Coffee Mead - Primary or secondary?

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wuk-i

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I am looking at doing a coffee mead. I need a little clarification. Do I use what I've cold brewed as part of the must or do I rack on to coffee beans or grounds in a bag?


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My phone is crap & won't let me edit. I have done searches. I also know that coffee is high in nitrogen so the yeasties should love it in the primary, I just wonder if it will be like a melomel and the flavor will be driven off.


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wuk-i said:
My phone is crap & won't let me edit. I have done searches. I also know that coffee is high in nitrogen so the yeasties should love it in the primary, I just wonder if it will be like a melomel and the flavor will be driven off.


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Brewing it first will help eliminate the need for filtering out the grounds. I have read on some posts here that cold brewing helps reduce the bitterness and/or acidity that can come from coffee.

With that in mind, I would recommend a strong cold brew (~24 hours in the fridge, or overnight at room temperature). Filter that into the must at primary. If you notice a loss in the distinctiveness of the coffee flavor, you can always add more in secondary.
 
I would add the cold brewed coffee to the secondary...this is what I do with my coffee oatmeal stout and it comes out real nice...doesn't take much coffee...I only use about 3/4 oz fresh ground beans steeped overnight in my 1 at french press...I press the brew after an overnight strep in the fridge and add directly to the secondary.

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I've done this, and I added it in the primary. Worked perfectly. Use good quality coffee, cold brewed.
 
Thanks everyone. I plan on using Green Mountain Nantucket Blend. Going to do a 5 gallon batch. I also plan on vanilla beans & cocoa nibs in the secondary.


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Whoa crazy... coffee mead.

mind blown. Can someone tell me how this is? I can't even imagine.
 
Johnnyhitch1 said:
B. Nektar Chazzano Coffee mead was disgusting. Dont go overboard with the coffee/sweetness.
Click to expand...


I loved this mead. To each their own - I've got a coffee mead going right now. I wouldn't add any grounds per say to the primary as it can leave a bitter/spicy flavor. Best bet is to add cold brew at primary and cold brew at secondary and use a hearty honey like buckwheat to supplement a floral honey like wildflower


Long time reader - all cider
 
I think the longer you allow the coffee to steep the more bitter it becomes. I would make the coffee exactly in the way that you drink it and allow it to brew for the same amount of time that you normally brew it, filter the water from the grounds and let it cool and and then use that coffee liquor to dilute the honey to the gravity you want.
 
Absolutely do *not* use hot brewed coffee. It gets bitter and stale tasting when cold. It is *not* a good flavor. The heat extracts oils and acids that you do not want.

Cold brew the coffee, at least overnight. It will not get bitter at room temperatures.
 
The solubility of coffee is as follows;
Sugars are extracted first, followed by caffeine, and finally tannins and oils.

With hot-water extraction, the sugars, caffeine and tannins (and to a lesser degree oils) are all extracted simultaneously as near-boiling water can readily dissolve all of them.

Cold-water extractions at room temperature will not extract most tannins or oils after 8-12 hours, while sugars and caffeine will be extracted within minutes.

Most people say keep cold water extract over night or in a fridge for 24 hours. I think this is a bit overkill. You can extract everything you want and nothing you don't in 20 minutes with room-temp water, and faster with luke-warm water.
 
IJesusChrist said:
The solubility of coffee is as follows;
Sugars are extracted first, followed by caffeine, and finally tannins and oils.

With hot-water extraction, the sugars, caffeine and tannins (and to a lesser degree oils) are all extracted simultaneously as near-boiling water can readily dissolve all of them.

Cold-water extractions at room temperature will not extract most tannins or oils after 8-12 hours, while sugars and caffeine will be extracted within minutes.

Most people say keep cold water extract over night or in a fridge for 24 hours. I think this is a bit overkill. You can extract everything you want and nothing you don't in 20 minutes with room-temp water, and faster with luke-warm water.
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I'm glad I started this thread. I think it is already more informative than others floating around on here IMO.
 
Quick Update:

I used cotes de blanc yeast. OG 1.12....FG .995 ABV 16.4%
I did staggered nutrient additions at the third sugar breaks. I also was lazy and let my hydrometer float in the carboy. Might do that next time, made adding the additions more convenient.

Secondary:
I am going to add coffee in teabags and probably the same with the cacao nibs and let the vanilla do its thing.
 
I will be trying this as soon as I free up acouple of carboys. Does the size of the grind matter for the flavor?
 
If you're a lover of coffee, I highly highly recommend this. Coffee mead has a wonderful flavour. My recent batch of this was a "caramel coffee" and vanilla mead. Vanilla complements both flavours brilliantly giving them a lovely smoothness too. Even as a young mead it's pleasant to drink so you can imagine how my patience is being tested waiting for it to age out!

As for the question, I added all my ingredients into the primary (brewing the coffee and adding that into the must rather than whole beans). Brewing the coffee first helps enormously with putting flavour across and I've found that unlike fermenting fruits, coffee loses little character or strength from the fermentation. In the secondary I did add a vanilla pod over from the primary to see if I could get any last flavour from it.

As for how much to add... how much do you like coffee? I am a big lover of coffee so for mine I probably went a bit overboard. As I wanted more honey flavour too I purchased just a cheap standard honey as I knew any subtle flavours would have been overwhelmed.

On bottling I found that the mead was very pleasant to drink, smooth from the vanilla at first with most of the coffee flavour being reserved for the after taste. I opted for a high alcohol mead to have as a dessert wine for this mead so each sip is a very warming almost akin to that of a good cup of coffee. Although I said it was a pleasant drink you could still tell it was young at bottling but with a lot of promise for the future. I think I'll try and leave her be until this winter and crack open a bottle or two then!
 
On-target said:
I will be trying this as soon as I free up acouple of carboys. Does the size of the grind matter for the flavor?
Click to expand...

As I have read the bigger the grounds the better.

I bought a 100 pack of teabags and am going to be putting the coffee in those and steep in the secondary with vanilla beans & cacao nibs.

I degassed the primary 2last night and fermentation wasn't totally done even at .995. I could see tiny bubbles still erupting at the surface.

If anyone has advice on directly steeping in the carboys, let me know.
 
Johnnyhitch1 said:
B. Nektar Chazzano Coffee mead was disgusting. Dont go overboard with the coffee/sweetness.
Click to expand...

I have found that it is hard to please most with coffee meads, but to each their own.

Tasting B Nektar's Chazzano Coffee mead for the first time, I will admit I was not a fan, but that was because I had it well chilled from being in the fridge for a few hours.

I tried it again at room temperature and it was a whole other experience. Try at room temp if you havent already, and see if it changes your mind.
 
Also thought I'd share a link to cool unit for cold brewing coffee. I was a supporter of their during theirs Kickstarter campaign.

http://www.bruer.co/

Expecting delivery any day now. Looking forward to using it for an Oaked Buttered Rum Coffee mead recipe I've been wanting to give a try!
 
smoutela said:
Also thought I'd share a link to cool unit for cold brewing coffee. I was a supporter of their during theirs Kickstarter campaign.

http://www.bruer.co/

Expecting delivery any day now. Looking forward to using it for an Oaked Buttered Rum Coffee mead recipe I've been wanting to give a try!
Click to expand...

Would you be comfortable sharing your full recipe that you used? I'm considering a 1 gallon batch since I'm a huge fan of coffee and I have a package of Lalvin K1-V1116 in the fridge that I've neglected since starting brewing beer.
 
Quick update:
Racked to secondary, added 5 vanilla beans, 4oz cocoa nibs, dry hopping 5 tablespoons of coffee.

I wish I took a picture of the primary, the secondary has a coffee color to it right now.


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Update: racked off of dry hopped coffee, vanilla beans, and cocoa nibs. Coffee seems weak, vanilla is predominant and the nibs aren't noticeable.
 
How is the vanilla? When I added vanilla there was a serious burn right after addition. Like wasabi almost. You get that at all?
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1400039227.836203.jpg


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IJesusChrist said:
How is the vanilla? When I added vanilla there was a serious burn right after addition. Like wasabi almost. You get that at all?
Click to expand...


No burn.

It's a weird meld of flavors. I think it is going to be amazing! Time is the only ingredient left.


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smoutela said:
Tasting B Nektar's Chazzano Coffee mead for the first time, I will admit I was not a fan, but that was because I had it well chilled from being in the fridge for a few hours.

I tried it again at room temperature and it was a whole other experience. Try at room temp if you havent already, and see if it changes your mind.
Click to expand...
I do this with all my meads....some taste better cold, some at ambient temp, some taste best in between....I love mead making oh so much more than the chore of brewing beer :cool:
 
Side note: I was a bit lazy with this batch as I work in a tow boat & don't give my meads much thoughts after 12 hours on the river. I left the coffee in tea bags, vanilla beans split, and cocoa nibs in the primary for 6 weeks after fermentation ceased. I've read 2 weeks should be enough so we'll see how it goes.


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Update: just shy of 3 months bulk aging and it tastes pretty darn good!


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I'm curious about this. Can one just substitute coffee for water in the primary? Does that lead to too strong a drink in the end?
 
sheepcat said:
I'm curious about this. Can one just substitute coffee for water in the primary? Does that lead to too strong a drink in the end?
Click to expand...


I'd say give it a try! I experimented with dry hopping the coffee in tea bags. Just make sure you cold brew it, do not use hot coffee as the hot water releases acids from the coffee that you don't really want.


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wuk-i said:
I'd say give it a try! I experimented with dry hopping the coffee in tea bags. Just make sure you cold brew it, do not use hot coffee as the hot water releases acids from the coffee that you don't really want.


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Fatty acids, oils, and tannins come out with hot water, but won't come out quickly with cold water.
Acids that are not fatty are going to quickly come out in a cold water extraction. Nerd impulse correction.
 
IJesusChrist said:
Fatty acids, oils, and tannins come out with hot water, but won't come out quickly with cold water.
Acids that are not fatty are going to quickly come out in a cold water extraction. Nerd impulse correction.
Click to expand...


No worries :)


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All good!

I plan on bottling in the next week or two! It has a cafe taste more than just coffee. The honey, vanilla, cocoa nibs, and coffee created a really good blend of flavors. I may also enter this into a mead competition in Michigan. A guy I know is BJCP certified so I'm going to run it passed him tonight, see if it's worth entering.


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wuk-i said:
All good!

I plan on bottling in the next week or two! It has a cafe taste more than just coffee. The honey, vanilla, cocoa nibs, and coffee created a really good blend of flavors. I may also enter this into a mead competition in Michigan. A guy I know is BJCP certified so I'm going to run it passed him tonight, see if it's worth entering.


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Click to expand...

Great! will you share the final recipe?!
 

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