adding whole coffee beans at finishing hopping stage

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
P

postbrewer

New Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I am brewing a coffee stout for the first time. My idea was to add whole beans during the finishing hopping stage. A lot of the threads I've been reading suggests cold steeping the beans and adding as opposed to my idea. Can I finish hop with the whole beans and get the results I want? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would go with cold steeping. There is a reason you keep seeing that. People have had more luck getting the flavor they want this way.
 
Adding coffee grounds or beans usually increases the green bell pepper aroma you've probably heard people talk about. I have an oatmeal coffee stout that I've brewed several times and when I added the grounds directly to the fermentor is when I got huge amounts of green bell pepper. I use the same coffee every time, but usually cold steep instead of adding it directly. The green bell pepper aroma does eventually blow off, but it took several months in the keg with weekly co2 purging to get rid of it.
 
cadillacandy said:
Adding coffee grounds or beans usually increases the green bell pepper aroma you've probably heard people talk about. I have an oatmeal coffee stout that I've brewed several times and when I added the grounds directly to the fermentor is when I got huge amounts of green bell pepper. I use the same coffee every time, but usually cold steep instead of adding it directly. The green bell pepper aroma does eventually blow off, but it took several months in the keg with weekly co2 purging to get rid of it.
Click to expand...

What sort of coffee did you use? I've only made one coffee beer, but I added freshly roasted, coarse ground beans for about 72 hrs before bottling and had no green pepper flavor or aroma. It's a terrible off flavor and I consider myself to be very sensitive to it. Terrapin 'dry-beans' Wake N Bake per Spike's interview on CYBI.
 
TNGabe said:
What sort of coffee did you use? I've only made one coffee beer, but I added freshly roasted, coarse ground beans for about 72 hrs before bottling and had no green pepper flavor or aroma. It's a terrible off flavor and I consider myself to be very sensitive to it. Terrapin 'dry-beans' Wake N Bake per Spike's interview on CYBI.
Click to expand...

I used 4oz of 8 O'clock regular beans that I ground in a 3 gallon batch. I added mine directly to the primary along with the yeast and let it go for 2 weeks or so.

Maybe going thru fermentation is what pulls that out? How roasted were your beans? I'd love to try to figure out what causes it because I've never heard a real explanation and it really is an awful flavor and aroma.
 
cadillacandy said:
I used 4oz of 8 O'clock regular beans that I ground in a 3 gallon batch. I added mine directly to the primary along with the yeast and let it go for 2 weeks or so.

Maybe going thru fermentation is what pulls that out? How roasted were your beans? I'd love to try to figure out what causes it because I've never heard a real explanation and it really is an awful flavor and aroma.
Click to expand...

I'd say a combination of using low quality coffee and leaving the beer on the coffee for too long.

I roasted mine to full city. Didn't use a great coffee, but definitely higher quality than Starbucks, Peet's, or other 'premium' grocery store stuff.

Next time, buy fresh coffee from a local roaster with a good reputation and you'll be amazed at the difference.
 
TNGabe said:
I'd say a combination of using low quality coffee and leaving the beer on the coffee for too long.

I roasted mine to full city. Didn't use a great coffee, but definitely higher quality than Starbucks, Peet's, or other 'premium' grocery store stuff.

Next time, buy fresh coffee from a local roaster with a good reputation and you'll be amazed at the difference.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's it because the same recipe with the same 8 o'clock coffee made it to mini BOS at NHC2013 round 2. I'd agree that it's not the best coffee, but when it's cold steeped there is no green pepper flavors or aromas.

I'd guess that the long contact time and going thru fermentation probably had something to do with it. I should try several different methods to see what causes it. I'm super sensitive to it too.

Edit: that certainly wasn't meant to sound condescending or anything like that... just wanted to be clear.
 
cadillacandy said:
I don't think that's it because the same recipe with the same 8 o'clock coffee made it to mini BOS at NHC2013 round 2. I'd agree that it's not the best coffee, but when it's cold steeped there is no green pepper flavors or aromas.

I'd guess that the long contact time and going thru fermentation probably had something to do with it. I should try several different methods to see what causes it. I'm super sensitive to it too.

Edit: that certainly wasn't meant to sound condescending or anything like that... just wanted to be clear.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize when you said 'directly to the fermenter' you meant before fermentation. Maybe that's it, but either way 8 weeks is way longer than you want to dry bean for. 48hrs is what to shoot for, I only went 72hrs because I was busy and couldn't bottle.

If you would have used good coffee, you might have won gold. ;) I'd say 8 O'clock is the coffee equivalent of Natty Ice, but of course the same pool of judges who judge NHC gave Natty Ice a gold medal at GABF this year. :D
 
TNGabe said:
If you would have used good coffee, you might have won gold. ;) I'd say 8 O'clock is the coffee equivalent of Natty Ice, but of course the same pool of judges who judge NHC gave Natty Ice a gold medal at GABF this year. :D
Click to expand...

Hahahh that's exactly what I thought when I was typing that too. Hehehe...

Either way, OP, let us know what you decide to do and how it works out for you.
 
I had an imperial stout w/ coffee get dinged hard in judging for green pepper flavor (I actually can't pick it up, but I'm guessing it's from the coffee). It was fully carbed in the keg and bottled; Will this dissipate in the bottles over time?
 
bmick said:
I had an imperial stout w/ coffee get dinged hard in judging for green pepper flavor (I actually can't pick it up, but I'm guessing it's from the coffee). It was fully carbed in the keg and bottled; Will this dissipate in the bottles over time?
Click to expand...

Did you bottle all of it, or is there still some in the keg? I've found that with some off-gassing and time you're able to get rid of most of it. If it's already all bottled, I'm not sure it will go away or not.
 
I use 10% Hawaiian Kona Choc/MacNut coffee. Cold brewed and added to the bottling bucket. 8 oz to 2 gallons of beer.
 
4oz of fresh cracked beans in secondary. Coffee brews are one of the few that I use secondary. I leave my beer on the beans for about 2-3 days. Any longer and it makes it difficult to get it to carb naturally. I use the dark roast from a local roaster. You need to sample and taste to get the level you want, much like using oak.
 

Similar threads

arc_jpiv
To much coffee in a brew, what should I adjust down to?
Replies
5
Views
703
leedspointbrew
leedspointbrew
K
Coffee...
Replies
7
Views
894
Dog House Brew
Dog House Brew
YeastFeast
Adding whole coffee beans in a conical
Replies
7
Views
1K
hotbeer
hotbeer
heathm922
Heath's New Member Introduction
Replies
1
Views
235
wallyLOZ
wallyLOZ
MMP126
Homebrewers Hop Quality
Replies
10
Views
880
ncbrewer
N
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top