Coffee Blonde?

After having Stone's Master of Disguisse, their blonde stout and a gluten free coffee pale ale that was really surprisingly good I got to thinking about my next brew I wanted to do. First I thought about a real hoppy, dry-hopped blonde ale but then a friend at a coffee roastery pitched the idea of a coffee infused lighter color beer like a blonde or pale, thoughts? anyone brewed a Coffee Blonde or Coffee Pale before?

Oddside ales "bean flicker" is exactly that, wonderful beer. Light, but still lots there to enjoy. I made it a few times by just doing a very simple basic blonde recipe, then using 4oz of freshly roasted coffee pressed through my aeropress and added into secondary for a week. it's my wife's favorite beer, and she normally likes heavier stuff.

what's an aeropress?

I do a vanilla coffee pale all the time. Dry bean it in the secondary for a day or two with some good whole bean coffee. Easy to overdo it so taste daily after adding the beans.

Cascade here in Portland has been doing a blonde stout for about 3-4 years. Tasty, and fun/deceptive. Coffee beans+light colored beer=light color stout.

These hidden-link spammers are getting ridiculous.

Reported.

Add 4oz cold brewed coffee to bottling bucket for each gallon of beer to bottle.

I was going to mention Bean Flicker. I bought it because Oddside has some really good beer and it's usually a bit outside the normal parameters with ingredients.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how well coffee flavor went with light pale beer!

I've been wanting to make a batch myself, but haven't yet. Just been keeping myself in beer and working on this and that on the brewery. I'm due for another batch and now that I have a new used freezer, I may do that and/or a pilsner.

Aftershock Brewing in Temecula, CA makes a Coffee IPA that is really good. IMO the coffee plays of the bitterness of the hops. I think a Golden Coffee sounds good. You may even try it with white espresso to keep as much of that nice light golden color as possible.

A friend of mine coffee-infuses 5 gal each of his beers on tap and does a brunch on Sundays at his brewery. I was at first surprised how well coffee went with lighter beers.

He (as well as myself) coarsely crush whole beans, and "dry hop" the beer with the beans. I find it easiest to do it in corney kegs, as you can pull the beans at any point when you feel you have reached your desired level. For 5 gal, I typically use around 4oz for 24 hours.

There's a technique out there to extract coffee flavor without the color, using gelatin. I can't remember exactly where it is, but I want to say it's somewhere here on HBT.

C-Rider said:

Add 4oz cold brewed coffee to bottling bucket for each gallon of beer to bottle.

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You do the cold brewed coffee that late? I was thinking in secondary. IF putting in the bottling bucket, do you put the sugar water for carbonation in first, then the cold brewed coffee and then rack the beer ontop of that?

I do 3oz whole in secondary or keg for about a week.

golfgod04 said:

You do the cold brewed coffee that late? I was thinking in secondary. IF putting in the bottling bucket, do you put the sugar water for carbonation in first, then the cold brewed coffee and then rack the beer ontop of that?

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I add the sugar and then begin racking on to it. Coffee gets added as the beer makes it way to the bottling bucket. From testing years ago i know this is the amount for my taste buds.

Adding to bottling bucket the first time you add slowly and taste to find your taste. Remember if you add before fermenting you really don't know what it will taste like until you are ready to bottle/keg and then it's to late to change anything.

C-Rider said:

I add the sugar and then begin racking on to it. Coffee gets added as the beer makes it way to the bottling bucket. From testing years ago i know this is the amount for my taste buds.

Adding to bottling bucket the first time you add slowly and taste to find your taste. Remember if you add before fermenting you really don't know what it will taste like until you are ready to bottle/keg and then it's to late to change anything.

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Thanks, how much did the coffee change the color of the blonde ale?

in my coffee kolsch , it was barely at all with 4 oz

I do a "White Stout" and basically all I do is toss in 8oz whole beans with 10 minutes left of the boil.

golfgod04 said:

Thanks, how much did the coffee change the color of the blonde ale?

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I add it to a Stout, not a blonde ale. But the procedure is the same for any ale.