Dry Hop With Coffee Beans

[paulied65]

I have read a bunch of threads here about adding coffee to beer and the resounding response I see is to cold brew coffee and add it to the beer. I have done this a few times and I don't get the coffee flavor that I am looking for.

With my imperial stout, I would like to add cracked whole bean coffee. My question is this: How do I/Do I have to sanitize the beans? or can I just toss them in?

My stout is in secondary right now at a final gravity of 1.020 from 1.084

 

[drgonzo2k2]

I have a "dry beaned" cider on tap right now. I did not sanitize the beans, just tossed them in. I used 1 lb Colombian Supremo whole beans (not cracked or ground) for a 5 gallon batch. I left them 1 day at room temperature, and then 2 days at 34F during my normal cold crash, and I was very pleased with the end results.

I would think for something a lot more flavorful like an imperial stout I'd use more beans and/or "dry bean" for longer.

 

[catdaddy66]

A good friend made an excellent blonde stout last year and used an unknown amount of coffee beans. It was the coffee-est of all the coffee beers I have ever tried! I plan to do one this winter and have a recipe that uses 8ozs of beans. The person that brewed it said it was too much, so I will use 4ozs and see what happens.

 

[paulied65]

Thanks for the info. I think I'm gonna dump in 8oz of whole beans and see what happens!

 

[Calder]

Just toss the beans in. they are roasted, so no issues with bug and contain no nutrients so would not attract any.

I add 2 ozs per 5 gallons for decent results. No need to crack or crush the beans, add then whole. Coffee beans readily give up their flavor.

 

[HTH1975]

Cracking the coffee beans open would give better extract as you’ll have more surface area exposed. I’d go a step further and grind them.

Also, you could try steeping in vodka (or NGS if you can get access to this). It will really pull the flavour from the coffee.

Lastly, is nobody adding coffee to the boil kettle? Seems logical to add at flameout and leave for 30 mins before chilling.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

I add ground coffee beans to my breakfast stout. I do advise doing it cool. I add it around 60f. And dont left it sit very long. Anything over 36 hours can give a flavor similar to the smell of a coffee filter the day after the the coffee was brewed. I use 10 oz in a 5 gallon batch and it is appearant, but not over powering.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

And i dont do anything to sanatize. At about 10% i assume the beer will sanatize it for me.

 

[paulied65]

So I've gotten 2oz, 4oz, 10oz, 16oz as suggestions with good success haha. I guess it probably depends on a lot of things; Beer style, ABV, contact time, whole or cracked/ground, temp, type of bean.

I think I will try 8oz of whole beans and just check on it every 24 hours or so. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

 

[paulied65]

Did 8oz of whole beans for about 48 hours. A few times during the 48 hours I would very gently stir the beans on top to mix everything up a bit.

Came out phenomenal! Awesome coffee aroma, and even better coffee taste. I will never add coffee any other way!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've been wanting to do a coffee stout, but I've had so many that end up smelling/tasting like green peppers that I'm afraid I'll ruin a batch of beer. Given the effort that goes into a big RIS, I'd be really bummed if it came out tasting like green pepper.

 

[Gravity]

I have a "dry beaned" cider on tap right now. I did not sanitize the beans, just tossed them in. I used 1 lb Colombian Supremo whole beans (not cracked or ground) for a 5 gallon batch. I left them 1 day at room temperature, and then 2 days at 34F during my normal cold crash, and I was very pleased with the end results.

I would think for something a lot more flavorful like an imperial stout I'd use more beans and/or "dry bean" for longer.

I do the same - right in

If anything I toast them in a pan a bit on the stove to open them up - then toss them in. All beers that I've made this way have come out really good

 

[Steveg229]

I recently brewed an 8.7% stout that I added coffee beans to. I put 4 oz of ground coffee beans into a mesh bag and added to the beer (5 gallons) after I cold crashed to 34 degrees. I left the coffee in for 3 days and then kegged. Turned out beautifully. Adding the coffee to cold beer should not extract any bitterness from the beans.

 

[Calder]

Cracking the coffee beans open would give better extract as you’ll have more surface area exposed. I’d go a step further and grind them.

Also, you could try steeping in vodka (or NGS if you can get access to this). It will really pull the flavour from the coffee.

Lastly, is nobody adding coffee to the boil kettle? Seems logical to add at flameout and leave for 30 mins before chilling.

No need to crack or grind, coffee readily gives up it's flavor. How do you think you can get a decent cup of coffee by just running hot water thru the grinds. Leaving whole beans several days or more in beer will extract the flavor with out issues. Yes, I'll agree ground coffee will extract he coffee flavor quicker and maybe just a little more flavor (but not much), but then you have all the fine grounds to mess with when racking the beer.

Adding coffee to hot liquid extracts some astringent flavors that you don't get when cold steeping. there is whole industry out there based on the higher quality of cold flavor extraction vs hot coffee.

And i dont do anything to sanatize. At about 10% i assume the beer will sanatize it for me.

The beans are roasted, there is zero nutrients in them, and then packaged for long-term storage in the shops. There is nothing on them to hurt the beer.

 

[odie]

I did a coffee stout years ago. Had no clue what I was doing. I just dumped a pound of ground coffee into the boil of a basic stout recipe...came out descent as I recall

Recently I tried coffee again. Half pound whole beans in the fermenter of Kolsch. Either too much or too long...very coffeey taste. Was wanting only a hint

 

[NGD]

Newbie question for you guys that add beans straight in. Does the oil from the beans affect head retention at all?

 

[HTH1975]

No need to crack or grind, coffee readily gives up it's flavor. How do you think you can get a decent cup of coffee by just running hot water thru the grinds. Leaving whole beans several days or more in beer will extract the flavor with out issues. Yes, I'll agree ground coffee will extract he coffee flavor quicker and maybe just a little more flavor (but not much), but then you have all the fine grounds to mess with when racking the beer.

Adding coffee to hot liquid extracts some astringent flavors that you don't get when cold steeping. there is whole industry out there based on the higher quality of cold flavor extraction vs hot coffee.

Ok, so we agree that grinding coffee beans will extract flavour quicker. Also, you can easily put ground coffee in a hop bag to make removal easier.

I said nothing about steeping the coffee in hot liquid. Cold extraction does give a smoother, less full flavour imo. It really depends on the blend as to whether coffee is bitter - I use a cafetière most days for coffee and get no astringency.

 

[Calder]

Ok, so we agree that grinding coffee beans will extract flavour quicker. Also, you can easily put ground coffee in a hop bag to make removal easier.

When running hot water thru the beans or steeping in hot water for a few minutes, you need to grind them to quickly extract the flavor. If you are adding to cold liquid and steeping for a few days, you will extract almost the same amount of flavor whether the beans are whole or ground. It is a lot easier to handle whole beans. Coffee readily gives up its flavor, but it will take longer than a few minutes when the beans are whole.

If ground and in a bag do it for you, then continue. I'm just saying there is an alternative where you can just toss whole beans in the fermenter without sacrificing any flavor. I cover the inlet of my racking cane to prevent them being sucked in. Alternatively, you could bag them going in the fermenter.