Adding the coffee to a coffee stout question.

I only use whole beans now, in a bag in the keg, remove when you're happy with it.

 

Soak 4-6 oz ground coffee in 16 oz water in a mason jar for 48 hours. Filter this mixture through a strainer to get rid of the grounds, and pour the cold steeped coffee into the bottling bucket, along with your priming sugar, and rack your beer onto it. This is the only way I've infused coffee into my stouts, and it works every time! Adds a very smooth coffee flavor

 

For the last 1.5 gallons of a big brown ale, I added the strained liquid of a 300 ml container filled halfway with ground Kona beans and topped up with a 2:1 Vodka:Bourbon mixture that had cold-steeped for two days. Turned out with an obvious but mild coffer flavor and aroma with a hint of bourbon. Better than I hoped, actually.

 

I cold steep the coarsely ground coffee directly in the keg/bucket/carboy for a day. About 1/8 of a pound of coffee per gallon seems to do the trick. I picked this advice up from Surly in regards to their Coffee Bender and seems to work for many styles.

 

I liked the cold steep method (putting beans directly on cold beer) that I just did. Makes more sense than making coffee and adding it to the beer.

 

Is there any issue with putting ground coffee in the beer? Pretty sure my grinder isn't the most sanitary or the grinder at the local store. Or do you buy pre ground beans? Since you specified course I am thinking you ground them yourself.

 

Bypass the grinders. Buy whole beans and measure the amount you need into a clean Ziploc freezer bag. Crush coarsely via a rolling pin. Add the grounds to a sanitized hop strainer bag and hang from the lid of your keg. Test every 12 hours or so until the flavor is where you want.

 

You don't have to grind the beans at all, as @bevoduz mentioned. Seems simpler and less messy to me. But it's the only way I have done it, so I can't speak with authority about results. I wouldn't recommend pre-ground coffee. Though I haven't tried it in beer, I know enough about coffee to know that the flavors won't be as fresh.

 

If you are going to crush them do it right before adding them to beer (or making coffee in general). I've read that ground coffee beans stale within 30 minutes. I would think the extraction time for whole beans would longer than crushed beans but I'm not sure how else it would impact the end result.

 

That's the way I would do it, just add whole beans to the secondary. I was curious if I were to add course grind for experimental purposes or just for shits and giggles what is the best way as not to infect my beer.

Thanks for the reply.

 

I've often thought about using a mason jar to make a sort of hopback between my keg and the spout and filling it with coffee beans, hops/fruit/whatever. I might try it if I can ever get my keezer working. Has anyone tried this?

 

i used to cold brew (coarse ground in water, refrigerate for 12HRs) then pour the water/coffee into the bottling bucket. aroma's great but taste isn't really there. and it waters down the beer. did whole beans in the fermenter on my last stout: great flavor, great smell.

 

Just did a breakfast stout clone turned out fantastic after the basically dry hop with 100% Hawaii beans. smashed them a little bit with a mallet while they were in a zip lock bag. Then threw em right on top of the beer and sit for a week right before bottling. Excellent coffee forward kona flavors. I would do this every single time love that coffee flavor.

 

Seems like using whole beans as though you were dry hopping would be the easiest method.

 

I have always added coarsely ground coffee directly to secondary for 24-36 hours and racked off with a mesh bag over the racking cane. Lots of bronze medals in the specialty category and a silver at Nationals. Although, I do like Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and they only add the coffee to the mash. Mash coffee will add a more brewed coffee flavor to the beer, but steeping the coffee in the room temp beer will add more fresh bean nose and flavor. I have never done the cold toddy to the finished beer. Mainly because I don't see the point, or want to "water down" my beer. But, I hear it works well.