Ohio Coffee Beer Steps Into the Light

Cue people getting upset about flavor additions in lagers

But for anyone who has followed me posts for awhile, you know I'm all for coffee & beer. Would love a brewer and roaster to pair up and offer single origin packs akin to what Terrapin did some years ago. You could really showcase the coffee notes within a lighter, more mild beer.

 

You mean like in 1995?

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/sep/14/starbucks-redhook-brew-up-new-concoction/

 

I love beer and coffee, but I have mixed feelings about coffee in my beer. I absolutely love what added coffee does to a big stout as in, for example, Fremont's Dark Star Coffee, Founders' KBS Espresso, and Revolution's Cafe Deth. On the other hand, I haven't been fond of paler beers with coffee. Even a porter like Eugene tastes better to me than Coffee Eugene. I simply find coffee to be overpowering in many paler beers and I'm wondering if others feel that way too.

 

I love coffee and tea as much as beer. But can not drink as much coffee anymore due to reasons. I love coffee beers especially pale styles. Coffee mixed with beer idk about.

Calm before the storm was one of my most favorite beers and I think it’d be cool if I can find similar options around.

 

I am an absolute espresso junkie!

The pandemic has made me discover some local roasters who have reached out to homeowners for local subscriptions of their regular roastings. Found it was a great way to try some local roasted coffee and flavors.

I have to admit coffee as an ingredient should be explored in other beer styles besides stout/porter or those style that lend to darker color and flavors.

Had a real unique cream ale with coffee that was delicious (blanking on it as I am going through my notes), and yes... not to say that this style has had other things thrown at it like crazy... at times coffee in an IPA can work sometimes too.

but yeah man, lagers, lighter ales... hefe? why not!

 

My absolute favorite coffee beer is the Kasteel Barista. It blends my favorite style (quad), with delicious chocolate and coffee (heads downstairs to slide one in fridge)! All of the coffee beers I have enjoyed are darks. But I LOVE trying new beer, so I am open to trying anything once!

 

Wasn't really expecting it to be about Ohio, but, yeah, there seems to be a lot of light coffee beers here. Cool Beans seemed to pop up everywhere within the last year (even being sold at a certain big chain retailer) and then it was like everyone had a form of that.

It's great, there's something about coffee and beer that goes well together, and it's great to have more than just stouts. There's a new brewer out here and one of their first brews was a coffee blonde... smells deceptively strong but has a much more balanced flavor. It's great and it's not going to make you feel like a balloon by the time you're done eating there. No problem with exploring more when you can really make the coffee shine this way.

Still love stouts, of course, but why not try something different.

Not only are a lot of brewers in Ohio forming partnerships with coffee shops, but some of them seem to be delving into coffee production, too.

 

Nightwatch Coffee Lager from Lighthouse Brewing in Victoria BC is Amazing! I was reluctant to try it, but this is a refreshing lager with a HUGE coffee punch...Really Good.

 

One of the most memorable coffee beers I have had was Coffee Joe from Banger Brewing on Freemont Street in Las Vegas. They call it a kolsch style and it had an amazingly rich coffee nose. Can't wait to go back and try it again.

Locally I have enjoyed Modist First Call (lager) and Insight Banshee Cutter (golden ale). Bent Paddle Cold Press Black (black ale) is easily my favorite Minnesota coffee beer. I am always looking to try new coffee beers no matter the style.

 

I am a big Kolsch nut, and I seem to remember also having a coffee Kolsch as well that was pretty good too.

 

I'm all for it. Coffee is the only added flavor I seem to enjoy in beers. Side note, and I definitely don't want to derail this thread, but does anyone have any idea if the caffeine in the coffee that these brewers use finds its way into the beer itself? I would assume it does, right? Having brewed one coffee stout, I recall literally putting coffee grinds into the secondary fermenter. The caffeine must have leached out with the flavor and and found it's way into the beer itself, right? Obviously, I'm clueless.

 

The short answer is yes.

Longer answer:

"Yes, coffee beer does have caffeine in it, but determining an exact amount would be tricky without laboratory analysis.

Our best educated guess is that a coffee beer would have less than 50mg per 12 fl oz. since there is a lot of other ingredients in the brew besides coffee. Coffee is more of a flavoring as opposed to the main ingredient."

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/coffee-flavored-beer

 

Cool, thanks. 50 mg is a fair amount (I believe a shot of espresso has around 70 mg or something like that).

Thanks again.

 

Love coffee and beer and coffee beer!

My fave is Mother’s Brewing Winter Grind

“Coffee in the nose, coffee in the flavor and coffee in the finish. This English dry stout is infused with espresso beans roasted to order by (our coffee-loving friends at) the Mudhouse ( a local roaster). Winter Grind delivers a coffee stout for devotees to the bean and to the barley.

PROFILE: Bright cold-brew coffee, rich roasted malt, lingering coffee finish.”
>snipped from their site<

Also tried PBR’s hard coffee. Which I do not think is beer but is made by a beer co. It was pretty good. Pretty different too.

 

Speaking of Ohio coffee beers....a good one

 

In a blind tasting in a BIF (@WesMantooth ) I identified the cream ale with coffee as a White Stout. I believe it was 4 beers- all Wolfs Ridge, All Cream Ales. That really stumped me. It was cool.

 

Woot! Woot! Ohio craft brewers. They don’t get enough respect outside Ohio.

I don’t have any problem with any adjuncts in any beer styles that make sense (Reinheitsgebot is holding back the German craft brewing industry). But I really don’t like coffee. Never have. Never will. So, I’ll just say that if the fans love it, go for it!

 

Odd regional trend, but I too have enjoyed some pale coffee beers. Bean Flicker from OddSide Ales up in Grand Haven, MI and Path of Totality from Monnik in Louisville, KY come to mind