Hops for a Balcones Bourbon Barrel Coffee Pale

[TANSTAAFB]

I went into a local coffee roaster and was immediately intrigued by the Balcones Bourbon barrel sitting on the counter. Turns out the owner puts green Sumatra beans in the barrel and ages them for 2-3 months before roasting. We started chatting, told him I was a homebrewer, and long story short he traded me some of these glorious beans for some beer once finished. I brewed a simple base beer with:
77% Colorado Malting Co Belgian Base Pale malt
20% CMC malted white wheat
2% Crystal 80
1% Crystal 120
Warrior FWH 30 IBU
Centennial whirlpool 20 IBU
BRY-97 yeast (Denny talked me out of US-05...never tasted peach til I did, can't untaste it!)

So my question is what dry hops will play well with the coffee, bourbon, oak, and citrus flavors?

I plan on dry hopping, crash cooling, and cold brewing in the beer. I had originally planned on making cold brew and adding it at packaging but received feedback from an experienced brewer and coffee roaster on the AHA forums that it can water down the beer, so why not brew the coffee in the beer? I'll steep the coffee tasting frequently until I get the coffee character I want. I'll also soak an oak spiral in bourbon and age on that until I get the balance of oak, bourbon, coffee, and hops flavors I want.

Thoughts?

 

[TANSTAAFB]

BTW, a couple of ideas were Brewer's Gold (spicy, blackcurrant, and cherry) or Pacific Gem (blackberry, floral, oak)

 

[TANSTAAFB]

My bad, it was @BrewinHooligan right here on HBT who recommended to steep directly in the beer! My oak spiral is soaking in Weller's now

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I'm a little left field, some winey Nelson Sauvin could play well. It could also be a massive train wreck. That's how my experiments go though. Epic win, or epic fail. Your most likely better off playing this one safer than me as I haven't thought to dry hop a coffee beer yet. Of the options you listed I would lean towards the Brewers Gold.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Nelson Sauvin is my favorite hop! I'm really leaning towards a split batch with 2 or 3 different dry hop options...

 

[HomemadeSauce]

Something like Perle or Comet could work well. I also think Amarillo could be a decent choice, or for something further out there, El Dorado.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Something like Perle or Comet could work well. I also think Amarillo could be a decent choice, or for something further out there, El Dorado.

Other than Amarillo (don't think I want the grapefruit flavors in this) I haven't used any if these. What flavors would I expect and how do you think they'd go with everything else? I've got the oak spiral soaking in Weller now

 

[HomemadeSauce]

I suppose it would be best to stay away from Comet as well, then. It does have a sort of citrus zest component. Perle has Northern Brewer as a parent and it's definitely on the peppery/floral side of things. I've heard U.S. grown Perle can yield a minty aroma so I would go for the German crop in this case. El Dorado is pretty tropical - stone fruit, even candied fruit. Could be nice to brighten the beer up a bit if that makes sense.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

It does. I don't mind the more orange end of citrus, just want to avoid the grapefruit and lemon/lime flavors. I'm also hesitant about the more tropical flavors in this. The mint might be interesting, maybe even some Northern Brewer and US Perle?
I started cold crashing last night (scored a chest freezer for $20[emoji41]). I'll add the coffee in a Wilserbag on Sunday when I get back from camping.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

@BrewinHooligan how long would you steep the coffee grounds in the beer? I cold crashed it, so we're right around 33°F and I added about 150g of coarse grounds to a Wilserbag last night. I want to maximize extraction of the deliciousness and avoid any harshness.

 

[HomemadeSauce]

I've always had good luck adding coffee grounds just a day (or two) before I bottle.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Just pulled the bag. Tasted the beer last night and WOW! Can't wait to add the dry hops and bourbon soaked oak spiral!

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Added the bourbon soaked oak spiral last night. I really can't wait to try this beer!

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Went ahead and pulled the spiral, don't want it too oakey!

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Still undecided on the dry hops for this...

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Went with 2oz Centennial and 1oz Nelson Sauvin. The coffee, oak, and bourbon are very subtle, just what I was going for!

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Kegged, carbed, and bottled a few to take back to Cole, the owner of Mt. Air Coffee Roasters. He loved it! Being a veteran he also loved that I used Warrior and Centennial for the hops. I definitely call this one a success. I'll make minor changes next time but I'm very happy with the results. I think I'll enter it in the local Pro Am!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

BTW, a couple of ideas were Brewer's Gold (spicy, blackcurrant, and cherry) or Pacific Gem (blackberry, floral, oak)

Coming late to this but one of my first thoughts was the blackcurrant thing, either Bramling Cross or Bullion, granddaughter and sister respectively of Brewer's Gold.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I think I'll go that route next time, but the Warrior/ Centennial/ Nelson Sauvin combo is pretty good!