--- title: Winter is coming, level up your beers! description: MiniBrew - Ready to level up your beers!-  2 New Brew Packs Want to Try Now image: https://blog.minibrew.io/hubfs/Minibrew_SPutnik_v2.png --- - [Blog Home](https://blog.minibrew.io/) - [The MiniBrew](https://www.minibrew.io/product/minibrew) - [Brew Packs](https://www.minibrew.io/brewpacks) - [Shop](https://www.minibrew.io/minibrew-systems) - [Support](https://minibrew.zendesk.com/hc/en-us) [![MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png?width=100&height=100&name=MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png "MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent")](https://www.minibrew.io/) - [Blog Home](https://blog.minibrew.io/) - [The MiniBrew](https://www.minibrew.io/product/minibrew) - [Brew Packs](https://www.minibrew.io/brewpacks) - [Shop](https://www.minibrew.io/minibrew-systems) - [Support](https://minibrew.zendesk.com/hc/en-us) [![MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png?width=100&height=100&name=MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png "MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent")](https://blog.minibrew.io/) [MiniBrew Blog](https://blog.minibrew.io/) # Winter is coming, level up your beers! by [Bart van de Kooij](https://blog.minibrew.io/author/bart-van-de-kooij), on Oct 16, 2020, 4:42:25 PM ![MiniBrew_winterbeers](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/MiniBrew_winterbeers.jpg?width=603&name=MiniBrew_winterbeers.jpg) With fall around the corner and the winter not far behind, the lighter beers you enjoyed during the summer - Wiltenburg lager, Hopfenweisse, Hazy Daze may become less appealing as we start to long for darker and more intense beers. ### **Enhancing Brew Packs** For MiniBrewers, it’s all about a category of their own, a kind of freestyle.  It often has a dark and more intense colour and can contain spices that make you flare up from the inside! The spices, which are also used in mulled whisky, are typically "wintry" and include cloves, cacao, liquorice and aniseed.  We want to encourage our MiniBrewers to be creative in brewing their beers, we do however understand that it can be daunting to go from brewing beer using our brew packs to creating your own recipes from scratch. Therefore we made two brews ourselves that have a simple enhancement of our Sputnik and Stapzwan’s Porter Brew Pack, that you can also easily do at home! ##  #1 -Sputnik, Russian Imperial Stout with an Irish twist ![Minibrew_SPutnik_v2](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Minibrew_SPutnik_v2.png?width=611&name=Minibrew_SPutnik_v2.png) **What do you need to create this recipe:** - MiniBrew Sputnik Brew Pack.  €32,99  [€24,75 Special Promotion](https://www.minibrew.io/product/sputnik/) - Whiskey or bourbon - Cacao nibs (toasted/roasted) 7g/L. - Big tea-infuser or a hop spider **How to brew** ***Preparations (24h)*** - Roast/toast your cacao nibs in an oven for ~10 minutes at 125℃, make sure to keep an eye on them because every oven is different and you don’t want to scorch them! - Let the nibs cool down to room temperature and soak them in whisky or bourbon for 24 hours in a closed tray.  ***Brewing*** - Start your brewing process by scanning the QR code of the Sputnik Brew Pack and follow the instructions until the fermentation starts. - Once the keg is set and ready to start fermentation, sanitise thoroughly and add the nibs into the tea-infuser / hop sider. - Don’t just add them to the keg because the nibs float and you won’t be able to remove them! - Leave the nibs for ~5 days and carefully remove them from the keg. You can always reduce or increase the amount of time depending on the intensity of the flavour you want to extract. ***Other bits*** You can add the nibs whenever you want! Don’t feel restricted by our recipe, but try what you think is best. Get more inspiration about using toasted cacao nibs from Pro brewers [here](https://byo.com/article/brewing-with-chocolate-tips-from-the-pros/). ![IMG_9401](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/IMG_9401.jpg?width=3024&name=IMG_9401.jpg) : [![Buy a Sputnik €24,75](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2183670/2fa12e1e-f8c8-4d32-a80e-e2cc563c63c1.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2183670/2fa12e1e-f8c8-4d32-a80e-e2cc563c63c1)   ### #2 -🥥 Stapzwan Coconut Porter ![MiniBrew_porter-1](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/MiniBrew_porter-1.png?width=602&name=MiniBrew_porter-1.png) **What do you need to create this recipe:** - Stapzwan Porter Brew Pack.  €29,99  [€22,50 Special Promotion](https://www.minibrew.io/product/stapzwan-porter/) - Coconut flakes (biological is preferred, make sure it doesn’t contain sulfur) **How to brew** ***Preparations (20min)*** - Roast/toast your coconut flakes between 120-150 °C for 5 - 10 minutes, it’s again important to keep an eye on the roasting process as every oven is different and these flakes can burn in an instant.  ***Brewing*** - Start your brewing process by scanning the QR code  of the Porter Brew Pack and follow the instructions till the boiling process is taking place. - Once the boiling process has finished and the cooling is starting, remove the top cover from the mash tun and add the roasted coconut via the hole in the middle of the mash tun as shown in the picture above. ***Other bits*** You can add the flakes whenever you want! Don’t feel restricted by our recipe, but try what you think is best. Get more inspiration about using toasted coconut flakes via Homebrewtalk [here](https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/brewing-with-coconut.679110/) ![IMG_9408](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/IMG_9408.jpg?width=3024&name=IMG_9408.jpg) [![Buy a Stapzwan Porter €22,50](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2183670/0de0b238-ae2a-4fb3-87f0-535f7a8f4040.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2183670/0de0b238-ae2a-4fb3-87f0-535f7a8f4040) ## The ‘prepare for winter’ bundle ![Minibrew_Brewpack_Winterbundle](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Minibrew_Brewpack_Winterbundle.png?width=964&name=Minibrew_Brewpack_Winterbundle.png) If you have been inspired and want to try both of the recipes, we’ll offer a limited bundle of Winter Beers Giving you a €20 discount. €62,98  - **€42,98 Special Promotion.** That's an additional 10% discount on the bundle. Use the following code at check-out **prepareforwinterbeer**  We hope you enjoyed this Winter Beer update and look forward to hearing which you prefer or what's you've in mind in the comments below.   ## Comments ### The MiniBrew Blog The home for Craft Brew Heroes to learn about creating the perfect craft beer at home.  - [Recent](https://blog.minibrew.io/level-up-your-beers#recent) - [Topics](https://blog.minibrew.io/level-up-your-beers#topics) - [Archive](https://blog.minibrew.io/level-up-your-beers#archive) - [Beer Release (4)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/beer-release) - [Blog Releases (3)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/blog-releases) - [Brew Pack (4)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/brew-pack) - [Brewery (4)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/brewery) - [Craft Beer (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/craft-beer) - [Craft Beer Brewing Equipment (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/craft-beer-brewing-equipment) - [Craft Brew (4)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/craft-brew) - [Hardware (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/hardware) - [Home Brew Set Up Ideas (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/home-brew-set-up-ideas) - [Home Brewing Books (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/home-brewing-books) - [MiniBrew Update (28)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/minibrew-update) - [Product Update (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/product-update) - [Update (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/topic/update) More... - [May 2020 (5)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/05) - [July 2019 (3)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2019/07) - [June 2019 (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2019/06) - [November 2019 (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2019/11) - [July 2020 (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/07) - [October 2020 (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/10) - [November 2020 (2)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/11) - [March 2020 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/03) - [June 2020 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/06) - [August 2020 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2020/08) - [January 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/01) - [February 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/02) - [April 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/04) - [May 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/05) - [June 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/06) - [July 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/07) - [August 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/08) - [September 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/09) - [October 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/10) - [December 2021 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2021/12) - [March 2022 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2022/03) - [May 2022 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2022/05) - [September 2022 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2022/09) - [December 2022 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2022/12) - [May 2023 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2023/05) - [July 2023 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2023/07) - [September 2023 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2023/09) - [November 2023 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2023/11) - [December 2023 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2023/12) - [January 2024 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2024/01) - [February 2024 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2024/02) - [May 2024 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2024/05) - [July 2024 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2024/07) - [February 2025 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2025/02) - [November 2025 (1)](https://blog.minibrew.io/archive/2025/11) More... ### Join Our Community [![MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent](https://blog.minibrew.io/hs-fs/hubfs/MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png?width=100&height=100&name=MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow%20transparent.png "MIniBrew_Logo_Yellow transparent")](https://www.minibrew.io/) Copyright © 2020 MiniBrew B.V. 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