Coffee Stout

Long time listener, first time caller.

I've watched a bunch of videos and read some books preparing for this day. I'm planning on brewing my first beer next weekend and have a couple of questions for anyone with experience.

I've got my kit with a 6 gallon carboy and 6 gallon bottling bucket and all the equipment, and I've got a kit for a coffee stout (specifically this one http://www.ritebrew.com/coffee-stout-dry-yeast-p-181.html?osCsid=69s59n30c8807sriu52jov0uo4)

The instructions that came with the kit are about as plain as what is on their website.

I'm good up until it comes time to add the coffee. It says to crush and steep the coffee beans for 24-36 hours before bottling. I'm assuming this means to steep the beans in water and refridgerate for 24-36 hours and add it to my bottling bucket just before bottling?

I was originally going to use the bottling bucket as a primary fermenter, then add a cold-brewed coffee to the carboy and rack the brew into it for secondary and then bottling after this is complete. But now that I've read the directions that came with the kit, I'm unsure if racking into a secondary is necessary.

Does anyone have any experience with coffee stouts. Is one method of adding the coffee preferred by you over another? Does racking into a secondary make that much difference? Or, do you have a suggestion for another method?

It's been done numerous ways, you can see a bunch of similar threads below in the "similar threads box" or simply do a search for coffee stout. Personally, I use the cold steeped method and add to secondary after steeping, it works fine.

Ok, good to hear!

WHen I steep my coffee beans, is there any special way I can go about to prevent contaminant? Will I be fine just sanitizing a glass bowl for the steeping, and dipping some cling wrap in sanitizer and covering?

I'm getting excited now, can't wait for this week to be over!

Anyone know anything about coffee? Do you get better flavor extraction using hot water (ie, making regular coffee), or by cold steeping?

You won't get much coffee flavor unless you use hot water. Which also takes care of the sanitation question.

Just don't grind the beans too fine. Go for like a french press grind. Heck, USE a french press and you won't have to worry about bags and filtering out the grounds.

I have brewed Espresso Stouts using 16oz. of brewed espresso poured directly into the priming solution and added to the bottling bucket. Works great. Good flavor.

NRS

TromboneGuy said:

You won't get much coffee flavor unless you use hot water. Which also takes care of the sanitation question.

Just don't grind the beans too fine. Go for like a french press grind. Heck, USE a french press and you won't have to worry about bags and filtering out the grounds.

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I don't have a french press, nor do I know much about coffee. You mentioned using hot water to get more flavor. If I decided to just steep it, would it benefit it to steep it in very hot water, and then put it in the fridge to set for a day? Or could I just steep it in hot water and add the hot water directly to the carboy, before racking?

Well, first of all, a french press could be a worthwhile investment. The best coffee is made with them IMO, and it's the best/easiest way to add coffee to a beer.

You could do well without one, though. First of all, you want to make sure you can filter it, so coarse - like a french press grind - would be good.

I suppose you could just do something similar to the french press method. I would boil water for a bit do deoxygenate/sterilize it, then, when it cooled to around 190-200degrees, add the coffee and steep. Let cool at room temperature, then put it in the fridge until you are ready to decant the liquid into the bottling/kegging step.

Make an extract with the ground beans and vodka, strain then add to your bottling bucket. It gets all the flavor and none of the bitterness (save that job for your hops).

TromboneGuy said:

You won't get much coffee flavor unless you use hot water. Which also takes care of the sanitation question.

Just don't grind the beans too fine. Go for like a french press grind. Heck, USE a french press and you won't have to worry about bags and filtering out the grounds.

Click to expand...

Balogna or Baloney. I cold steeped mine and added it at bottling time to taste. Don't remember off had how much I added to the 5 gallons, but I could sure taste the coffee.

You definitely don't need to steep in hot water to extract flavor. I cold-brew coffee to drink all the time. You just add your desired amount of beans to a carafe with water, leave in the fridge for 48 hours, and you have delicious cold coffee, great for iced coffees without getting watered down by ice. You get all of the coffee flavor with no bitterness.

I've made a a espresso breakfast stout. I used 4 oz of finely ground espresso bean and 12oz of water. I put the espresso grinds in a mason jar and added water. I let it sit in the refrigerator of 48 hours. I then strained the water leaving behind the grinds into my bottling bucket, added priming sugar, and bottled. Tasted great. If you "hot" brew your coffee you will release the oils from the beans and kill your head retention.

daksin said:

You definitely don't need to steep in hot water to extract flavor. I cold-brew coffee to drink all the time. You just add your desired amount of beans to a carafe with water, leave in the fridge for 48 hours, and you have delicious cold coffee, great for iced coffees without getting watered down by ice. You get all of the coffee flavor with no bitterness.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I think this is going to be how I do it