Best way to get the coffee....

....into the coffee stout?

Any way you want. You will hear every way possible. Mash, boil, secondary, hot/cold brewed, etc etc. I just crushed some whole beans and tossed them in with 5 minutes left in the boil. Worked well for me. I haven't tried every way to know what's "best".

I use 2 methods, usually both on the same beer. I add 4-5 oz. of coarsely cracked beans to secondary for aroma. At bottling or kegging, I add brewed espresso to taste for flavor.

Denny said:

I use 2 methods, usually both on the same beer. I add 4-5 oz. of coarsely cracked beans to secondary for aroma. At bottling or kegging, I add brewed espresso to taste for flavor.

Click to expand...

How much do you usually end up adding when you add brewed espresso?

We hand cracked a pound of espresso beans and put them in a secondary. It was a pain in the flipping ass but came out good.

I did 12 shots of fresh brewed esspresso after the boil. Next time I think I will do a cold brew...removes the acidity in the coffee flavor extraction.

strongarm said:

I did 12 shots of fresh brewed esspresso after the boil. Next time I think I will do a cold brew...removes the acidity in the coffee flavor extraction.

Click to expand...

How much volume in the cold brew? When do you add the cold brew? Pre ferm?

Four cups of espresso at bottling or kegging. I like coffee so for me this method makes an amazing coffee stout.

genes said:

How much do you usually end up adding when you add brewed espresso?

Click to expand...

I really don't recall. I pour 4 2 oz. samples and add a different, measured amount to each. I taste them all, pick the one I like, and scale that amount up to the batch size.

My best coffee stouts have been from adding cold press coffee to the secondary.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006H0JVW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I would probably add to secondary. Also I would do a concentrated cold brew so your not watering it down so much. Maybe 1/4 pound ground coffee to 4-5 cups of water.