I am very into coffee, I have probably 8 ways to make it at home. If the beans are oily, count me out. I only use '3rd wave' coffee. So I am looking at some single origin beans to pair nicely with an ipa, I think there needs to be some experimentation here, but really should you stick with a normal IPA recipe, lets say dry hopped with some citra, and dry hopped with coffee beans or add ground coffee at flame out? hmmI've been thinking about this for a long time, because I started roasting coffee at home a couple years before I started brewing.
Some thoughts I've had is that coffee choice (origin), freshness and even degree of roast in a Pale beer has got to be extremely important; Pale beers are going to let the coffee be more of a predominant flavor than in your stouts that have tons of roast anyway.
I've had a lot of different coffees over the years, and have come to think of Ethiopia's as the IPA of coffees; they're typically very fruity, citrusy and floral without a viscous mouthfeel you get from a lot of Kenyas, etc. So, assuming one was making a citrusy or fruity IPA, those flavors should meld well. The coffee has to be fresh otherwise you'll get that "diner" taste. And I think it should be roasted just enough to get rid of raw flavor- any 3rd wave coffee roaster who's been around will have achieved this (say, Intelligentsia or Stumptown). Just like with hops or anything else, the more roasted coffee is, the more it starts to just taste like roast rather than having the interesting characteristics you get from that region/cultivar that you want. I think about hops when I drink coffee now and a lot of Ethiopias have a blueberry flavor that would be great with Mosaic, maybe layering in some Centennial (hits the floral note) and Amarillo (orangey).
And for process, the thing that gives the most "bright" character is definitely just dumping the beans in for 12-24 hours (Id use 2 oz to start in a hop sack, then taste). For a more "smooth" character, you could make a cold brew and add it at the end.
I guess another approach would be making a piney/dank focused IPA with say a Simcoe/Columbus combo. Not sure what coffee would go with that, or if it'd even taste good. Maybe something very earthy like a Sumatran roasted dark.
I've got to think though, that it's better to undershoot the coffee flavor then add then to have a dominant coffee flavor. I also think caramel malts may be a conflicting flavor that takes away from the hops and the coffee. Though a smidge of brown malt or something toasty may help with color and give some more sense of roast.
I am very into coffee, I have probably 8 ways to make it at home. If the beans are oily, count me out. I only use '3rd wave' coffee. So I am looking at some single origin beans to pair nicely with an ipa, I think there needs to be some experimentation here, but really should you stick with a normal IPA recipe, lets say dry hopped with some citra, and dry hopped with coffee beans or add ground coffee at flame out? hmm
i'm going to split this into 2 batches, will do the coffee in only one of them
will put it in 2, 2.5 gallon kegs and see whats up
HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Northeast Coffee Citra Pale Ale
Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.036
Efficiency: 70% (ending kettle)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 4.9%
IBU (tinseth): 42.38
SRM (morey): 5.84
FERMENTABLES:
4 lb - American - Pale Ale (36.4%)
1 lb - Flaked Oats (9.1%)
1 lb - United Kingdom - Oat Malt (9.1%)
1 lb - American - Munich - Light 10L (9.1%)
4 lb - United Kingdom - Golden Promise (36.4%)
HOPS:
1.5 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 31.97
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 8.56
2 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Dry Hop for 12 days
1 oz - Citra, Type: Pellet, AA: 11, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 1.85
MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 150 F, Time: 60 min, Amount: 7.5 gal
2) Infusion, Temp: 168 F, Time: 10 min, Amount: 7.5 gal
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
4 oz - Coffee, Time: 4320 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Primary
YEAST:
Wyeast - London Ale III 1318
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 73%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 64 - 74 F
Fermentation Temp: 67 F
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)
This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/459378/northeast-coffee-citra-pale-ale
Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2017-02-25 15:51 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2017-02-25 01:54 UTC