Coconut Mocha Stout

Personally I coarse grind fresh coffee and add around the 5min mark of the boil.
After whirlpool most of the grinds fall to the trub.
This method has always got me more than enough of the coffee character and aroma in my stouts.

I've also only ever used up to 2oz ground coffee, using the above method, for a 5 gallon batch.
I'm sure adding it to secondary, as you did, works fine as well just maybe 8oz was a little much...

Just my thoughts!

Cheers

 

I just brewed a coffee porter, and added 2 oz. fresh ground after flameout when the temp dropped between 190 and 200. I've always heard that boiling coffee can cause some astringency issues. Just took a hydro reading and tasted the sample, and I get a good amount of coffee nose and taste.
Cheers!

 

You may consider adding black patent and some roast to make it more stout like, also some flaked oats would not hurt to give more body.

When I have done coffee stouts I used the mad fermentationist's method and added the grounds 24 hours before bottling. Similar flavors to cold brewed coffee, minimal acidity you find in hot brewed coffee. I used Trung Nguyen gormet blend, it is known for a nice cocoa flavor that compliments a stout nicely.

 

I haven't brewed a stout yet but my interest is piqued; you just add the coffee grounds from the bag to your carboy 24 hours before bottling/ kegging etc? I always thought that there was a lot more to it for getting a good coffee aroma to a brew for some reason.

Any issues with the grounds ending up in your bottled or kegged beer? (and ultimately the glass with the finished product in it).

I tried to use a French press with bagged Dunkin Donuts coffee a couple of months ago and pretty much ended up ruining a couple of bottles of Founders Imperial Stout because the screen of the French press apparently proved no match for the fine grounds. The whole process soured me on trying to put coffee in my beer but maybe im ready to give it another go. Would cold crashing a day or two after you add the coffee help keep the coffee out of the packaged product I wonder?

 

I have always bottle conditioned my coffee stouts so that would help hold any coffee grounds to the bottom of the bottle that made it through when the yeast dropped out. I also ran the beer through a mesh bag sitting in the bottling bucket and that caught a lot of the grounds. I used pre ground coffee before but it would probably help even more to use coarse ground coffee and suspend it in a bag in the carboy if you dont want to risk it getting through. The grind is a double edged sword because the more fine it is the more it will stay in suspension. I have had good luck just dumping a normal grind in and running through a mesh bag though. Just take care to keep the bag mostly below the surface to avoid getting much O2 in the beer.

The coarse grind thing should set you up with the french press too...

 

I always cold press it a couple days prior and add that in. The issue putting it in during the boil is when you make hot coffee it becomes acidity around 200 degrees F and when you cold press it does not get that. When using a French Press you want the grounds to be grounded course because the filter on a press is mesh stainless steel not cloth so it will not pic up the fine grounds. When cold pressing it needs to be brewing in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

 

Best method is to very coarsely grind (or even just kind of smash the beans if you don't have a burr grinder) 4-6 oz of coffee with flavors complimentary to your beer. Put in a muslin bag and let it steep in your beer for 24-48 hours. The lions share of the coffee will remain in the bag. Any traces will drop out when you chill your bottles or keg.

 

Just crack the beans coarsely and put a paint strainer bag over your siphon when you rack to your bottling bucket. I did a porter with cacao nibs and coffee recently; interestingly, the nibs fall to the bottom and all the coffee beans floated on top. Racked carefully and didn't pick up any of either in the bottling bucket, no problem.

 

Thought you all might enjoy this post from the mad fermentationist. Somehow I never picked up that he added whole beans to the fermenter. He makes a fine point that the alcohol affects the coffee flavor extracted. Whole beans may be a bit wasteful but it makes it pretty easy to keep them out of bottles and kegs...

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/08/blonde-ale-on-coffee-beans-recipe.html?m=1

 

For a long time I added coarsely crushed beans in a similar way, but a couple years ago I switched to whole bean to slow extraction. With coarsely crushed, sometimes 12 hours was enough contact time, which makes timing additions tricky. Whole beans are usually fine for 24-48 hours. Considering I only use 2 oz of beans for 5 gallons, it's not wasteful at all!

Whole beans are easy to deal with too, no bagging, or sanitizing whatever you use to crush them etc.

 

Ha fair enough, wasteful was probably a poor choice of words on my part I actually hadnt thought about their relative size, I suppose a little more time would extract a very similar amount of flavor. I will try to go that route next time for sure.

 

Ive always used whole beans and Ive always wondered why so many people dont. Sometimes in homebrewing I feel like people hear/read something from someone respected or otherwise very experienced and just run with it to the point where it becomes the norm. To each their own though!

 

I assume it's because coffee is so rarely brewed with whole beans. What works for hot water may not be ideal for cold beer though!

I've been thinking of doing a lactose, coconut, chocolate, vanilla stout for a few months. Probably wait until the weather cools a bit.