Coffee Stout help! Too much coffee!

[Drew Trotter]

Hello everyone,
I am pretty new to brewing stouts and this was my first stab at a coffee stout. I was unsure of how much coffee I should add in the secondary, so I referred to my local coffee shop and quartered what they used in their cold brew, as I figured that may get me the right amount of coffee flavor I wanted. I was wrong. I used 10 ounces of medium/light roasted, "cold brew" ground coffee to 5 gallons. We have already racked, but I am having second thoughts. We are about 4 days from when we racked and I tried a sample bottle and it has a sort of tart/acidic front and no real sweetness on the back. Is there anything I can do aside from dumping? Thanks in advance.

 

[Toga]

Add some medium toast oak cubes n bourbon and let it sit for a month or three

 

[DCzer]

rack it off the beans now if you think there's too much coffee flavor already. i'm not sure that leaving it sit will impart much more flavor but if it's already too much, there's no sense in finding out. other flavorings might help hide some of the coffee bite. the aforementioned oak is a good option if that's your thing. vanilla or chocolate might work too. spices such as cinnamon might help. lactose sugar will add the sweetness you noted was missing on the backend.

for future reference, you can always add more coffee later so go light early.

 

[TheAleRunner]

One man's too much coffee is another's "this needs more coffee."

I generally use 12oz of whole coffee beans in my 5 gallon batches for 36-48 hours right before kegging. If you're kegging, you can add some vanilla extract to it which should smooth things out.

 

[Kent88]

Brew another stout without coffee, blend.

 

[Drew Trotter]

I feel that I have actually used the wrong terminology when stating we "racked" the beer. Rather, we bottled the beer. I understand the risk of exposure to air, but has anyone tried blending an already bottled beer into a fermenter of "new" beer? Or is this just ridiculous?

 

[Drew Trotter]

One man's too much coffee is another's "this needs more coffee."

I generally use 12oz of whole coffee beans in my 5 gallon batches for 36-48 hours right before kegging. If you're kegging, you can add some vanilla extract to it which should smooth things out.

I believe my problem was that I actually had the beans ground to course, but there was to much surface area. Next time I plan on using whole beans not ground or cracked.

 

[JohnSand]

I have not brewed a coffee stout. But strong flavors sometimes mellow or blend over time. Let it sit.

 

[BigCrazyAl]

I haven't brewed a coffee stout but in my stout I brewed last November, the roasted barley imparted a bitter almost astringent flavor. After 3ish months in the bottle, the bitterness from that is gone.

I vote let it ride a couple months at room temp in the bottle then try another. I think you'll be surprised at how much less harsh it will be.

 

[stieg000]

I blend beers all the time. A brown ale or a porter would tone the coffee down. Or you can let it age.

 

[S-Met]

We are about 4 days from when we racked and I tried a sample bottle and...

I'm not experienced enough to recommend how long it will take, but 4 days is way too short. I would guess 4-6 weeks minimum, but I've never done a coffee brew.

 

[bronzdragon]

If you have already bottled, do not open them up. I would just taste one and allow them to age. The flavors will mellow with age. Opening them up just risks making the batch worse. You may find that you don't like the flavor now, but after they sit for a few months, you love it. I commonly put coffee in my breakfast stout and porters. I usually make a good strong batch of coffee, and then simmer 4 cups on the stove until it is down to 2 cups, and then cool. I add that to my keg and then rack the beer on top. This usually gives a nice amount of coffee flavor for my tastes. /cheers

 

[hogwash]

Fwiw, I just did my first coffee stout recently and for 5 gallons I did 3 oz of coarsely ground beans in a mesh bag, soaked in the fermenter for 24hrs ish and it turned out great. As for yours, I’m in the “let it sit and hope it mellows” camp.