Add coffee to stout at bottling..?

I brew a stout that is ready for bottling, and saw this in Palmer's HTB.

Quoting JJP: "Steep 0.25 to 0.5 lbs of ground coffee in 1-2 qts of water in fridge for 24 hours... pour cold coffee through coffee filter, add to beer after ferm. is complete"

I was thinking of doing that to my stout, at bottling stage, adding to the last third of beer remaining in bot. bucket (the first 2/3 staying straight stout. I would adjust the coffee amount to account for the smaller "coffeed" beer).

Good idea..?

Better way to go about getting some of the batch "coffeed"..?

I've always just made drip, french press or espresso coffee, cooled it down, and added that to the secondary. Cold-brewing would probably be better for head retention because it won't release oils like hot brewing does, but I've never been that concerned.

I was listening to one of the recent Sunday Sessions and they were talking with Sparky, the owner/brewmaster at Terrapin Brewing, and they were chatting about his coffee stout, and he says that he just puts the grounds straight into secondary for 24 hours...I'm guessing you'd do this via a vinyl mesh bag or something. I might try this sometime, though I really have never liked the stale, cardboardy, "day-old coffee grounds" taste that you get from, say, Bell's Java Stout, and I'm wondering if this method will produce that. I've always gotten great results with my method with regards to taste, so I always go that route...

I have read a couple of other articles in the past on cold steeping coffee. Sanitize the container and boil the water and let it cool in the container to ensure nothing else gets in there.

If you can, why don't you try both methods.

I have read a couple of other articles in the past on cold steeping coffee. Sanitize the container and boil the water and let it cool in the container to ensure nothing else gets in there.

If you can, why don't you try both methods.

Evan! said:

I was listening to one of the recent Sunday Sessions and they were talking with Sparky, the owner/brewmaster at Terrapin Brewing

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Haha, Sparky. I think you mean Spike.

I made a brown ale and went to the local coffee shop and picked up a 12oz cup of cold press coffee to a 5 gallon batch, added it to the bottling bucket and it tasted wonderful. Now as i think about it i didn't sanitize the cold press but there was no issue.

A buddy of mine made an espresso stout which was very, very good. He put the coffee directly in the mash.

For my Oatmeal Java stout I cold brewed then added the coffe when I moved to secondary and it worked out excellent.

I've made a few batches of Buzz Beer using a 1lbs expresso brick dumped in the wort at flame out. It goes right into the primary and settles out with the cake. I never have had problems with head retention from oils. My last one got a 37 at a BJCP comp.

blacklab said:

A buddy of mine made an espresso stout which was very, very good. He put the coffee directly in the mash.

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I would recommend against this because you will end up boiling the coffee for an hour. Ever had coffee thats been on the pot for too long? Thats what you end up with when you boil coffee. Either cold brew it or add it at flame out and cool it down asap.

Used to cold brew coffee for making ice coffee. Gives you great roasty chocolate flavors. You get much more flavor from the beans imo. Plus its a pretty brainless process.

tagz said:

Used to cold brew coffee for making ice coffee. Gives you great roasty chocolate flavors. You get much more flavor from the beans imo. Plus its a pretty brainless process.

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How do you cold brew coffee?

Eric

I took ground coffee and tied in inside a coffee filter then soaked it in 12oz of water in the fridge for a couple days. Turned out pretty tasty.

Couldn't one cold brew it, filter it, then heat it a bit to pasteurize it? Seems like a good method to me.

Reporting back after bottle conditioning:
Well, I did not use much coffee, about half as much as described above... and it taste a bit too much.!!

Some may be due to the fact that hop presence seems weak, and do not balance out some of the coffee flavor.. Just poking around, here, quite a Stout newbie.


BTW, the non-caf stout is fine (made 1/3 caf, 2/3 regular stout), to my uneducated palate.

I will let them age a bit, no harm in doing that.

Interesting, as I am reading this thread the google ad came up with coolbrew.com, a "gourmet coffee concentrate." That might be an interesting way to add coffee flavor. And, it comes in a bottle that looks like star san!

Update: There is another thread here today about home brew and how long it keeps/stays drinkable... some folks seem to keep stouts for years, it seems, and they improve, apparently. Can't recall the thread, I just had a bit too much wine...:rockin: