How to add coffee to stout?

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Brainstorm

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Howdy y'all. First post for me; searched the forum and got confused, so I'm asking for help with a project.

I have an extract stout in the primary, and want to spice it up with some java. I read about "espresso pucks" (what are those?), and other things, but don't get how you can add coffee (or anything else for that matter) to the secondary without contaminating it. Enlightenment, anyone? Thank you very much.
 
Two options I believe..

1. Cut and add some coffee beans to your secondary much like you were dry hopping- muslin bag or tea infuser.

2. Bringing just to a slight boil, some coffee 'extract' (really strong shot of espresso for the most part).

I believe 1 is the way to go, personally. Either cut with sanitized razor blade or coarsely grind 2-6 oz worth of beans.
 
adding beans will add a lot of unpleasant oil, I believe the recommended way is to brew some amount (forget exactly how much) of strong coffee, let it cool in a sanitary/covered manner, then add to the secondary.
 
This is my favorite brew I make. I brew a full pot with a french press. I pour it into my drip carafe until I get to 12 cups. I put it in my bottling bucket and use more priming sugar. The oils in-hibit carbonation. I use 7/8 cup for priming 5 gallon. I use a Sumatran coffee ground fine. I think you produce too many oils if you put it anywhere other than the bottling bucket or keg. Kegging would be great because you could dial in the carbonation, I just don't keg yet. Hope this helps. :mug:
 
Well, I got my information from Midwest's peace coffee java stout instructions, which say: "The recommended method is to prepare a very strong brew at a rate of 48oz (8 cup line on a coffee maker) of coffee in a drip style coffee maker. You can then add the freshly brewed coffee to the secondary fermenter. This will maximize the coffee aromatics and flavor."
 
I wonder what would happen if I brewed 2-3 cups of coffee (16-24 oz) and then dissolved the priming sugar in it. My thinking is that I don't want to water down or weaken the beer by adding 24 oz of brewed coffee followed by 16 oz of water with priming sugar dissolved in it. Any thoughts?
 
Well thank you everyobody for your input. More than one way to do it, I reckon. I was also told you can keg it and then run your tap through some coffee beans on the way to the glass. I can't offer any advice to KayaBrew, but it sounds like you're onto something.
 
A little while ago I brewed up a batch of espresso ale. I brewed the espresso like regular coffee (drip, paper filter) and added it to primary. It sat there for 3.5 weeks, and then I bottled it. I only added a half cup of dextrose, because my previous (and first!) batch came out overcarbonated and I was paranoid. (That was probably because I only had about 15 litres of beer to bottle instead of 18 with this one..but I digress.)

There are two things I notice about this beer: it's got an oily, bitter flavour that's not terribly pleasant, and it's undercarbonated. These don't ruin the beer for me (and of course, it's only been 15 days in the bottle...too excited to wait), but I'd definitely try cold-brewing next time -- to avoid both the oils (which, along with the lower amount of dextrose, I think inhibit the head) and the bitterness.

One good thing, though, is that this beer mixes well with the first batch: a pale ale that was overcarbonated and didn't really excite me too much. It turns out quite nicely when blended about half and half, and I'm thinking of merging the two recipes if I try this again.
 
Hello. I am interested in this thread as I am currently brewing an oatmeal and was thinking about adding some coffee to it. It appears if the cold-brewing technique is preferred for eliminating some of the harsher qualities of hot-brewed coffee.

My question is if you heat it up to sterilize it, is there a point in doing it in the first place?
 
I have always used cold brewing. Added in Secondary.
I generally get my whole beans from Peet's.... but I set SWMBO up for Christmas... she now roasts her own coffee beans that are used in her stouts and porters.
 
Anyone have any thoughts on putting a couple "pods" or "capsules" in the secondary?

Also, the reason behind cold brewing and adding to the secondary instead of adding beans to the secondary - is to reduce the unwanted oils/acids/flavors? Is it the time or temperature that makes the difference? Or both?
 
Cold brewing is by far the best way to go. It pulls out of some the oils, and when you cool boiled coffee from hot to cold it can take on a nasty, acrid flavor. There's a reason cold coffee left sit out can taste so bad.
 
I brewed an oatmeal stout a few weeks ago, and I'd like to add coffee before I bottle tomorrow.

I'm going to cold steep overnight...but the idea I had was to cold steep in the sugar water that I will add tomorrow evening before I bottle. That is, I boil my sugar water now, cool it, add the coffee, and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Then I add it to the bottling bucket tomorrow. This way, I would have to add water twice (once with the cold steeped coffee, again with the priming sugar).

Has anyone done this? Will this work?

Thanks!
 
I added cold steeped coffee to my stout and it turned out great. No harsh bitterness from the coffee. I added the filtered coffee to the boil with ~10 minutes to go. This way it got sterilized. If you want to add it to the bottling bucket I would cold steep it and then add the filtered coffee to the boiled sugar water and let it cool down and sanitize the coffee at the same time. Then just pour into your bottling bucket.
 
I don't really want to add the steeped coffee to the hot sugar water, as I think that would defeat the purpose of cold steeping.

What I'm saying is to boil the water, add the priming sugar. Then cool the solution and start the coffee cold steep, using the priming solution over night.

Has this been done? Is it effective?
 
After reading through this post I can't logically think of a difference between cold brewing the coffee and adding the same coarse grind to secondary. In both instances you're steeping the coffee at room temp, thus avoiding the transfer of the coffee oils. Is the volume of liquid in secondary more likely to leech more of the oil out? That's the only reason I come up with why cold steeping in a small container and adding at bottling would yield better results than just cold steeping in secondary.
 
I have used the cold-brew method a few times with good results. I have also dome a coarse ground in the secondary the last two days and then keg/bottle.
 
Is there any concern regarding sanitation when adding coffee/espresso beans to secondary?
 
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