Whirlpooling with coarse ground coffee

[abrewer12345]

just got some beans from a friend and drawing up a stout recipe for it. thinking i might steep and whirlpool coarse ground coffee in a hop bag for about 15-20 minutes @190-195 degrees. anyone have any experience with this? batch is 6 gallons.

thanks!!

 

[abrewer12345]

oh and how much coffee? thinking i might go with a full pound

 

[bobeer]

I've done this but with what I would describe as finer ground coffee. It worked great but I mostly added it to darken the wort. I did it with a 2nd runnings of an imperial stout. I think I used 1/4 lb of a medium roast ground to a #7 id say in a 2.5-3 gallon batch.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I find coffee helps out with color, flavor ( if you like coffee and don’t mind a little bitterness) and even head retention. Although sometimes I take the last dribble. From the drip pot and pour a cold one on top.. so I’m not sure if the head retention survives the fermentation. I also wonder if the oils might preclude oxygenation.

 

[couchsending]

I definitely wouldn’t Whirlpool the beans for that long. Coffee flavor extraction happens very quickly. I’d keep it to less than 5 minutes. Might be best to contain them in something so they can be removed after a short time. Courser the grind the better. Depending on the beer and the beans you might only need like 4oz or so, wouldn’t go over 8 personally.

 

[abrewer12345]

I definitely wouldn’t Whirlpool the beans for that long. Coffee flavor extraction happens very quickly. I’d keep it to less than 5 minutes. Might be best to contain them in something so they can be removed after a short time. Courser the grind the better. Depending on the beer and the beans you might only need like 4oz or so, wouldn’t go over 8 personally.

i think i'm backing out of the whirlpool and moving forward with just adding coarse towards the end of ferm and whole beans 2 days before kegging. you think only 4oz on that side too? was thinking 8oz ground, and 4 oz whole. crazy?

 

[couchsending]

i think i'm backing out of the whirlpool and moving forward with just adding coarse towards the end of ferm and whole beans 2 days before kegging. you think only 4oz on that side too? was thinking 8oz ground, and 4 oz whole. crazy?

For 5 gallons? What’s ABV?

Yeah that’s a lot. Most recipes will be for 2-4oz of beans when added cold side. Give it a whirl if you want though? Again extraction time is short. You only need 24hours cold side. Longer and you run the risk of getting the green pepper notes that plague a lot of coffee beers, especially if it’s a lighter roast.

 

[tracer bullet]

FWIW as a coffee person as well as a beer person, I'd consider somewhat emulating normal coffee practices. What that would mean is if you do it hot, do it around 200 F and for a couple minutes max. Maybe throw it in a little bit after flameout and just before you begin chilling? Otherwise during or after fermentation, follow the cold press steps. Consider something like 24 hours. Cold press is said to get rid of bitterness vs. hot, but IMO bitterness isn't an issue if you do hot correctly (i.e. not too hot or too long).

I aim to use coffee in a batch soon but never have so that's all with the "grain of salt". My plan is coarse grind hoping it'll fall out better, dark roast but not oily just in case those oils kill head, and added 24 hours or so before kegging. 1/4 pound sounds about right to definitely taste it but still have beer w/ coffee flavor and not start thinking it's coffee with beer flavor.

 

[abrewer12345]

For 5 gallons? What’s ABV?

Yeah that’s a lot. Most recipes will be for 2-4oz of beans when added cold side. Give it a whirl if you want though? Again extraction time is short. You only need 24hours cold side. Longer and you run the risk of getting the green pepper notes that plague a lot of coffee beers, especially if it’s a lighter roast.

good to know- i'm going to keep it short for each charge, and start small and taste. thanks for the help!!

FWIW as a coffee person as well as a beer person, I'd consider somewhat emulating normal coffee practices. What that would mean is if you do it hot, do it around 200 F and for a couple minutes max. Maybe throw it in a little bit after flameout and just before you begin chilling? Otherwise during or after fermentation, follow the cold press steps. Consider something like 24 hours. Cold press is said to get rid of bitterness vs. hot, but IMO bitterness isn't an issue if you do hot correctly (i.e. not too hot or too long).

I aim to use coffee in a batch soon but never have so that's all with the "grain of salt". My plan is coarse grind hoping it'll fall out better, dark roast but not oily just in case those oils kill head, and added 24 hours or so before kegging. 1/4 pound sounds about right to definitely taste it but still have beer w/ coffee flavor and not start thinking it's coffee with beer flavor.

yeah i'm a coffee nerd myself which is why initially i wanted to hit it during the whirlpool but i've read a lot about positive results adding on the cold side. i'm going to try that approach next week, i'll let everyone know how it comes out a little after thanksgiving. cheers!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This article may be helpful : Guide to Coffee Beers - Scott Janish

 

[Oldskewl]

Adding coffee to hot wort will add a lot of bitterness. I have had best results with adding whole or coarse ground coffee to the secondary for a 2-3 days. A cold brew in the fridge added at bottling/kegging works almost as well. Amount will vary depending on your beer. 4-6 oz of beans is what I have had the best results with

 

[couchsending]

Referring to all coffee beans generically as having the same impact on beer is like saying Willamette and Galaxy will have the same impact and flavor profile on your beer.

Depending on the bean and the roaster and your extraction time you might get very little bitterness from a hotside addition of certain coffee beans.

 

[Oldskewl]

Couchsending, that could be true. Just speaking from past experiences. You could also split the coffee addition. 2oz in the last 5 min of the boil and 2oz in the fermenter.

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed, it depends. A lot of fine ground coffee boiled for a long time = pure bitterness. Drop the grind a bit to slow things down, drop the time, and definitely drop the temps and should = no problem. Should...

 

[abrewer12345]

bumping this back up- just steeped for 24 hours and the beer is tasting great! BUT quick question for some folks out there:

tilt was reading 1.025 or so (which is target fg) but after the coffee it bumped back up to 1.032. will coffee oils effect gravity? or more importantly, the tilt? i have a hydrometer but my brew partner has it at his place right now. so im asking mostly out of impatience haha

 

[tracer bullet]

I can't see it affecting density at all, or even if it's a measurable amount in technical terms it'd be so little as to call it negligible. Something else has to be up. As for what....