What type of Coffee Beans do you use?

[KeyWestBrewing]

I have an imperial brown in my primary right now I plan on adding cold brewed chocolate coffee beans to. So it got me wondering...what flavor/kind of coffee beans or coffee blends is everyone using? Also, in what way did you add it; cold brewed, hot brewed, in end of boil, beans/grounds in fermenter? And what styles are you or have you added coffee to?

 

[Stauffbier]

I cold brewed 2 cups of water with 6oz of Starbucks espresso roast that I grinded myself. After cold brewing for 24 hours in the fridge I pressed it and added it to a stout during bottling along with vanilla extract powder that I ordered from Austin. It was one of the best beers I have made!

 

[rico567]

I ground 2 oz of Papanicholas French Roast in our kitchen grinder and threw it into a Founders Breakfast Stout clone* at flameout. Worked great.

* see recipes section

 

[thepartsmancometh]

I ground 2 oz of Papanicholas French Roast in our kitchen grinder and threw it into a Founders Breakfast Stout clone* at flameout. Worked great.

* see recipes section

Good call on the papnicholas! I drink their coffee quite a bit, especially their black and tan blend

In response to the op: I have used (strong) hot brewed coffee in the secondary before with hood success. I added half a pot to an oatmeal stout (NB) kit and it turned out well

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

My homebrew club had a brown ale kit contest and the guy that won used starbucks espresso beans in the secondary. I didnt get to try it but everyone agreed it was the hands down winner.

 

[Sampapendick]

I brewed a porter with 1056; OG 1.070, 42 BU. To the 6 gal secondary I added 1 oz whole coffee beans taken from my local grocery store, where I blended 1/3 vanilla flavored and 2/3 breakfast blend. The vanilla was overpowering, but the product was definitely drinkable and made an awesome beer float. I suggest much less, if any, vanilla flavored beans. Use a controllable extract if you want that character.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Thats good to know. I almost went with French Vanilla instead of Chocolate. I'll remember that for future brews. Never had papanicholas, I'll have to look for it and try it sometime.

 

[flyingfinbar]

I am good friends with/work in a top quality micro-roasting coffee house, so I have access to the best...ironically, I have yet to brew a beer with coffee in it

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I think its time to brew a nice coffee stout or something. Do you guys have a website?

 

[g2rnewton]

I wanted to make a kona porter and a coconut porter, so I combined and went with coconut flavored coffee beans in a robust porter and it tuned out great. Added some crushed beans to primary and cold pressed some more and added to secondary.

I used the amounts recommended in a zymurgy magazine article from last year.

 

[corkybstewart]

I love fresh beer, and I love fresh coffee so I homebrew, and every Sunday I roast coffee for the coming week. When I brew my coffee porter I roast 2/3 pounds of green decaff Columbian beans-who wants that alky buzz competing with a coffee buzz? I let it degas for 2 days, do a coarse grind and pour 175F water over the grounds, let it sit for a couple of hours. Filter the liquid directly into the keg or bottling bucket.

 

[flyingfinbar]

I think its time to brew a nice coffee stout or something. Do you guys have a website?

We have a facebook...I know they do ship some coffee around, I'll see what the deal is.

 

[hotspurdotus]

I'm an espresso junkie, so I poured 24 oz of fresh brewed Lavazza into the primary of my first Stout brew, right before pitching.

It has a great coffee coffee aroma, and has gotten positive reactions from the folks who've sampled it.

 

[knotquiteawake]

Flavored coffee to me is what fruit beer is to others. Generally if your coffee needs flavor then you have substandard beans or a roasting issue.
I too prefer to just source my own unroasted green coffee beans and roast them myself (it's as easy as buying a popcorn popper from a thrift store) but when I can't roast I'll usually pickup some Peets Coffee.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

We have a facebook...I know they do ship some coffee around, I'll see what the deal is.

Definitely let me know. Im hoping to turn this thread into a good source for those who want to add coffee to a brew. Built on the hard work of a dedicated brewing community where we can all get a bunch of ideas on different methods, amounts, bean varieties, and styles that we have all enjoyed imparting coffee into. So knowing where to find some top notch beans would be good info.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I wanted to make a kona porter and a coconut porter, so I combined and went with coconut flavored coffee beans in a robust porter and it tuned out great. Added some crushed beans to primary and cold pressed some more and added to secondary.

I used the amounts recommended in a zymurgy magazine article from last year.

That sounds really good. Ive been debating making a coconut chocolate coffee stout(was gonna call it C cubed) using real coconut. I didnt think about using a flavored bean.. how much did the coconut stand out in the overall taste?

 

[sweetcell]

i'll be brewing my first coffee stout in a week's time, so i've been reading up on this. i've seen a lot of mention of kona and sumatra; and there is a lot of praise for cold brewing.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

It depends on the way you like your coffee if you would like cold brewed or not. Its a lot smoother which I like, but I know many people who like the bitterness of hot brewed. In either case your still gonna get the roastiness and flavor of the beans. I have heard though, that hot brewed has more aromatics to it.

 

[g2rnewton]

It didn't stand out too much. It was more of an after taste. When I do it again, I will go with a traditional porter instead of robust porter. The robust porter had too much chocolate and roast that competed with the coconut. I think that would bring coconut out more. I will definayely do it again. You should try it sometime.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Sounds like a great stout idea. Might have to add dried shredded coconut along with coconut coffee beans.

 

[g2rnewton]

Yes it would be a good stout. If I could get fresh coconut in Maryland in winter, I would have shaved into thin slices and roasted in oven or on grill.

 

[Stauffbier]

Sounds like a great stout idea. Might have to add dried shredded coconut along with coconut coffee beans.

I recently brewed a coconut brown, and I have to tell you that the oil can be a problem. I roasted the hell out of the grated coconut, and I also blotted the oil out with papertowels as much as I could. I still ended up with a fatty/oily layer of crud on top of my beer in the primary. I tried to rack out from under the layer of fat into a secondary. I got most of the fat out of the mix this way, but not all of it. I even have a very small layer of oil on top of each bottle after bottling. BUT.... with all of this said, my coconut brown has a great coconut flavor and backnote and it didn't kill the head. So, long story short.... roast the hell out of it, and get as much oil out of the flakes that you can!

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

I like Starbucks Cafe Verona. I just throw the whole beans right into the primary for the last 3 days, and use 1/4lb in a 5.5 gallon batch.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I recently brewed a coconut brown, and I have to tell you that the oil can be a problem. I roasted the hell out of the grated coconut, and I also blotted the oil out with papertowels as much as I could. I still ended up with a fatty/oily layer of crud on top of my beer in the primary. I tried to rack out from under the layer of fat into a secondary. I got most of the fat out of the mix this way, but not all of it. I even have a very small layer of oil on top of each bottle after bottling. BUT.... with all of this said, my coconut brown has a great coconut flavor and backnote and it didn't kill the head. So, long story short.... roast the hell out of it, and get as much oil out of the flakes that you can!

Do you think it would make a difference if you dehydrated the coconut?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I like Starbucks Cafe Verona. I just throw the whole beans right into the primary for the last 3 days, and use 1/4lb in a 5.5 gallon batch.

Though I havent tried it this way I like the idea. Its basically like using your beer as the base water for making a giant cold brewed coffee. Anyone know if adding lactose to a coffee beer would make it like a Con Leche?

 

[Stauffbier]

Do you think it would make a difference if you dehydrated the coconut?

I forgot to mention in my previous post, but I actually did that. I'm sure it helped, but that stuff is just packed with oil. Once you put a bottle in the fridge for a week or two the oil seems to kinda disappear, and when I pour a glass it looks clear. So, I'm thinking it will be fine. I'm going to bottle condition it for a couple months, and I have a feeling it will be fine.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Well since there are coconuts down here almost year round looks like im gonna have to attempt a chocolate coconut coffee stout.

 

[Stauffbier]

Sounds tasty!

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I'll make sure to post a follow up on what I end up putting together and how it comes out... Anyone else, what beans are you using?

 

[mrgstiffler]

I've been toying with idea of doing an IPA with some coffee notes. Was thinking about using 1oz of Kicking Horse Kickass dark roast whole beans in the keg. Can add more or pull it out to taste. Trying to figure out what hops to use.

 

[TheJosephizer]

Maybe I'm lucky, but there are at least three local coffee roasters where I live, so I called up my favorite and asked to speak with the owner. I brewed a coffee amber ale, and went with Guatemala after talking with him. Even worked out a trade with the final product for the beans. I used 4oz coarse ground and filled my litre French press with cold water, placed in fridge for 24 hrs, pressed and added to secondary; minus about 8oz of the coffee cause it tasted amazing!

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I dont know if I'd put the beans in the keg. They will overpower the brew quickly. The longest advised time Ive seen for cold brewing coffee is 72 hours. What about a brown IPA?... I think the dark roast would go well darker, roastier malts. And as for hops...FWIW in my coffee brown I used Northern Brewer and Willamette.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Maybe I'm lucky, but there are at least three local coffee roasters where I live, so I called up my favorite and asked to speak with the owner. I brewed a coffee amber ale, and went with Guatemala after talking with him. Even worked out a trade with the final product for the beans. I used 4oz coarse ground and filled my litre French press with cold water, placed in fridge for 24 hrs, pressed and added to secondary; minus about 8oz of the coffee cause it tasted amazing!

Anytime you can call the owner of the local coffee roasting company and trade homebrew for beans... Id say your lucky. How was the presence of the coffee in the final product?

 

[ktblunden]

Over the weekend I brewed an adaptation of a Founder's Breakfast Stout clone. I put two ounces of ground Kauai Coffee Company Poipu Estate in at flame out. At bottling it will get 2 ounces of Kona coffee that has been cold brewed. So I guess it'll be a Hawaiian Breakfast Stout.

 

[sweetcell]

Over the weekend I brewed an adaptation of a Founder's Breakfast Stout clone. I put two ounces of ground Kauai Coffee Company Poipu Estate in at flame out. At bottling it will get 2 ounces of Kona coffee that has been cold brewed. So I guess it'll be a Hawaiian Breakfast Stout.

did you follow double dachs' recipe? that's the one i'll be brewing this weekend, and it call for exactly those amounts at those times.

hawaii breakfast stout - i like it!

 

[ktblunden]

did you follow double dachs' recipe? that's the one i'll be brewing this weekend, and it call for exactly those amounts at those times.

hawaii breakfast stout - i like it!

I took his recipe and scaled it back to a lower OG and lowered the IBUs a little. It's for my wife and she wanted a smaller beer.

 

[sweetcell]

I took his recipe and scaled it back to a lower OG and lowered the IBUs a little. It's for my wife and she wanted a smaller beer.

i'm also scaling it back just a tad (1.086 --> 1.076), and am using 15% DME to limit how much grain i have to heave about in my bag (i'm BIAB). his website currently lists 30 IBUs (http://www.dubbeldachs.com/recipes_fbstout.htm) - did you scale back from that? or were you looking at an older version where he listed 60 IBUs?

i can't wait to brew this one up. too bad it'll be another exercise in patience...

 

[ktblunden]

I don't remember what my IBUs ended up at, I'll try to remember to check Beersmith when I get home. I think I aimed for 1.076 and ended up at 1.074 all said and done. When this one gets bottled I'm going to set aside 6 bottles worth and add some bacon infused bourbon as an experiment. I have no idea what to expect from those, but the rest of it should come out great.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I dont know if I'd put the beans in the keg. They will overpower the brew quickly. The longest advised time Ive seen for cold brewing coffee is 72 hours. What about a brown IPA?... I think the dark roast would go well darker, roastier malts. And as for hops...FWIW in my coffee brown I used Northern Brewer and Willamette.

They will be whole beans, so it will be a little more forgiving. Plus, I can pull it out anytime I want.

The Brown IPA is a decent idea. Or maybe I'll do something higher in gravity (10% or so) and add some wheat, oats and candi syrup. Similar to Deschutes Hop in the Dark, but with a touch of coffee and higher gravity.

 

[ktblunden]

i'm also scaling it back just a tad (1.086 --> 1.076), and am using 15% DME to limit how much grain i have to heave about in my bag (i'm BIAB). his website currently lists 30 IBUs (http://www.dubbeldachs.com/recipes_fbstout.htm) - did you scale back from that? or were you looking at an older version where he listed 60 IBUs?

i can't wait to brew this one up. too bad it'll be another exercise in patience...

Home and able to check Beersmith and I see I scaled it back to 1.065 and ended up at 1.064. Also I guess I upped the IBUs a little up to 37.