Coffee!

[shibbypwn]

I just threw some coffee beans into my carboy which is currently housing my Old Raspy clone.

I had initially intended to put them in a hop sock, but after fumbling around for a few minutes trying to fit it through the hole in my glass carboy, I decided to just funnel the beans in.

I was a little concerned about the beans splashing, as I didn't want to splash my beer and make a bunch of oxygen bubbles. But I think it went pretty well.

Used 1/2 lb. of Dark French Roast beans. Soaked them in a bit of vodka for good measure, although I've heard contamination is pretty unlikely once beer is fully fermented.

Any thoughts/critiques/suggestions regarding my process that I should try in the future? This is my second batch, and I'm pretty stoked to see how it turns out.

 

[NWAleDad]

I have heard that cold brewing is also a great way to go. This extracts the correct oils from the beans and leaves the tannings behind. Just add it to the bottling bucket/keg and enjoy

 

[TomOliver]

I'm fairly certain you wont get much coffee aroma or flavor out of adding whole beans to the fermenter. Unless coffee is ground, most of the aroma is trapped in the bean. For your next coffee infusion, I would suggest cold brewing and adding it to your fermenter after the initial fermentation has slowed. I would recommend adding it about 5 days from bottling or kegging just like dry hopping.

Cold brewing coffee is a process that takes 12-24 hours because when the temperature of the water is decreased, the brewing time must increase for a full extraction. This method of brewing coffee gives you all the flavor from the ground coffee without the acidity that most home coffee makers impart. There are many websites online about coldbrewing coffee and I would recommend brewing an extract concentrate as this site suggests: http://www.ineedcoffee.com/06/cold-brewed/ rather than brewing regular strength just because you don't need all the extra volume in the fermenter.

Haha, sorry if this is lengthy but I have been a barista for years and my beer nerdiness has only recently surpassed by coffee nerdiness.

Cheers!

Tom

 

[Golddiggie]

So would you do the 4:1 ratio, or a higher one? Don't see anything other than the 4:1 ratio listed (mixing 50/50 with water once done)...

I'm planning on making a breakfast stout soon, and want to use cold brewed coffee in it (not sure if it will be added during primary fermentation, or once fermentation is complete). I might be racking this batch, since there could be other flavor elements added that I might need to halt. I'm hoping that it's ready for bottles within 2 months of brewing, but we all know how you can't push a brew to be done when YOU want...

 

[40watt]

Wouldn't it be better to use brewed coffee rather than beans(ground or otherwise), due to the fact that the longer it steeps the more bitter it gets.

 

[Teromous]

How much cold coffee do you add to the 5 gallon batch Tom? I was looking at doing a coffee stout in the future.

 

[jschweiss]

I've used whole beans in secondary multiple times and had great results. All I did was test the beer after 24-36 hours and then every so often after that until I was happy with the balance and then bottled.

I cold-brew coffee pretty regularly (when work stress causes stomach issues) and might consider adding that instead but I think the large volume of liquid in the carboy helps with flavor extraction, plus the low temps gives you time to get good coffee flavor while keeping bitter qualities at bay.

 

[TomOliver]

So would you do the 4:1 ratio, or a higher one? Don't see anything other than the 4:1 ratio listed (mixing 50/50 with water once done)...

I use the 4:1 ratio as well. I don't add the equal part water at the end because I'm not drinking it, but I think you knew that anyway and just added that for clarity.

How much cold coffee do you add to the 5 gallon batch Tom? I was looking at doing a coffee stout in the future.

Well in diggie's breakfast stout, I would only recommend adding about 16oz of cold brewed coffee extract which would come from 4oz or a quarter pound of coarse ground coffee. However, for a coffee stout, if you really wanted the coffee aroma to be prominent I would either up the dosage or add it to the keg or bottling bucket so that it was a fresher aroma. (Again, very similar to dry hopping)

And one note I didn't add before is that for making cold brew, the coffee grind should be very coarse. Similar to the grind that would be used for a french press method.

Hope that helps!

Tom

 

[Golddiggie]

Tom, going to preface my comment by saying that I'm not advocating NOT adding actual coffee to a brew... But, couldn't you get very similar results simply by using roasted barley? I know it won't be the same as using an actual type of coffee bean in the batch, but you can get at least a base level of coffee if you have the percentage right. You could then add another layer of coffee flavor post fermentation, or when aging, to make a more complex flavor profile...

I do plan on using both in my breakfast stout recipe, so I'll have more info once the batch is in the glass... Just trying to decide when to brew it...

 

[TomOliver]

Yes, you could definitely use roasted barley to get a coffee flavor, but I'd be hard pressed to say it is as prominent as actually adding coffee to the beer. If you've tried Real Ale's Coffee Porter or Surly's Coffee Bender, these are prime examples of adding cold brewed coffee to the beer rather than relying on roasted barley.

I'm not saying one method is necessarily better than the other. I just feel that you get a more pronounced (or exaggerated) coffee profile by adding real coffee.

 

[Golddiggie]

Not had either of those brews...

I'll probably use both in my brew, so that I get the variety of flavors in the profile. Of course, I'll have enough 'spare' coffee on hand in case I need to add more before bottling. The more I think about it, the more I'll want the batch ready for drinking around early fall. That way, I'll have all of fall, winter, and most of spring to enjoy it. It will also give it enough time to meld properly/fully... I'll probably brew it within two months. Gives me more time to formulate the actual recipe.

 

[TomOliver]

Awesome! Well if you have any more questions on the coffee side, let me know. I still have much learning to do on the brewing side.