how to add coffee flavor???

[TroyHillBrewer]

I'm a new homebrewer working on my third batch. I have a Pale Ale in primary fermentation now, and I want to give it a coffee flavor. But ... how?

I'll be dry hopping this batch, so -- should I add coffee beans with the hops? Should I cold brew some coffee and add that instead? Should I brew some strong coffee and mix it with the priming sugar on bottling day? And how much?

Any advice = much appreciated. Please help!

TroyHillBrewer

 

[TacoBrew]

Do a cold pressed coffee and add the filtered coffee to your beer until you get the desired amount. No astringency and tons of flavor.

 

[iambeer]

I have a beer that uses only a couple of ounces of Crisp chocolate malt and Special B and it tastes a lot like coffee to me.

 

[yancydc]

I read a ton on this before I made a coffee porter, and I agree cold brewing is the way to go. It worked really well for me. I did 4 cups of relatively weak cold brew at bottling. I would've done less, prob 3 cups, had it been strong.

Fresh brewed espresso also seems to be a good possibility, but I didn't have that capability, and the smoothness of cold brew seems more desirable to me.

Don't know if I've ever had coffee in anything besides a stout or a porter, so I'd be interested to see how yours comes out. I bet it'll be like the bourbon barrel aged pale ale I drank a while back - kinda confusing to the palate because you don't expect that flavor, but ultimately delicious. Good luck!

 

[HopSong]

I wouldn't recommend this (my debut).. but..... I like the ease and the results.

(debut) I was pouring beer for Lost Coast Brewery at a beerfest last week. Coincidentally, I had a very good coffee company next to our booth. Later in the day, after they had poured me a hot one, I said.. "What the heck" (figuratively) and poured about 1/2" of their "hot" coffee in the bottom of my taster glass and filled it up with LC's Double Trouble IPA. I was pleasantly surprised. The beer lost a tiny bit of carb due to the heat of the coffee.. and the coffee was there but not overpowering. I liked it very much.

I'd guess I had about 1 to 1.5 T's of coffee in the glass. I haven't tried to translate that to a batch, but if I were to possibly do a start and considering this was a very bold coffee.. like Starbucks.. not what I attempt to clone at home.. I'd probably dump a quart of this coffee (cooled) in my secondary and rack onto it. That would be a starting point.

There has been a lot of discussion on this here on the forum.. You'll have to make a choice.. cold brewed, hot brewed, crushed bean infusion.. the list goes on. How 'bout doing what I did and make a good pot of coffee and pour about an ounce or two of the cold coffee into your glass and pour a 12 oz bottle on top? That'll tell you if you are going in the right direction. You may really like the simplicity of that.