Sensitive to caffeine.. advice on avoiding caffeinated brew

Just a very basic general kind of question regarding caffeine and beer. I am extremely sensitive to caffeine and try to avoid it at most costs. How can I safely avoid in-taking it through beer in general? Do stouts and darker ales that descriptions read "roasted coffee taste", "light roasted coffee flavor" or "roasted" mean that the beer could contain caffeine? I am aware that caffeine is presented through guarana and coffee beans but dont know the extent of it making its way into an ale. I absolutely love stouts, porters and such but have always been weary of drinking more than one at a sitting for the simple fact of fear of consuming caffeine. If I buy beer kits from NB or AustinHomebrew that contain roasted malts of any kind could I potentially be presenting caffeine to a brew? Thanks!

The coffee flavor in stouts & darker beers comes from roasted barley malts, which contain no caffeine. Unless the beer you are drinking has been infused with actual coffee or coffee beans, you're fine.

^what he said

Roasted and coffee go together like baked and chicken. One is a process, the other is a product that goes thru the process.

CastleHollow said:

Unless the beer you are drinking has been infused with actual coffee or coffee beans, you're fine.

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The amounts of coffee that ARE infused into beer are negligible at best. You will be extremely intoxicated before you get a caffeine effect from these beers.


My wife also has extreme caffeine sensitivity and drinks EVERY stout/breakfast stout/coffee stout she can get past her lips. When I asked her if she was having issues with the coffee she said," No it was about the same as drinking decaf coffee."

I think the MOST you'd use in a coffee-infused beer is maybe 2-3 ounces, about enough for a pot of coffee, but diluted into 5 gallons. If you're really, truly that sensitive to it, you could brew a coffee beer with (highest quality possible) decaf.

I just brewed a saison with 1 ounce of coffee, so that's even less of an issue.

That is great news to my ears. I can now enjoy more of my favorites without worrying about the caffeine garbage. Thank you guys for the in depth responses! Very informative

eulipion2 said:

I think the MOST you'd use in a coffee-infused beer is maybe 2-3 ounces, about enough for a pot of coffee, but diluted into 5 gallons. If you're really, truly that sensitive to it, you could brew a coffee beer with (highest quality possible) decaf.

I just brewed a saison with 1 ounce of coffee, so that's even less of an issue.

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Did I sample this at JRHB's Big Brew day?

Gerard

You did indeed! Hi Gerard!