So I'm going with cold brew method for adding coffee into my vanilla porter. The question is, what is a good grain to water ratio? I typically do 1 tablespoon- 3 or 4 oz of water for hot extraction. But what about cold extraction? I figured to get the best Mouthfeel in the beer without watering it down would be to make an extra strength cold brew. Thoughts? Suggestions? I consider myself a coffee snob as well, and the past few coldbrews I did tasted like burnt gains. Maybe I had them steeping for too long. Not sure. Thanks guys and gals.
I use a 1 quart mason jar and put 4 oz of coffee grounds in and fill the mason jar with water. That seems to do the trick for me. Let it sit overnight at room temperature. I wouldn't go over 24 hours. After straining you end up with about 18 to 20 oz of cold brewed coffee. The aroma is fantastic. This was used for an imperial stout around 10%. Hopefully this helps.
Did you brew yet? I recently did a coffee vanilla stout and added about 8 oz of coarse ground coffee at flame-out. Let it steep for about 20 minutes before cooling the wort. Coffee flavor in the beer is outstanding. Granted, I kept the grounds in the fermenter through fermentation. It was an interesting method I wanted to try out after reading about the other options: dry beaning, and cold brew addition.
Yeah I soaked it in starsan before putting the coffee and water in. Haven't had any problems with infections yet.
Sweetness. That's what I did with the second test cold brew I did. I let it steep too long and it tasted mediocre, but it was full and slick on the mouthfeel, good for blending. I just picked up a some new beans from Four Barrel and brewed it this morning, tasted like chocolate cherry pie. Hope the cold brew version comes out just as great, as those flavors would be perfect for blending. I have about 3.5/4 gallons of beer. What would you say, maybe a quart at max of coffee to blend for decent results?
It depends on the beer you are brewing and the alcohol content. I would say that would be max for any beer I added mine to over 5 gallons of an imperial stout which masks it anyways with the roastiness of the grains but it still turned out very noticeable. At 3.5 to 4 gallons I almost think it would be overpowering but if you are going for an extreme coffee bomb you might as well try it. I love me some coffee bombs! That's the great thing about homebrewing try it and if it doesn't turn out try it again with less or more. You could add half and taste it and then add more if it isn't to your liking. However got to keep in mind the sanitization factor.
I've been doing it that way for years and I agree its just the best. I urge everyone to try it once in place of other coffee methods, you'll never go back to anything else once you try "dry beaning".
I have had great success with the cold brewed coffee however you are loosing some abv with it. I was always wondering if dry beaning would be effective. How much and how long do you leave in the secondary?
I use about 1/4# in 5 gallons and add it after primary fermentation has finished for 24-48 hours before racking to a keg. I usually add it with the beer at ambient temperature and then cold crash it in the fridge overnight while the coffee is steeping, but I don't think the temperature makes much difference. What I have noticed is that the beer seems to extract the coffee flavor and aroma much more quickly and completely than water would in a cold steep, presumably the essential oils are more soluble in alcohol than water. It is very important not to let the beer sit on the coffee too long with this method, any longer than 36 or 48 hours and it begins to produce vegetal off flavors that are best described as green pepper. That being said it is quick, easy, and I believe it produces a superior coffee character that lasts longer than other methods, possibly because it reduces oxidation (which I believe is a possible risk with other methods).
