Coffee in Primary?

I was in my local homebrew shop today, and the guy there recommended just brewing a couple pots of strong coffee, and using it to top off the primary. But then when i'm looking through the posts here regarding brewing with coffee, everyone is saying to add it to the secondary.

So, my question: Is there a reason to not add it in the primary? And if i do add it in the secondary, adding this extra fluid this far into the process won't mess it up? And when people cold brew the coffee, do you strain out the coffee grounds with a normal coffee filter, or do you need a french press?

Thanks in advance!!

I haven't used coffee yet, but I've heard the following from a bunch of different sources regarding coffee additions...

1) The yeast will drive off a lot of aroma in the primary during fermentation, so secondary is a better option IMO

2) Cold brewing the coffee will reduce the bitterness/astringency...I'd use a medium roast coffee to start

3) A coffee filter should work fine to strain out the coffee grinds

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I added ground coffee to the wort (no strainer bag) and is stayed in the trub when I bottled. The taste mellowed after time and was nice. No need to brew the coffee, just dump it in.

As for the yeast driving off the flavor, maybe. But I thought that was more of a problem with fermentables like Raspberries than with coffee which has its flavor seep in.

Me and a buddy have uses coffee three diffrent ways.
1- we ground it and steeped it in a grain bag after boil for 20min while cooling to pitch yeast.
2- we added whole beans to secondary
3-we brewed some coffee and dumped it in primary.
The first one came out nice with a good coffee flavour and actually won 1st place at the summer sudzz brew comp in GA. The second one came out nice and had stronger coffee flavour and the third is in secondary ferm right now . I liked how it came out steeping it while cooling so far .

Thanks for the input everyone! i appreciate it. Solo103, any chance how much coffee you used in these batches? I'm particularly interested in #1.

Thanks again, folks.

Yeah man no worries.
We used 2oz

I did a Coffe Stout and got a real nice coffee flavor using 1 lb of "fresh" coarsely ground coffee in a grain bag post boil until I was at pitching temp. (I left the coffee in the kettle after transfering the wort to the primary.) I say fresh coffee (it was raosted the day before) as there was none of the bitterness that many people complain of when they use coffee. That said I under hopped because I was worried about too much bitterness but still got nice coffee flavor and a caffine kick (don't drink before bed). The coffee was also a lighter roast more similar to Dunkin Donuts than Starbucks.

I just did a vanilla java stout. I used a half a pound in a french press at bottling time. I steeped the coffee in water just off the boil for 4 minutes, after 4 minutes you start to extract the bitter flavors. The beer is wonderful, great coffee flavor which I was looking for. I prefer a strong coffee flavor so I used a french roast.

I added 6oz of ground coffee directly into the secondary. It made for some issues when I went to bottle (clogged the bottle filler), but it mellowed out nicely and tasted fine.

My biggest qualm with adding coffee grounds directly is that it will produce a cardboard/cat piss off flavor (think of the smell of week old wet grounds in the office coffee pot). -I can't even drink Founders Breakfast because this flavor is so prominent in my opinion. I would recommend making a french press(es) with however much coffee you use (I use 4-6oz of coffee)(2 oz per 8cup press), and adding it while racking into the secondary. -Keep in mind that this will add volume.

You can add some to the boil as well, but if you want the aroma of the coffee, it will blow off with the C02.

Lastly, always use fresh coffee for best results. I drink and use (award winning) coffee from MadCap Coffee in Grand Rapids.