Help with coffee porter

[Brewpup506]

First from scratch recipe and my brew got a little big for its britches. My yeast didn’t eat up as much as I wanted so it came out a bit sweet. I have it racked on vanilla for the 3 weeks and planning to add some coffee at bottling.

Any suggestions on what kind of coffee and how much? I have 4.5 gallons and was trying for a stronger coffee flavor to balance the sweetness of the beer.

Thanks everyone

 

[MrPowers]

What was the original recipe? Does it have a specific flavor focus? Dark fruit, milk/dark chocolate, roasty?

Since it’s quite sweet, my first thought would be an espresso bean to balance that out. I’ve had the best luck cold steeping the coffee IN the beer for 2 days before bottling. Just give the coffee beans a coarse crush with a rolling pin, put them in a grain steeping bag, and drop it in your fermenter for two days prior to bottling day. I wouldn’t let them sit much longer than that.

The last time I did that, I used 8oz of espresso beans in 5 gallons of an imperial oatmeal stout and it had an upfront but not overpowering coffee flavor for about 6 months before it started mellowing out.

Edit: alternatively, you could cold brew a strong coffee concentrate, but I don’t have any experience with that method.

 

[TheAleRunner]

Agree with the above poster. Add whole beans or coarse crushed beans directly to the fermentor for 24-48 hours. I'd just go with a full 12oz bag and you should get great coffee flavor. The darker the roast, the more likely it will help offset the sweetness of the beer.

 

[Brewpup506]

What was the original recipe? Does it have a specific flavor focus? Dark fruit, milk/dark chocolate, roasty?

Since it’s quite sweet, my first thought would be an espresso bean to balance that out. I’ve had the best luck cold steeping the coffee IN the beer for 2 days before bottling. Just give the coffee beans a coarse crush with a rolling pin, put them in a grain steeping bag, and drop it in your fermenter for two days prior to bottling day. I wouldn’t let them sit much longer than that.

The last time I did that, I used 8oz of espresso beans in 5 gallons of an imperial oatmeal stout and it had an upfront but not overpowering coffee flavor for about 6 months before it started mellowing out.

Edit: alternatively, you could cold brew a strong coffee concentrate, but I don’t have any experience with that method.

Thanks! Did you sterilize beans first with vodka or anything or just drop them in?

 

[Brewpup506]

Ps... roasty with vanilla

 

[MrPowers]

No I didn’t sanitize them. Just dropped them in.

I’d go with espresso beans then.