Blonde Coffee/chocolate stout

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Weizer

Weizer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
308
Reaction score
19
Location
San Diego
So, I'm really trying to wow my boss and convince him to let me brew on his 1 bbl pilot system(I work for a commercial brewery manufacturer). I decided I'm going to do a Blonde Coffee/chocolate stout. Blonde/golden in color, full bodied, pronounced chocolately/coffee flavors, and the silky/creaminess a stout provides. I think it will be enough of a mind **** for him, that he will cave.

I have a full recipe made: 2 row, flaked oats, carapils, and a bit of crystal 20. I'm just stuck on how to get a bold coffee flavor without imparting too much color. I'm going to make white chocolate at home, so that wont be an issue. I was thinking of taking a pound of whole coffee beans and racking on top of them? I fully understand that is the worst way to impart coffee flavoring in a standard stout/porter..but If I rack on grounds or cold pressed, I fear it will affect the color of the beer too much.

I've also done searches for coffee extract, and none of it(that I could find) is colorless..and besides, what would be the fun in using an extract? :p

Thanks in advance
 
Weizer said:
So, I'm really trying to wow my boss and convince him to let me brew on his 1 bbl pilot system(I work for a commercial brewery manufacturer). I decided I'm going to do a Blonde Coffee/chocolate stout. Blonde/golden in color, full bodied, pronounced chocolately/coffee flavors, and the silky/creaminess a stout provides. I think it will be enough of a mind **** for him, that he will cave.

I have a full recipe made: 2 row, flaked oats, carapils, and a bit of crystal 20. I'm just stuck on how to get a bold coffee flavor without imparting too much color. I'm going to make white chocolate at home, so that wont be an issue. I was thinking of taking a pound of whole coffee beans and racking on top of them? I fully understand that is the worst way to impart coffee flavoring in a standard stout/porter..but If I rack on grounds or cold pressed, I fear it will affect the color of the beer too much.

I've also done searches for coffee extract, and none of it(that I could find) is colorless..and besides, what would be the fun in using an extract? :p

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I would bet that you could use ground coffee to impart more flavor and not get as much color as you would think. I've had several lighter color ales with lots of coffee flavor in them.
 
With a light-colored beer like this you probably don't need much coffee. I've thought about doing something like this and was thinking about adding 4 ounces or so of coarse ground coffee to the mash for a homebrew-sized batch. No idea how much color it would impart...might still be too much, but not sure how else to do it.
 
I'm curious to how this turned out. I looked into making white chocolate and it looks like the majority of it is cocoa butter. Since cocoa butter is made from vegetable fat, did that leave an oily mouthfeel and kill head retention? I also looked into Stone's Coffee IPA, which was light in color, and they just used a very light roast coffee bean not to impose much color.
 
AHS had a limited edition kit not too long ago which was a white (golden) coffee stout

IIRC they used white coffee beans. I am sure they are expensive.
 
Anyone think the gelatin method would work on steeped roasted specialty grains?
 
OddSide Ales makes a beer called Bean Flicker that is a blonde coffee flavored ale like this. It's fantastic. I'm planning to use the gelatin method to get a clear(ish) coffee to add to the boil. I plan to work from this recipe (converting to a 5 gallon extract brew). https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/vanilla-coffee-bean-blonde-426044/

Here's my question: does anyone have thoughts on the amount coffee to add and when to add it to the boil? Even generalizations like early or late in the boil would be helpful.

Thanks.
 
I've always been interested in experimenting with a blonde stout, and the gelatin coffee clarification was interesting. In researching that method, I came across another method that uses agar agar instead of gelatin. Benefits are that it doesn't require refrigeration to set or the freezing step. The gelatin method also concentrates in addition to clarifying, while the agar does not. Agar also requires boiling to melt.

So why not just make a regular stout and add the agar during the last 5 minutes or so of the boil. Cooling the wort would let it set up. Then just squeeze and drain through a fine, mesh grain bag (paint strainer) to clarify. Pitch your yeast and ferment as usual.

This might work better in small batches where the wort can easily be chilled in an ice bath, as it might be a mess to clean off an immersion chiller, and would probably clog a plate chiller.

You would also lose some volume to the agar, so you would have to compensate to end up with the desired batch size.
 
It's not good to boil coffee so a mash addition would be bad. Ideal tempterature for hot extraction is 190's up to 205F. For this reason a whirlpool would be best for hot extraction of coffee. Cold extraction is also possible and would probably taste different.

As for flavor profile I think Sumatra would go well with chocolate. Finer grind will make more intense flavor so you could control intensity by adjusting the mill. Using a paint strainer would allow you to go pretty fine in crush without many grinds slipping through. BIAB nylons would be my next choice follow by muslin which is probably a bad idea. Too loose.
 
Probably too late, but coffee adds little to no color in beer. I realize it adds a lot of color when making coffee, but you use an amount for maybe 1-2 pot in 5 gallons of beer. So, add as much as you please. I've added up to 3 cups to a coffee stout. I just made a blonde ale with coffee and it had no affect on the color, still very pale/blonde.
 
I only used a cup, so the flavor wasn't as intense as some coffee stouts, but it was still very good, and the color was unaffected.
 
I can try from memory. It was simple SMASH. SMASH beers can be some of the most elegant, and have ranked among my best brews.

14lbs 2-row
Mash ~150F
FW 1 oz Cascade
60 min 1 oz Cascade
15 min 1 oz Cascade
1 cup coffee (crushed)
1 tsp Irish Moss
5 min 1 oz Cascade
 
I'll agree that the steeped coffee i used in my pumpkin coffee ale surprisingly didnt add a lot of extra color to it. It went from an orange hue to just a darker or burnt orange color..

I used 28oz coffee for 5 gallons.

You can also use this... its a new culinary product on the market.. i can see this imparting a lot of the coffee flavor, without the caffeine or the color additions.. https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/curious-bites/coffee-flour-the-new-way-to-boost-baking/
 

Similar threads

N
About to brew my own recipe for the first time, help me avoid an obvious mistake?
Replies
11
Views
751
ninkwood
N
philm63
Flavorings for Chocolate Stout
Replies
17
Views
3K
Closet Fermenter
Closet Fermenter
hoppyhoppyhippo
How Brewing Gave My Restaurant Amazing Cold Brew
Replies
1
Views
634
IMGator
I
garlicbread
I need help with my first Stout Recipe (Limited malt selection)
Replies
23
Views
2K
garlicbread
garlicbread
BillyKilgorePilgrim
Kilgore's Stout: Please read with caution. Photo's Attached.
Replies
15
Views
1K
NSMikeD
N
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top