I attempted adding coffee to a stout tonight I hope I did it correctly

Patch62383 · Mar 2, 2014

I have been messing with creating my own recipes lately and I attempted a chocolate coffee stout tonight. I brewed a made up stout recipe and added 4 oz of espresso beans at flame out for 5 mins of steeping in a mesh bag. I had a bad feeling thats why I stopped at 5 mins I figure if I don't like it I can add coffee during bottling. Any ways anyone had any advice thanks everyone

homebrewmike · Mar 2, 2014

Everything I've seen on here suggests adding the coffee at bottling/kegging so you can get the flavor rigt where you want it.

BigFloyd · Mar 2, 2014

The most important consideration when preparing coffee to add to a beer is the type of flavor you want to get. Adding coffee to a boil, at flameout, or brewing it in hot water separately will release compounds from the coffee that lead to a more bitter, astringent taste I'd rather avoid having.

The method which provides a nice, smooth coffee character(even with dark roast) without the bitterness is to cold brew (overnight at room temp) some course ground beans and add the strained liquid at kegging/bottling. I used the cold brew liquid from 4oz course ground beans in a porter I have on tap right now and it's quite tasty.

The good news is that just 5 min at flameout may not have been long enough to extract very much of the bitter flavor from whole beans. You can still do the cold brew coffee and add at bottling.

garcia · Mar 2, 2014

Espresso beans?

There is no such things as espresso beans. Either they were whole beans, or coffee ground to espresso fine. If they were what companies like to label as espresso whole beans, then it is an extra dark roast (extra dark is usually used to mask bad bean, like well done in steak)

Three things lead to bitter coffee: too fine grind, water hitting grounds too much, or too got of water.

I have never added coffee to beer, but if I did, I would probably do the cold brew with the grind in the coarsest setting.

Espressomattic · Mar 2, 2014

Even being a newbie brewer I am a home coffee roaster.
So here is my take:

Freshness is key. Roasted coffee is only good for four weeks maximum. The level of roast will have a big impact on the flavours released. A dark roast will rease more oils resulting in a bitter taste. A lighter roast carries more of the beans characteristics.

If you are using per ground you will only get a stale coffee flavour. If you can only use fresh ground or even better grinder your own

The cold brew method is best. As stated above, 49 grams of coarse ground coffe steeped in 800ml of water over night. This gives maximum coffee flavour while not extracting undesirae bitter compounds.

Filter this brew through filter papers and it will keep fresh for a week in the fridge.

If possible obtain single origin coffee beans. Check out a company called Sweet Maria's. using a single origin you can identify specific flavours you desire in your coffee.

For example a Sumatran will give off mushroom and earthy flavours. An Ethiopian yirgacheffe will give high end citrus and bergamot t and a Harra a more blueberry flavour

Then if you go to Central America expect a more mellow, cocoa type coffee and so on

But as with beer brewing, if you use coffee only use the freshest you can get.

Cheers

Matt

MindenMan · Mar 2, 2014

I once made a coffee stout and learned a very important thing,when it comes to flavoring beers/stouts, a little goes a long way, especially as time progresses and the flavors concentrate. I used 4 oz of espresso beans cold brewed in 3 or so cups of water, added it to a 5 gallon batch at bottling, tasted it, panicked is wasn't coffee enough, gave the coffee grounds another quick wash, added it, and thought maybe I nailed it. Yup, I nailed it alright, three weeks later the coffee flavor became so strong, I just couldn't stand to drink it. And the flavor strength continued to increase even more. I still love my morning coffee, but any beer that even hints to coffee, I just can't drink it.
As to your question about when to add coffee flavor, the jury is still out, but adding coffee beans to hot wort can possibly bring bitter oils out has been discussed, and adding at every different stage of brewing/racking. I will suggest, think about your level of hop bitterness before you add your coffee, as the added bitterness from the coffee may take your stout too far/bitter.