with 20.46 L of water, resting at 67°C for 60 minutes. Sparge used 13.64 L at 75.6°C. The high oat content made lautering slow; patience at the transfer was required to avoid a stuck sparge.

Pre-boil volume came in at 26.29 L, post-boil at 25 L. A 3 L top-up was used to hit the target, with standard fining and nutrient additions at 15 minutes. A 75-minute boil was used to help drive off DMS from the ale malt base.

Hop schedule is straightforward: Cascade and Centennial together at first wort for bittering, Cascade for late flavour additions at 15 and 5 minutes.

Fermentation

Standard ale fermentation profile in the fermentation fridge. OG came in exactly on target at 1.057. A final gravity was not recorded for this batch. Centennial was dry hopped for 3 days before packaging.

The cold-steeped coffee was prepared before packaging day and added to the fermenter.

The Result

Bottled on 2023-05-26, 12 days after brew day, targeting 2.2 volumes CO2. Tasted on the same day as packaging, so this note is from a very early sample rather than conditioned beer.

First impressions were very positive. The beer had the oat-forward stout body expected from the grist, with roast depth that was smooth rather than harsh. The coffee came through well, with the aeropress cold extraction method producing a clean, well-integrated character. The ABV came in lower than the recipe target of 5.0%, though no FG was recorded to confirm the exact number.

The aeropress cold extraction method was a clear success: it controlled the coffee strength well, filtered the fines cleanly, and avoided the harsh or over-extracted notes that can result from less controlled methods. Worth repeating.