Blueberry and coffee blonde ale

[BMatt1985]

I have a friend that had one of these recently in Naples Florida. He wants to try to re-create it. Anyone tried anything like this? How would you incorporate the coffee and keep it clear? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[stieg000]

Steeped whole bean. A local brewery here in Arizona, Huss, makes a coffee kolsch using whole hazelnut beans. Its golden and rather surprising.

http://www.hussbrewing.com/beer-type/koffee-kolsch/

 

[Lefou]

Sounds rather unique to use coffee in lighter-colored styles ... well, to me, anyway, because it would seem natural to use coffee as a complementary ingredient that supports other flavors in darker styles.
Fruit beer can be found in multiple styles and I wouldn't necessarily mix it with coffee, but it wouldn't be hard to fit 3-4oz. of cold-steeped coffee in with a golden, pale, or amber ale.

 

[stieg000]

In your brain you think it doesn't sound right but it actually works. First time I had the kolsch It was on a guest tap at brewery that also had a maple stout. Together it was like drinking pancakes with coffee.

 

[jcav]

I know it sounds crazy but my friend recently had a Blonde Stout. It was straw yellow in color and tasted like a stout. He said it was a good beer and tasted just like a stout, but it blew his mind that it was golden yellow.

John

 

[divrack]

I just don't know what to believe in anymore...

 

[Lefou]

Yes, well ... these days, a lot of things are not quite what they seem.
Traditional beer can be a bit boring but drinking is a lot like food prep. If you do it right a lot of good variations can come out of it. Fruit and specialty beers can get a bad rap but it's all in presentation and balance.
Take the Blue Moon seasonals.
I've liked the regular BM witbier and found subtle variations within different lots bought over time, but some of the specialties and seasonals were either good or atrocious drain pours.

 

[unviewtiful]

Steeped whole bean. A local brewery here in Arizona, Huss, makes a coffee kolsch using whole hazelnut beans. Its golden and rather surprising.

+1 for the Huss whole bean method. I visited their brewery a few years ago and learned about that beer and inspired me to do something similar. Here is my recipe for reference. I've made it several times and it's always a huge hit. I've been using the Golden Naked Oats instead of rolled oats called out in the recipe, but it comes out really nice. Drop the whole coffee beans in the beer post fermentation just like you would a dry hop addition. Leave it for a couple days, then cold crash. The coffee holds up really well for an extended period of time in the bottle and does not change the color at all.

But I'm not sure how well it work with blueberry in the same beer. I've never used blueberries in beer, but if you're using real fruit you're going to need at least 5 lbs since they don't have a very bold flavor. I would probably add the fruit, leave it for a week, then add the coffee for a couple days. If you do a flavor extract, I would add it at packaging similar to any other flavor extract.

Just as an aside, I recently made a batch of my blonde recipe above and split it, one half with coffee and the other half with blackberries, using 3 lbs of whole fruit. It was not nearly enough fruit, and if I did it again I'd use 5 or 6 lbs.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Sounds rather unique to use coffee in lighter-colored styles ... well, to me, anyway, because it would seem natural to use coffee as a complementary ingredient that supports other flavors in darker styles.

There are a lot of breweries that have been doing it for a long time. Founders made a pale ale with coffee called Pale Joe, for instance. Recently I had a coffee/raspberry Berliner from Mikkeller that was absolutely delicious.

 

[divrack]

+1 for the Huss whole bean method. I visited their brewery a few years ago and learned about that beer and inspired me to do something similar. Here is my recipe for reference. I've made it several times and it's always a huge hit. I've been using the Golden Naked Oats instead of rolled oats called out in the recipe, but it comes out really nice. Drop the whole coffee beans in the beer post fermentation just like you would a dry hop addition. Leave it for a couple days, then cold crash. The coffee holds up really well for an extended period of time in the bottle and does not change the color at all.

But I'm not sure how well it work with blueberry in the same beer. I've never used blueberries in beer, but if you're using real fruit you're going to need at least 5 lbs since they don't have a very bold flavor. I would probably add the fruit, leave it for a week, then add the coffee for a couple days. If you do a flavor extract, I would add it at packaging similar to any other flavor extract.

Just as an aside, I recently made a batch of my blonde recipe above and split it, one half with coffee and the other half with blackberries, using 3 lbs of whole fruit. It was not nearly enough fruit, and if I did it again I'd use 5 or 6 lbs.

I know it might sounds like a stupid question, but what does the coffee flavor taste like when whole bean steeped?
It's it kind of green fruity thing or still like chocolate? Been thinking of trying something along a Belgian pale line with this

 

[unviewtiful]

I know it might sounds like a stupid question, but what does the coffee flavor taste like when whole bean steeped?
It's it kind of green fruity thing or still like chocolate? Been thinking of trying something along a Belgian pale line with this

As long as you're using roasted beans, it gives smooth roasty, chocolatey coffee flavor and aroma that you would get in a cup of coffee. No idea what you'd get if you used green coffee beans. Sounds like a neat experiment though!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

White stouts are becoming a bit of a thing, here's some ideas I posted on another thread :

for 5 gallons I'd put some lactose and 2-3oz peat malt (maybe make a tea with the peat malt with not-quite-boiling water), ideally some oats but that's probably less suited to this scenario, put 8oz of coffee beans in the fermenter for 2 days and 4oz of cacao nibs for 7 days (I've seen it suggested to soak the nibs in vodka, then freeze to allow the fat to be skimmed off. You could also mix the vodka with whiskey.) Maybe a vanilla pod or star anise as well. Use a characterful British yeast.

Obviously you're going for something a bit different here, but that should give you some ideas. As for blueberries, I've never used them, but AIUI you need a good amount to have an effect. Again, lactose may help.