Coffee Porter Dry-Hopping w/ Coffee

My question is, what kind of beans to pick up? I was figuring a french roast would work well. I'm picking up the vodka and beans tonight to soak for a couple of weeks. Then I'm going to put it into the carboy for a few more weeks.

Whadaya'll think?

I wondered about dry steeping coffee beans also, I believe the oils may present a problem, but I am no expert.

You might be better off leaving the beans in the vodka and adding the coffee a bit at a time in the bottling bucket. That way you can stop adding when you have enough flavor. Actually, I be more inclined to just boil some water and let it cool rather than using vodka. I'd also coarse grind the beans.

Be advised....I used about 6oz of coarsely crushed beans in secondary for about a week. This was WAY too much coffee flavor for a similar beer.

I'd either cut the amount in half, or cold brew some coffee and put it in secondary, or add at bottling. Personally, I don't see the point of using vodka.

I would actually avoid darker roasts due to the aforementioned oils. Go for something lightly roasted which would Guatemalan, Costa Rican, Panamanian or other Central American bean in the hands of an experience roaster (i.e., not Charbucks). Some Africans such as Kenyan or Ethiopian would also fit the bill.

Or just pick some up at the grocery store and toss them in

I brewed a really good espresso stout earlier this year - my wife has an espresso machine, so we brewed up 20 oz of espresso using Panama beans. They're not roasted as dark, so like the Baron said there aren't as many oils. We dumped it into the secondary and let it set two weeks before kegging. Tasted awesome, but it was a pretty big stout (1.070 or so), so it could support all of that coffee.

Baron von BeeGee said:

IGo for something lightly roasted which would Guatemalan, Costa Rican, Panamanian or other Central American bean in the hands of an experience roaster (i.e., not Charbucks).

Click to expand...

LOL at "Charbucks." I've been criticizing them for that for years. I love dark-roasted coffee, but they just don't seem to do it right.

Hey, could I get a recipe for the Expresso stout? That sounds really good and my wife would probably love it!

Here you go - it's from BYO. I used 20 oz in the secondary and I thought it turned out fantastic. Also, I used White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast, which doesn't attenuate as much. This left a nice chewy mouthfeel.

Also Also, I left out the finishing hops and only added the bittering hops. I figured there wasn't any need for them because I was adding extra coffee.

Also Also Also, I didn't have any 60 degree crystal, so I used 40.

If you want to read the entire article about brewing with coffee, it's here: http://byo.com/feature/1020.html


Coffee Imperial Stout
(5 gal/19L, all-grain)
OG: 1.067 FG: 1.016
IBU: 70 SRM: 35
by Doug McNair, Redhook Breweries

Ingredients
8.0 lbs. (3.9 kg) 2-row pale malt
2.25 lbs. (1 kg) crystal (60ö80¡ L)
1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) wheat malt
1.25 lbs. (0.6 kg) chocolate malt
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) roasted barley
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) black patent malt
18.75 AAU Northern Brewer hops (bittering)
(2.5 oz./71 g of 7.5% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (42 g) finishing hops
(Northern Brewer or Cascade)
15 oz. (445 mL) of espresso
Ale yeast (your choice)

Step by Step
Mash in all grains at 149¡ F (65¡ C). Hold until converted, about 1 hour. Mash off at 170¼ F (77¡ C) and begin lautering. Sparge to achieve eight gallons (30 L) of wort. Bring to a boil and add 2.5 oz. (71 g) boiling hops. Total boil is 70 minutes. After the boil, turn off the heat and add 1.5 oz. (43 g) finish hops for five minutes. Cool to 70¼ F (21¡ C) and ferment with ale yeast. Original gravity goal is 17.5¡ Plato (1.069 SG). Terminal gravity will be pretty high, approximately 1.016. Add espresso at end of primary fermentation, bottle and enjoy!

The last coffee beer I brewed was a coffee stout. I cold brewed a pot over night and added it to the secondary and it turned out great.