Adding coffee to St Paul Porter? (secondary)

Northern Brewer General
1

Hi all,
I am brewing the St Paul Porter extract kit. I loved the first batch so much, had to do another one.

this batch, 1 week in primary now.
(last batch I had in primary 3 weeks, bottled.)

this batch, I’m thinking of adding coffee.
I can transfer to secondary in another week or so.

SUGGESTIONS to add coffee?
I’ve read about course ground beans in vodka.
or cold pressed coffee?

any ideas?
will coffee go in a porter ok?

thanks

2

Coffee in porter is wonderful.
Just brew a pot of strong coffee and pour it in secondary or when bottling/kegging.
It’s as easy as that.

3

+1

I’ve done that with a coffee stout and it turned out well.

4

I did the peace coffee stout and it was terrible. We added coffee grounds like a dry hop. My advice, don’t do that. The taste of the coffee is there, but it tastes old. I think you would have better luck getting the coffee flavor from grains.

5

I have done this with that very same kit. Just made a batch in a french press and poured into the secondary. Turned out great!

6

thanks for the coffee tips everyone.

I won’t put in coffee grounds, thanks for the warning sawyer.

I may try brewed coffee though, just a little.
I really like coffee, I have a french press, or maybe espresso?

just a cup or two?

7

I actually split that batch up into 1 gal jugs and tried a couple different things. I don’t have my notes in front of me but I want to say it was either 1/2 or 1 whole cup of coffee for a 1 gal jug.

Also threw in half a vanilla bean in one of the other jugs. That was even better than the coffee …

8

[quote=“Takehiko”]I actually split that batch up into 1 gal jugs and tried a couple different things. I don’t have my notes in front of me but I want to say it was either 1/2 or 1 whole cup of coffee for a 1 gal jug.

Also threw in half a vanilla bean in one of the other jugs. That was even better than the coffee …[/quote]
I like to do this also. Sometimes I will fill several growlers at once and add different items to each. Most recently with a dark mild i added Bourbon, cacao nibs, vanilla, and coffee to four different growlers, all of which turned out great and unique in its own way.

As for the coffee infused dark mild, I added 1oz. of whole coffee beans into a 64oz growler filled with the dark mild and let it age in the fridge for 8 days before drinking. I think it turned out great, a nice subtle coffee flavor and aroma, with a good lasting coffee finish, plus it was a nice bonus to have a few coffee beans floating in your glass.

9

Cold Press your Joe! It will ensure a smooth coffee flavor that will go well with the roasted malts.

You could brew it hot, but I find that hot coffee gets bitter and astringent when it cools down.

My 2 cents!

10

how do you cold press coffee?

11

You just need to mix the grounds with water, and steep in the fridge for a day or so, and strain. I use a french press that makes it pretty easy.

12

ok, thanks,

and for 5 gallon batch, how much liquid cold pressed coffee would you recommend?

thanks!

13

I don’t have an exact recipe, but I’d start at 3 ounces of ground coffee in 12-16oz of water. I think the idea is to use strong, condensed coffee that will add a lot of flavor without watering the beer down.

14

perfect, thanks!

I’ll go over to the Dunn Bros on Grand, the best coffee! and pick out a good one for this batch, maybe the Peruvian.

15

one more question,

I may not secondary this batch… I don’t need to save this yeast.

ok to add the coffee to primary once all fermentation done?

thanks!

16

sure! I don’t think that would affect anything.

17

I don’t see any issues there. If you are just adding the cold steeped coffee, I would think you could add it directly to the bottling bucket or keg to taste. This way you can add a little at a time until you reach your desired coffee level.

18

Here is a nice cold press coffee maker. Since my stomach doesn’t like regular brewed coffee, I bought this. Haven’t used it in beer yet but it would be super easy. It’s basically a coffee concentrate. use whatever amount you want in your beer, then save the rest for cold or hot coffee drinks.

http://www.amazon.com/Toddy-T2N-Cold-Br ... B0006H0JVW