Adding coffee to coffee stout - preferred method

[eddiewould]

Hey,

Brewing a coffee stout this Monday, keen to hear what peoples preferred method of adding real coffee is (and quantity for 6gal batch).

Some I'm considering:

• Steeping coarsely ground coffee in vodka or water, adding liquid at flameout
• Steeping coarsely ground coffee in vodka, adding liquid after fermentation complete
• Coarsely ground coffee goes into a hop sack, goes in at flameout
• Add maybe 10-20tsp of high quality instant coffee at flameout

 

[hopjunkie26]

For mine I cold steep in a mason jar. Boil the jar and fill up with desired amount of boiled water, allow to cool and then cold steep (I use pantyhose for this) and add to fermenter 24 hours prior to bottling/kegging.

Got it from a Zymurgy article but not sure exactly how long ago.

 

[BigFloyd]

Option #2 is the closest. Cold brew (like on the kitchen counter) 4-5 oz of course ground dark roast in filtered/spring water 10-12 hours, strain out the grounds and add at bottling/kegging time. A french press works nicely for this. Otherwise, use a fine strainer or coffee filter. No need to steep in vodka.

I'd never add it to the boil, at flameout or put the coffee in hot water. It draws more of an astringent flavor out of the beans than does cold brewing.

 

[eddiewould]

Option #2 is the closest. Cold brew (like on the kitchen counter) 4-5 oz of course ground dark roast in filtered/spring water 10-12 hours, strain out the grounds and add at bottling/kegging time. A french press works nicely for this. Otherwise, use a fine strainer or coffee filter. No need to steep in vodka.

I'd never add it to the boil, at flameout or put the coffee in hot water. It draws more of an astringent flavor out of the beans than does cold brewing.

How much water for the 5oz of coffee when cold steeping?

Cheers!

 

[BigFloyd]

How much water for the 5oz of coffee when cold steeping?

Cheers!

I use about 24 ounces of water.

 

[MysteryHaus]

What about finely ground coffee? I've been wanting to use a jet fuel k cup but everywhere I read says coarse ground. Anyone try this before?

 

[BigFloyd]

Course ground is typically used because it's easier to strain away the grounds.

Not a whole lot of java in one K-cup. I use those every day.

 

[rossi46]

I use 8 round table spoons espresso ground coffee in 16 ounces of water in a french press in the fridge for two days.

 

[eddiewould]

I use 8 round table spoons espresso ground coffee in 16 ounces of water in a french press in the fridge for two days.

Cold water I'm assuming? Added to secondary?

 

[rossi46]

Yes cold. You could add to secondary. I add it to the keg.

 

[eddiewould]

Yes cold. You could add to secondary. I add it to the keg.

Any issues with sanitation - assuming that I'm bottling? I'll boil and cool the water before doing the cold press. I figure 7% ABV beer is probably not a hospitable environment for nasties, but who knows?

 

[rossi46]

I spray the French press with starsan and use bottled water. No problems yet. I've done it 7-8 times.

 

[mtnagel]

I'd never add it to the boil, at flameout or put the coffee in hot water. It draws more of an astringent flavor out of the beans than does cold brewing.

I guess it comes down to what you are looking for. Millions of people drink coffee that was brewed in ~200F water everyday. I'm assuming they like it or they wouldn't drink it. I've added the coffee after dropping the wort to around 200F and the resulting beer had a brewed coffee taste, which I liked. I've also had some beers that had a smoother coffee flavor, which I assume came from a cold steep. I've enjoyed those too.

 

[J343MY]

I have always had very good results just adding coarsely ground coffee beans directly into the beer for 24 hours prior to packaging. I have used anywhere from 2 to 8 ounces depending on the beer.

 

[d3track]

I have always had very good results just adding coarsely ground coffee beans directly into the beer for 24 hours prior to packaging. I have used anywhere from 2 to 8 ounces depending on the beer.

Same here, generally 4oz for 24-48 hours, while cold crashing. Two birds, one stone.

 

[MysteryHaus]

That's a good idea. Gonna try that for a FBS clone

View attachment 1429902852715.jpg

 

[BigFloyd]

I guess it comes down to what you are looking for. Millions of people drink coffee that was brewed in ~200F water everyday. I'm assuming they like it or they wouldn't drink it.

As do I usually three times a day using a Keurig. Fresh hot brewed coffee is wonderful. Not so good after it's sat around for several hours.

The couple of homebrew coffee stouts/porters I've tasted in which ground coffee was added towards the end of the boil (in accordance with kit instructions) both had a flavor that reminded me of coffee that was brewed earlier in the day, had gotten stale and should have been tossed.

 

[eddiewould]

Posting back to let you know I had fantastic results with the cold steep method. I used approx 1200ml of bottled water with 250g of beans I ground coarsely. Soaked for 3 days agitating occasionally. Got about 800ml of coffee from the bags (with a little squeezing). Added to tail end of fermentation. That's for a 24l batch.

Very happy with the beer, easily one of my best yet. Coffee balance is perfect, not overwhelming but definitely present.

 

[Venari]

I've got a can of Cooper's Stout canned extract, and I'm wondering, what's the best way to add a bit of chocolate and coffee flavour to it?
I've no access to grains and such.

Would I just add cold steeped coffee to the mix? How about the chocolate? Would I melt a bit of baker's chocolate and add that in? Would the flavour get fermented off?

 

[DesignatedDrinker]

COLD BREW!!! wont get any bitterness from the beans. 24oz of cold distilled bottled water, few scoops of coffee, over night brew, add to bottle bucket/keg next day before racking.

 

[azazel1024]

I either crush with mortar and pestle of I use my coffee grinder to grind up about 1/2-1 ounce per gallon, stick it in a hop sock and then spritz it with some vodka for about 30 minutes to sanitize and then dump it in to the carboy.

 

[eddieb33]

I've done a few coffee beers using the cold brew method and it adds a ton of rich coffee flavor without any coffee bitterness or acidity. It's pretty much perfect.

But...if you're looking for something with even more coffee character, why not try a combination of all the methods the original poster listed? That would be interesting