When to add coffee

[MoshinJoshN]

I am going to be brewing a coffee stout soon and I was wondering when the best time to add the coffee is. I've heard some say to add it at flame out and bottling, some say only at bottling. Is it harmful to the beer to add it at flameout?

 

[Turfmanbrad]

Make sure you cold brew the coffee and don't add during the boil/flameout. Any heat releases oils that you don't want in your beer. Add it after fermentation any time. I recommend at bottling so you can add to taste. I did a chocolate coffee stout and ended up with too much coffee in it because I put it in while racking to the secondary and it's all coffee now. Adding at bottling allows you to monitor your input.

 

[MoshinJoshN]

Whats the best way to cold brew it? Do I need a French press?

 

[mikebowman]

No, I'm sure you could just steep some ground coffee in a jar of cold water in the fridge for a day or two, then filter out the coffee

 

[Turfmanbrad]

Coarse grind, let sit in cold water in the fridge for 24 hrs, then filter in some way. A French press worked great but I'm sure a funnel and a coffee filter would work just fine.

 

[jmlabeck]

OK, first of all, I apologize.

When I saw the subject "When do I add coffee?" my immediate, first thought was "As soon as I get up."

In a beer, I'm not saying I'm right, but I would add it right at the end of the boil.

 

[tom_hampton]

I just bottled a coffee porter. I soaked cracked (but, next time I'll just use very course ground) coffee in enough vodka to cover for an hour, and then added to a carboy and racked on top of it. I let it set for 3 weeks, and then bottled. Strong coffee flavor and aroma going into the bottle...but, no bitter bite.

I expect it to mellow out some in the bottle. Actually, I hope it does. Its very "in front" right now. I let it get there, on purpose, with the expectation that it will mellow. If it doesn't, then I will back off next time...as it is quite dominant. Go big, or go home, right?

I used 1.5 oz coffee per gallon. I put the grounds in a mason jar and just covered with vodka. It worked out to an equal weight of vodka...so, its not really enough to skew the ABV by much. The vodka/alcohol will extract some flavors that the beer wouldn't (or that would take much longer due to the lower ABV).

The flavor continued to develop for about two weeks. By the third week I couldn't tell a difference from week 2. I roused the grounds once per week...probably not enough to make a difference, but I was "afraid" of oxidizing by doing it more than that. In the end the flavor was what I wanted, so I won't bother next time.

I suppose course ground would probably extract a little quicker. I cracked it pretty fine with a mallet, but still not as fine (or uniform) as a course ground. So, I'd want to taste a little more often to be sure I didn't get something I didn't want. I'd probably taste every other day until I was confident in the rate of development.

The grounds floated on top of the carboy for the first several days, then began to settle to the bottom over the next week or so. By the end of the 3 weeks, 90% were on the bottom. But, there was still a layer floating on top.

I wouldn't add it to the kettle. Too much risk of extracting the bitter compounds. The ideal brewing temperature of coffee is 190F, with 4 minutes of contact time. Hotter or longer is what gives those nasty, acrid flavors.

 

[tom_hampton]

Oh, one more thing. Doing it this way does make racking out of the carboy difficult. It will clog up the auto-siphon.

I wrap my autosiphon in a large paint strainer (the same kind used for hop spiders). Its the same thing I do for dry hopped beers. I keep it tight so it can't suck up into the inlet, and it works great.