Coffee addition

[paanderson86]

I'm going to be brewing a brown ale (5 gal batch) and want to add coffee flavoring to it. How do I go about doing this? Do I add brewed coffee, espresso, coffee beans, coffee grounds, how much do I add, when do I add it, etc? Thanks for your help!

 

[Peruvian802]

I've had luck adding beans directly to the fermenter after fermentation is over. Last time I rinsed them in star san first. I let them sit fir 2-4 days before racking to the keg.

 

[jivy26]

So many different ways that you can add coffee into your brew. I would either do it at boil or at secondary. Being yeast feast on sugars not sure how it would affect the coffee flavor throwing into primary. Here is a good read.

https://byo.com/mead/item/315-brewing-with-coffee

 

[Craigmn]

The best coffee addition I did was soaking whole beans in alcohol and adding the whole thing a day before packaging

 

[paanderson86]

I have heard of soaking in vodka... Does this change the flavor of the beer at all that you have noticed?

 

[paanderson86]

I've had luck adding beans directly to the fermenter after fermentation is over. Last time I rinsed them in star san first. I let them sit fir 2-4 days before racking to the keg.

How much did you do for a 5 gallon? I'm making Surly Bender (a popular Minnesota beer) and want to turn it into Coffee Bender, which is another kind they make but a kit or recipe was not available for.

 

[HIM_Tattoos]

I did a coffee stout that I basically brewed a gallon of coffee concentrate and added to secondary, that was a mistake. Coffee is super acidic and every bottle is a bomb, I won't do that again.

In short, I can't tell you how to go about it, but I can tell you not how to go about it.....

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I dry hop the keg with 4oz coarse ground. Usually hits the sweet spot around 4 days.

Edit - I also use cocoa nibs in this recipe so the cocoa may have some influence on the timing/character of the coffee addition.

 

[razyrsharpe]

i poured a pot of brewed coffee (cold, not hot) into the primary on a big stout. haven't sampled a finished product yet, but it was great when i took FG reading.

 

[jivy26]

Also I have read of slightly crushing whole coffee beans before adding to a nylon mesh bag in secondary works out great.

 

[TheAleRunner]

I've had much success simply adding whole coffee beans to the fermentor 24 hours before kegging. Clean up is a breeze, and you don't have to worry about grounds getting into your finished beer. The amount you add is up to you. I've had success adding as little as 6oz of beans and as much as a full pound for a 5 gallon batch. My coffee porter using a full pound of whole medium roast beans just took 3rd place best of show in a competition last weekend. #notsosubtlebrag

 

[paanderson86]

I've had much success simply adding whole coffee beans to the fermentor 24 hours before kegging. Clean up is a breeze, and you don't have to worry about grounds getting into your finished beer. The amount you add is up to you. I've had success adding as little as 6oz of beans and as much as a full pound for a 5 gallon batch. My coffee porter using a full pound of whole medium roast beans just took 3rd place best of show in a competition last weekend. #notsosubtlebrag

Thanks for the advice! Did you sanitize your beans or soak them in vodka or anything, or just toss them into the fermenter?

 

[TheAleRunner]

Thanks for the advice! Did you sanitize your beans or soak them in vodka or anything, or just toss them into the fermenter?

Just toss 'em in. Never had a problem with that.