Coffee

So me thinking. Monday brew session. Either a heffeweizen. Or a stout. Question. Thinking doing a. Vanilla coffee stout. Do you add the coffee during the boil or once the wort into the fermentor. If so how much on 7 gallon just cold coffee. Add to the fermentor. ??

I have tried it both ways. I think adding coffee at bottling gives the best coffee flavor. Your best bet is to add concentrated cold brew coffee so you do not dilute the beer as much. Same goes for vanilla, real extract added at the end appears to be the best as vanilla is a fugitive flavor/aroma and dies pretty early.

Picking the type of coffee is important as well. I used Kona and Sumatra last time because it was written that Founders uses those. The Kona is too subtle and expensive. The Sumatra is strong enough to be tasted.

Good read here…

Did a stout with vanilla. Great succes. But coffee never did this. Should be intresting. The flav

Well since you have time practice making the same coffee different ways. I did this and decided that cold brewing with sterilized water/equipment was the was to go. But this is what I wanted to do…

The first rule of adding coffee to beer is not to do it! :joy::joy:

sorry, I couldn’t help myself!

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I don’t always make beer with coffee, but when I do, I like to put the coffee in my mouth.

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If you can find this fresh and on tap possibly the best stout I’ve ever had…

https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/11/breakfast-stout-riff.html

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I brewed a “clone” recipe of founders breakfast stout a few years ago. I could post the recipe if anyone is interested. The coffee was overpowering. If I remenber correctly it called for beans in the boil and addition of cold brew post fermentation. If I brewed it again I’d pull some stout after fermentation and taste test the coffee additions then scale up for the batch.

Yes post it. When I get home I will as well. The first attempt I too thought the coffee was to strong, but as it aged it mellowed to harmony. My second attempt was underwhelming coffee wise and I blame the Kona coffee for being too subtle. I guess picking the style of roast might be critical.

And I enjoy starting my brew day with a few mugs of coffee… I’m very partial to a beer tasting like… beer! I think that has been underlined above… :sunglasses: Sneezles61

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I add the coffee just before racking (after cold brewing the coffee).
Same for the bourbon.
I add the chocolate at flame out.

Y’all don’t know what you are missing. Which is fine, leaves more for me.

This was my first attempt as an extract.
Steeped for 30 min at 153:
16 oz Roasted Barley
10 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz De Husked Carafa I
4 oz Pale Chocolate Malt
8 oz 150L Crystal Malt
4 oz Special B
16 oz Flaked Oats

3.3 lbs Munich LME added for full 60 Min
5.3 lbs Light LME added last 15 min
1.1 lbs Wheat LME added last 15 min

2 oz Horizon 60 min
.5 oz Willamette 30 min
.5 oz Willamette 1 min

Final 5 min 16 oz Cocoa Powder (this is messy so relax)
Flame Out 5 oz fresh ground Coffee
Start 4 oz bourbon soaked cocoa nibs tincture and strain and add at bottling

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[quote=“TomW, post:11, topic:26138”]
add the coffee just before racking (after cold brewing the coffee).
[/quote]I think this is my preferred way you just have to calculate the drop in ABV and plan in advance.

I’ve made two attempts at coffee in beer. First try was “dry beaning” post fermentation. Oil from the beans killed the head, and the flavor was way too strong.
Second try was adding cold brewed coffee after chilling, and I used half the amount most people were using. Fixed the head problem, but flavor was still way too strong. Not likely to try again any time soon.

Me dicided to do a heffeweizen monday. Not a stout. Tomorow a ipa brew day. Thursday. Will do a stout. But vanilla stout. Will toy with some coffee as well. Will collect. 3xsamples wort. Cool it down and add different kind of coffee. See if i like the taste.

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Here’s the recipe I used for breakfast stout. Mashed at 154. I can’t remember what kind of coffee I used for the cold brew addition but probably something dark roasted from starbucks.

13 lbs 3.2 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.1 %
1 lbs 6.4 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.1 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.8 %
12.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
9.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.2 %
7.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.5 %
0.50 oz Nugget [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 20.3 IBUs
0.40 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 5.8 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -
2.00 oz Baker’s Chocolate (Boil 5.0 mins) Flavor 10 -
2.00 oz Cacao Nibs (Boil 5.0 mins) Flavor 11 -
2.00 oz Coffee - Sumatra ground (Boil 2.0 mins) Flavor 12 -
0.40 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 13 0.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) [124.21 ml Yeast 14 -
2.00 oz Coffee Cold Brewed (Bottling 0.0 mins) Flavor 15 -

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I like coffee and have come to like coffee flavor in some beers. The first time I used coffee was in a dry Irish stout brewed with WY-1056. Fermented at my usual temperature with this yeast of 63° 64°. First time I noticed the peach flavor this yeast produces fermenting cool. Low hopping of the stout let this flavor shine through. A couple of teaspoons of strong cold brewed coffee in each glass covered the peach flavor. Ever since been thinking about brewing a stout with coffee beans.

Stevens Point Brewery has an espresso stout that I really like. Hasn’t available for a while now. Beer man says they had a problem with their bottling line.

I do a mini mash in my French press. If I were adding coffee to a beer and I’m not I would wet it then let it steep post boil.

What I found is best way to add coffee is add it to your mash. Now with out getting all scientific about it. By adding it to your mash the oil of the beans is filtered in the mash and extraction of these oils that kills head retention are mostly left behind. The low temperature of your mash is also a benefit for adding coffee. You will extract less oil from the bean and will not extract any harsh flavors giving you a smoother coffee flavor.

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I do one every year now so it is ready around Thanksgiving. I used a vanilla bean and a little extract, Sumatra coffee beans ( I have used cold coffee too) . actually I just let 6 coffee beans marinate in the secondary last time. It turned out just fantastic, one of my favorites

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