Favorite way to add coffee?

I recently asked this question, and got some pretty good answers: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-a-coffee-stout-question.282344/#post-3560907

 

I am a big fan of 'dry beaning' in secondary. It gives big coffee flavor and aroma without affecting mouth feel as much as earlier additions can do. Nothing scientific, just the opinion of my taste buds. No need to crack the beans. Roasted beans are oozing coffee 'oils' (actually an emulsion that won't hurt head retention like many fear and might even help it).

I've done an American rye with coffee that was very good and a dunkelweizen that was not.

 

To keep the thread alive, do you notice coffee flavor fading over time? How much?

 

It fades much like smoke, slowly settling out until it disappears after about 2-3 years. Much of the good and bad can be recovered if the sediment is disturbed.

 

So you shake your smoked beers every 3 years?

 

Funny timing of your question. I just bottled a white stout tonight that I dry beaned with Sumatra coffee. The other coffee beer I did about a year ago was a breakfast stout with chocolate and oats. I added cold brewed coffee at bottling and loved the results. However, with this beer I just added a small amount of beans (1.5 oz in a 3 gal batch) into the primary for what amounted to exactly 28 hrs. The coffee presence at bottling tonight was fantastic (smell and taste). I commented to my brewing buddy that it was so much easier and I can't imagine doing it any other way. I guess we'll see how the coffee holds up over time.

 

I just cracked a bottle of coffee porter (espresso shots into the primary) that I'd made about 18 months ago that i'd made up as a 'tester' where I had added some coffee liquour on bottling. It's really interesting that the coffee aroma is still strong, but the coffee flavour is quite different in both. In the plain version, it was only just noticable, whereas in the liquour spiked version, the flavour was still quite strong. Unfortunately there was also a sweet syrupy aspect to the liquour spiked version that detracted from the experience quite a bit, which makes me think that some of the sugars were artificial?

 

Anyone tried steeping it with the grains?

 

I don't remember his exact method but the Co owner of Carton Brewing was recently on the session and he went over his process on how he makes his coffee stout called Regular Coffee.

 

I try to drink 'em by then. I have kept a few bottles for as long as 5 years and tried shaken and unshaken, hence the observation. Drinking them up within a couple years is usually the best plan.

 

I roast 1/2 pound of Colombian decaf beans, let them sit 2 or 3 days-the aroma tells me when the beans are ready. I do a medium grind, and steep the grounds in 170F water until the water is cold and the grounds have settled out. Strain the liquid directly into the keg(or bottling bucket) and it's ready.

 

Just threw 3.5 oz of a medium roast WHOLE bean in a 5 gallon corny keg of milk stout for around 36 hours via fine mesh hop bag. Worked out perfectly but I suggest you taste the beer every 12 hours or so to avoid over doing it.

 

@koopa?
Tried dry beaning last time i made my coffee porter. I liked it, but am going back to my old method next time around...a day before kegging, I add 2oz very course crushed bean to 1 growler (per 5 gallons) and then fill the growler with the beer. Place in the fridge for 24hrs then rack this back into the beer at kegging (very gently). Seems to add the perfect amount of "coffee-ness" for my coffee porter that I generally brew. I generally do 11 gal batches, so one keg is straight porter and the second keg is some variation on a coffee porter (vanilla, chocolate, bourbon soaked oak, etc...)

also, wanted to give a quick shout out to HB42 for the great advice & article in the March/April BYO issue! I was glad to see his brewing w/extract tips that he has doled out for years on this forum, finally put on paper. I'm extremely disappointed though that I can't link it as a reference at this point since it should be read by every extract brewer.

 

This is a great read and should sum it up nicely

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/coffee-beers/

 

I add cold brewed espresso to my bottling bucket for taste. Thst cold steep makes it less bitter.

 

The best way I've found by far was dry beaning in a keg for about 36 hours. It was 3 ounces for 5 gallons in an oatmeal stout. I also kept keg cold the whole time as well.

 

It will fade fairly quickly in my opinion. After two months my coffee beer was a shadow of its former self. I also find that coffee turns into like a green pepper flavor as it fades.

 

Cold press in the secondary. Light to medium dark roasts work best and are the most flavorful.

 

Cold press concentrate is the way to go in my opinion. I make 2 quart batches throughout the summer and then dilute and bottle. The undiluted cold press is what I add to secondary- it's easy to add to taste that way and you get all the aroma without the bitterness.