Espresso ESB Anyone

[schwinn]

I tasted a Peaks Organic Espresso Amber Ale yesterday and loved the aroma and the general coffee notes and overall taste but I have never been a big amber fan so it fell just short of being great in my opinion.
I have seen many coffee stouts, ports and now this amber.
Any thoughts on an Espresso ESB.

I was thinking about taking a Fullers ESB clone recipe and tweaking it with coffee - crazy or interesting?

 

[cheezydemon3]

Sure, try it! Sounds wierd to me, but it might be great!

 

[JonW]

I'm a huge coffee fan - I roast my own beans and have a plumbed in espresso machine in the kitchen, but for some reason, I can't mix my coffee and beer hobbies.

 

[HalfPint]

I don't see why it wouldn't work out, but make sure to account for some bitterness you'll naturally get from coffee. I wouldn't force the hops/coffee to compete with one another. With the hop statement said, I would probably reduce aroma hops for sure.

 

[schwinn]

Total hop schedule I was thinking about was .75 oz of chinook at 60min /.5oz challenger at 30 min / .25oz east kent goldings at 20 min and another .25 kent at flame out.

I have also read about some people adding lightly ground coffee beans at mash time while others actually brewing some shots of espresso and adding the liquid to the wort (either at boil time or at yeast pitch time). Any clue on the best bet on this?
I am leaning towards the mash to integrate the natural oils and bitterness from the bean.

 

[Mongrel]

I'd wait until after the boil. Boiling ruins coffee.

 

[schwinn]

Thanks Mongrel - you think add right at flame out so it can steep a few minutes before cooling the wort down or right before pitching?

 

[HalfPint]

I would add freshly ground coffee at flame out (1-2 oz?), then taste and tweak flavor with cold brewed coffee at bottling time, or dry hop with whole bean coffee.

 

[schwinn]

dry hop with whole bean is a great idea (never thought of that).

 

[HalfPint]

dry hop with whole bean is a great idea (never thought of that).

Yep, do some searching to see what people in the past have successfully used.