Adding coffee beans to primary, anyone have experience?

I just brewed a stout and would like to add some coffee. The recipe i started with says to add 4oz of coarsely ground coffee beans to secondary. I'm wondering if anyone has experience adding the ground beans directly to the primary after fermentation is completed. I really don't want to secondary if I don't have to.

Thanks.

I just did this. I added to primary. But I racked to secondary after 7 days on the beans. I wanted to minimize the amount of coffee grounds that makes it into the bottles. YMMV.
Can't wait to taste it, couple more weeks.

You can always bag the beans in a hop or muslin bag. If you're really paranoid about bits of beans in your bottles, move it to the secondary for a few days to move the particles out of suspension.

Thanks. I think I'll be able to rack above them. I'm hoping they sink to the bottom and become one with the trub.

I just did this too. I added them to secondary for a week. A little bit of coffee stayed on top but most of it sank.

Is it ok to use a blender on the beans? I don't have a grinder.

just made a porter adding coffee and kahula. steeped the coffee for 5 days in the fridge. then ran coffee through a filter, added 2 cups of coffee and 2 cups of kahula to the primary. just moved to a secondary the other day. took a little taste - think its going to be great!

is there any risk of infection if you dont sanitize?

is there a diagram that shows how much for a little taste and how much for a lot of taste. I am not sure how much to use.

If I'm not mistaken coffee beans directly in the primary can extract the oils from the beans killing your head retention. One of my friends reported a thin layer of oil when she attempted to dry hop with whole coffee beans.

Cold brewing a coffee will extract more flavor and less oils/bitterness, leading to a fuller coffee flavor to mix with your brew. I plan on cold brewing a 1/2 gallon of zimbabwean beans into my porter. I'll report how it comes out.

drathbone said:

If I'm not mistaken coffee beans directly in the primary can extract the oils from the beans killing your head retention.

Cold brewing a coffee will extract more flavor and less oils/bitterness, leading to a fuller coffee flavor to mix with your brew. I plan on cold brewing a 1/2 gallon of zimbabwean beans into my porter. I'll report how it comes out.

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+1 for cold brew advice.

I used a french press, very coarsely ground beans and ice water. Works pretty well. This is pretty similar to the process that Schlafly uses for their coffee stout.

earwig said:

I just brewed a stout and would like to add some coffee. The recipe i started with says to add 4oz of coarsely ground coffee beans to secondary. I'm wondering if anyone has experience adding the ground beans directly to the primary after fermentation is completed. I really don't want to secondary if I don't have to.

Thanks.

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Just dump the grounds in. Yes, you can use a blender, but it will be difficult. The Oils will not affect head retention. My Coffee Stout is delicious... and I just dumped the grounds in. They will sink to the bottom and become part of the trub.

I just finished the NB Peace Coffee Stout. I used a food processor to grind the beans and just dumped them in the secondary. It ended up tasting very good. The recipe called for 4 oz of coffee but we ended up using a little less after reading reviews that 4 oz. was a little overpowering.

Cold Press is the way to go. Grind up the coffee and put it in a jar of cooled boiled water the day that you brew. Before bottling or kegging, dump the strained water into the carboy. Let sit for about a day, then bottle or keg. Bingo.

Thanks for the help! I think I'm going to risk it and dump them in primary for 1 1/2 weeks.

Verio said:

The Oils will not affect head retention.

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This couldn't be more wrong. Oil has a direct effect on head retention (peanut butter in a pb stout anyone?). If you want to risk significantly reducing your head retenton, than feel free to dry hop directly with beans. Otherwise, I would do a cold brew, you simply cannot go wrong with cold brewing coffee beans.

Other than head retention (I'm not concerned about this because doing a still mead) and extra gunk in the bottom (throwing in cocoa nibs anyway, so again, not an issue for me), is there any reason not to just throw the coffee in primary? Will coffee in primary extract any unwanted compounds (ie too bitter or acidic?)? Thanks.