Adding Coffee/Expresso/Chocolate to Imperial Stout

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by DrinkLocal5, Jan 3, 2013.

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  1. DrinkLocal5

    DrinkLocal5 Initiate (0) Dec 31, 2012 Florida

    I am new to homebrewing, just bottled my first batch last night. An IPA clone kit on Surly-Furious, can't wait to try it in a week or two it already tastes and looks great in my opinion.

    My next batch will be an Imperial Stout pushing 9% ABV. I really like Coffee/Expresso flavored beers and have been doing a lot of reading on how to get this flavor into my Imperial Stout but would love your advice/experience as well.

    My plan is to make a 5 gallon batch of the Imperial Stout and put 1 gallon of Coffee/Expresso into the bottom of my Carboy and rack onto it for aging. I have a 6 gallon carboy and figure this would give me the flavor I am looking for and more beer. I realize this will dilute my beer a little and possibly hurt my ABV. Does anyone know by how much? Should I be adding less than 1 gallon of coffee? I would like to add some chocolate as well, what kind of chocolate are you adding? Grocery store bought?

    Thanks a lot guys for your help!
     
    #1 DrinkLocal5, Jan 3, 2013
  2. punxsybob

    punxsybob Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2014 Pennsylvania

    I started by adding 3 shots of Expresso to a 5 gallon batch... this was noticeable but then I had A Tree House Expresso and decided to go to 6 shots of Expresso in a 5 gallon of Imperial Stout. Start small and then go big!
     
    #2 punxsybob, Nov 30, 2014
  3. afrokaze

    afrokaze Pooh-Bah (1,962) Jun 12, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    You guys added a Dodge Neon Expresso to your beer? Now that is some extreme brewing ;-)
     
    #3 afrokaze, Dec 1, 2014
    jlordi12 likes this.
  4. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    I added cold steeped coffee to an imperial stout at bottling. Turned out great! I did a lot of reading up before hand on the best method to infuse coffee into beer, and they say that is the best way. You get a very clean coffee flavor without all the burnt/roasted flavors that can be attributed when you actually 'brew' it.
     
    #4 Lukass, Dec 1, 2014
  5. MaltLickyWithTheCandy

    MaltLickyWithTheCandy Initiate (0) Apr 22, 2013 Maryland

    I did two ounces of sumatran coffee in my breakfast stout clone at last 5-10 minutes of boil. The coffee note on the beer is almost perfect, and is not overpowering. My biggest concern would be how the coffee profile can overwhelm the beer if too much is added. That why I did two ounces, and nothing more. For five gallons of course. Also, use bakers chocolate. I used Ghiradelli's 80 percent cacao (cocoa) unsweetened bakers chocolate, crumbled a whole four ounce bar, added at the end of the boil to avoid scorching.
     
    #5 MaltLickyWithTheCandy, Dec 1, 2014
  6. drewbeerme

    drewbeerme Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2007 Illinois

    1 gal of coffee for 5 gal of beer seems crazy high to me. that will really dilute your beer as well. I'm not an expert on coffee treatments but you should start with just a few ounces of cold pressed coffee or dry bean it. That way you can always add more coffee later if needed. As far as chocolate, I like cacao nibs 2-6oz in an Imperial stout for 1-2 weeks.
     
    #6 drewbeerme, Dec 1, 2014
  7. Davl22

    Davl22 Maven (1,341) Sep 27, 2011 New Hampshire
    Trader

    For anyone that's done dry beaning, how long do you typically leave the beer on the beans?
     
    #7 Davl22, Mar 17, 2015
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