Adding coffee to stout recipe

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ChrisMottram

ChrisMottram

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I'm using a recipe kit for an American Stout, and I'd like to add coffee to it. I've read some of the possible techniques, but was wondering if anyone had advice on adding ground coffee to the steep. Read somewhere that 4-8oz of ground coffee in the steep will produce a good coffee flavor w/o overpowering or being too bitter. I'm doing a 5 gallon batch.

Anyone have some advice? Thanks!
 
I've done that, but it was almost too much coffee taste. I think cold brewing and adding to a secondary has given me the best results.
 
I add 1/4 cup of instant coffee to the bottling bucket. (6 gallon batch). There's a lot of opinions on here regarding this subject. Some people brew a pot let it cool then add it in.
How much "coffee flavor" is subjective for each person. My opinion is, If you add it to the bottling bucket or keg you can control how much "coffee flavor" is in your stout.
 
I added a quart of brewed to my keg and it wasn't enough for a 5 G batch. I would bump up to two next time
 
Yeah, I should add that the 6 ounces I added was very potent, and I only wanted a hint.
 
+1 on cold brewing and adding to secondary. Don't add it pre-boil or directly to the boil (ever tried boiling a cup of coffee, then drink it? BLECH!!!). Also, hot brewed coffee is more acidic than cold brewed, so you will avoid some other off flavors with it that way. Alternately, you could try "dry-hopping" with coarse ground coffee beans for a day or two, that should produce a similar effect to cold brewing and adding to secondary.
 
eyebrau said:
+1 on cold brewing and adding to secondary. Don't add it pre-boil or directly to the boil (ever tried boiling a cup of coffee, then drink it? BLECH!!!). Also, hot brewed coffee is more acidic than cold brewed, so you will avoid some other off flavors with it that way. Alternately, you could try "dry-hopping" with coarse ground coffee beans for a day or two, that should produce a similar effect to cold brewing and adding to secondary.
Click to expand...

+2 on this!

Also consider getting a low-acidity bean like a Guatemalan, and make sure the ground is course (if cold-pressing) so the fine grounds won't get through the filter.
 
eyebrau said:
+1 on cold brewing and adding to secondary. Don't add it pre-boil or directly to the boil (ever tried boiling a cup of coffee, then drink it? BLECH!!!). Also, hot brewed coffee is more acidic than cold brewed, so you will avoid some other off flavors with it that way. Alternately, you could try "dry-hopping" with coarse ground coffee beans for a day or two, that should produce a similar effect to cold brewing and adding to secondary.
Click to expand...

Alright, definitely gonna use the cold-brewing technique. Thoughts on adding the cold-brewed coffee directly to the primary and not using a secondary?
 
I personally don't see any problem with that as long as it's added after the wort has cooled. I'm not sure if there's any interplay with the yeast to define whether adding before or after fermentation has completed is better. Perhaps more experienced brewers would know?
 
just added coffee to my Porter last weekend,I cold steeped it. 4 scoops to 4 cups of water.......next time I may double the coffee
 
i cold steep 2oz of starbucks espresso in 16oz water for 24 hours and bottled to taste . i used a french press, and ended up using all 16oz brewed espresso
 
I used cold brewed coffee in a cream stout I made last march. I think I used about 12oz in a 5 gal batch. I added it to the bottling bucket. The end result was fantastic. One problem though. After about 5 months I got bottle bombs. My suspicion is that since the coffee wasn't sanitized it introduced some bacteria that went to town on the lactose.
 
I have been debating on whether to "cold brew" or just coarse grind and add to secondary. You are basically getting the same thing accomplished with either, just need to rack off of the beans after a couple days. So this would be a very short secondary.

Maybe I could add the beans to the primary (brewed two weeks ago), and then rack to secondary a few days later. I would then be able to secondary for a few weeks without worry. I don't think I will have time for a couple weeks to mess with it (we are having a baby).
 
Around a month ago I brewed a porter I wanted to add coffee to. I used decaf because my wife's doctor said so :) I used 4oz of ground coffee put into a large peanut butter jar and covered it with cold water, and put it in the fridge for 24 hours. The coffee itself was pretty smooth, so i added it to my bottling bucket, gave it many tastes, and decided there wasn't enough coffee flavor, so I refiled the jar with cold water, shook the heck out it, and then added the same amount of water again. I remembered later of course, that coffee might add bitterness, and at the third week in bottle, the coffee bitterness was overpowering for me. Now at a little over a month in the bottle, the coffee flavor has mellowed quite a bit, and doesn't cause me to pucker while drinking it. The one thing I should have done was back off a little bit on the bittering hops and let the coffee cover the gap. I am glad I use good sanitation practices, because I didn't even think about the unsterilized coffee grounds potentially causing bottle bombs. Does your wife say your home brew hobby has become an obsession? Is the proper response, "Okay honey, I guess I shouldn't take the time to brew your favorite flavored beer anymore." The look she gave me was priceless.
 
MindenMan said:
Does your wife say your home brew hobby has become an obsession? Is the proper response, "Okay honey, I guess I shouldn't take the time to brew your favorite flavored beer anymore." The look she gave me was priceless.
Click to expand...

You are either very brave, or very stupid... ;)


EDIT: I sprayed my 4oz of beans with starsan in a zip loc, and also spayed the grider (small electric one). Dried everything with some paper towels, and coarse ground the beans. Dumped them in the primary bucket on top of the Stout that has been in for 12days. I will rack to secondary in another 2 days, and let it hang out for a couple more weeks before I bottle.
 
I brewed a Founders Breakfast stout clone and did 2 infusions one when it went into the primary and one a week later in the secondary. I bought the best Kona and Sumatran coffee I could find. I added 3-4 big scoops(course ground,1-2 tbsp each), cold pressed it, then microwaved it to sanitize and chilled before adding. Turned out great! You can really taste the coffee. Good luck!
 
I wonder if you could just add some espresso to the mix with the primer? If the espresso is hot and fresh, it will help dissolve your sugars and be free of any bacteria hitchhiking in? I've never done this before myself, but after thinking about it, I would be tempted to try it this way.
 
I added a heaping tablespoon of fresh ground coffee at 5 minutes to flameout...turned out to be the best stout I've ever made. My friends are begging to to brew it again.
 
fatnoah said:
I used cold brewed coffee in a cream stout I made last march. I think I used about 12oz in a 5 gal batch. I added it to the bottling bucket. The end result was fantastic. One problem though. After about 5 months I got bottle bombs. My suspicion is that since the coffee wasn't sanitized it introduced some bacteria that went to town on the lactose.
Click to expand...

I only make and drink cold brew coffee at home. I make a week's supply once per week, based on this technique.

It makes a concentrate that I then dilute to 1 part concentrate to 2 parts water (to drink). I think I would just take the straight concentrate and add it to my fermentor. The question will be how much to use.

I'd probably sanitize it by popping in the microwave for a minute or maybe even boiling it down a little. There's no risk in heating at this point because there are no additional acids, tannins, or bitter flavor compounds to extract because the grounds and particulate matter have all been filtered out already.

The advantages to cold brew, and this method, would be:

  • MUCH lower acid content
  • Smoother coffee flavor (this and the above are the reasons I do it!)
  • No grounds or any particulate matter to worry about getting into the beer; the filtration that you do at the end of the cold brew process is very thorough
  • Having it in a concentrate (especially if it's been boiled down) will add a lot of flavor but minimal voloume
 
MindenMan said:
Around a month ago I brewed a porter I wanted to add coffee to. I used decaf because my wife's doctor said so :) I used 4oz of ground coffee put into a large peanut butter jar and covered it with cold water, and put it in the fridge for 24 hours. The coffee itself was pretty smooth, so i added it to my bottling bucket, gave it many tastes, and decided there wasn't enough coffee flavor, so I refiled the jar with cold water, shook the heck out it, and then added the same amount of water again. I remembered later of course, that coffee might add bitterness, and at the third week in bottle, the coffee bitterness was overpowering for me. Now at a little over a month in the bottle, the coffee flavor has mellowed quite a bit, and doesn't cause me to pucker while drinking it. The one thing I should have done was back off a little bit on the bittering hops and let the coffee cover the gap. I am glad I use good sanitation practices, because I didn't even think about the unsterilized coffee grounds potentially causing bottle bombs. Does your wife say your home brew hobby has become an obsession? Is the proper response, "Okay honey, I guess I shouldn't take the time to brew your favorite flavored beer anymore." The look she gave me was priceless.
Click to expand...

Okay, the look she gave me was when I read to her what I posted. Thank goodness she didn't know that it was me... Shhhh

Back to beer; I was quite discouraged about the coffee just blowing out everything when it was young. About a week ago, my wife opened one that had been in the fridge, and I could not believe it was the same beer! Stout up front fading to a little coffee in the middle, and a bit of a dry finish. I am sure in another month or so it will be even more mellow and balanced. I learned the hard way to not throw any funky tasting beer. I threw out 2.5 gallons of Apricot Ale that didn't taste "right". Needless to say that particular bucket was just fermenting faster, and you can guess the rest...
 
ianskate said:
+2 on this!

Also consider getting a low-acidity bean like a Guatemalan, and make sure the ground is course (if cold-pressing) so the fine grounds won't get through the filter.
Click to expand...

Guatemalan roasts are usually more of a lighter roast, lighter roasts have more acidity. I would go for something in the middle of the road, it will give you a good basic coffee flavor without to much acidic or smoky flavors. Agreed on the course ground, I would say coarser the better for any type of coffee addition to beer.
 
Y'all have got me thinking. I just did an extract version of Dogfish Head's Dark Star Licorice Stout. The licorice flavor comes through as more of an aftertaste. I'm wondering if I could add coffee to this if it would give a coffee flavor more up front w/ the licorice finish. My wife and I like to add Sambuca to our coffee on the weekends so I would maybe call it Sunday Morning Coming Down Stout. I'm really thinking I want to try this! The recipe is in Sam Calagione's Extreme Brewing book.
 
I just did a peace coffee stout from Nb, and their direction was to crush whole beans coarsely and rack onto in secondary for an additional two weeks. Just bottled this weekend and the coffee flavor smacked me in the face. Not bad though for uncarbonated sample though.
 
I put 8 cups of hot coffee in the carboy. Then racked on to it. Turned out fantastic. I used the peace coffee kit from Midwest Supplies. One of my favorite stouts
 

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