Sipping my Morning Coffee...

[ViperMan]

...and it occurs to me, "How would this taste as beer?"

And so I've been Googling, and of course, keep coming back to this site...

I drink Starbucks Gold Coast Blend (Extra-Bold Dark Roast) with Hazelnut syrup.

I figure I'd use some methods I read here - about cold-brewing the coffee and adding to the primary. I'd probably also just buy plain-ol' Hazelnuts, lightly crush them, and boil them for probably a good 15 minutes in with the wort...

My question though is what should I START with? Though it's a very roasty-flavored coffee, I still like it very sweet. So I don't think I'd like it as a Porter. For one thing, the coffee will be dark enough - no need to over-do it. I'm thinking nothing darker than a Brown Ale, and adding some crystal 90 or even higher to add some caramel flavoring...

I'd also want a very, very neutral hop - something that adds the necessary bittering without any additional flavor.

Any thoughts/suggestions/discussions?

 

[brewhooligan]

There's a lot of oil in nuts that could potentially cause head retention problems. This is just a guess, I've never brewed with nuts -- just something to consider.

If you're in favor of a sweeter beer, you might consider a Southern English Brown as the base recipe. The coffee would add a drier, roasted character that would create a nice balance.

Actually, the more I think about this, the more I really like this idea.

 

[I_B_Mongo]

The nuts can be roasted in the oven on sheet pans lined with paper towels. This helps eliminate some of the oils, and leads to an increased nuttiness.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Per your request, I would recommend tettnang as a possible "neutral" hop. I used 2 oz of tettnang for a coffee stout (1 oz 60 min/1 oz 30 min) with great results. Also, I added 24 oz of coffee (Starbucks Guatamala Antigua) to the primary after 10 days (I don't use secondaries) and the results were very very good. The coffee flavor and aroma was just about perfect for my liking, and everyone who tried it gave positive feedback.

 

[BendBrewer]

Sipping my Morning Coffee...

"Fussing with all that Cream and Sugar?"

 

[ViperMan]

Per your request, I would recommend tettnang as a possible "neutral" hop. I used 2 oz of tettnang for a coffee stout (1 oz 60 min/1 oz 30 min) with great results. Also, I added 24 oz of coffee (Starbucks Guatamala Antigua) to the primary after 10 days (I don't use secondaries) and the results were very very good. The coffee flavor and aroma was just about perfect for my liking, and everyone who tried it gave positive feedback.

Do you mean brewed coffee by volume, or ground coffee by weight?

Thanks for the hop suggestion. I'm still trying to figure those out...

 

[HawksBrewer]

Do you mean brewed coffee by volume, or ground coffee by weight?

Thanks for the hop suggestion. I'm still trying to figure those out...

By volume. I brewed it fresh using the first grind from the bag with a very strong brew (at or above 2 oz by weight/cup), refridgerated until room temp, then poured slowly into the fermentation bucket.