Coffee Cream Ale

The first thing is to get really top quality coffee beans. Dry bean in the fermenter. How much, I don't know, but I liked the ones I have tasted.

 

Do a simple cream ale, and then dry bean it. Grab coffee you like, crush it coarse, or even use whole beans, and plan for 12-48 hours with roughly 2-3 ounces per 5 gallons.

Taste as you go, and then package it.

 

Not sure I like where this is headed. Genesee Cream Ale - the gold standard, IMO - is an absolutely lovely beer! And the only $12.99 30-pack that I buy with some regularity. I'm not sure why you would want to destroy an obscenely clean flavor with coffee. Nothing wrong with coffee in beer, but, at the risk of sounding cliché, I'd save it for a Stout or a Porter where the coffee will add yet another layer onto an already complex flavor profile. There's really noting in a Cream Ale to balance against the coffee. It would be too one-dimensional, IMO.

Just my $0.02

That said, if you're determined to do this, I'd follow Fatc1ty's advice.

 

What size batch is this for?

 

http://allaboutbeer.com/article/coffee-beers/

 

start at the 1h 50m point

http://s125483039.onlinehome.us/archive/ses_2015_04_20_carton.mp3

 

I'm kind of having a hard time wrapping my head around the grainy corny flavor of a cream ale too. *Homework* I must dry bean a bottle of Little Kings soon.

 

This is a lot of malt for a 5 gallon batch. I'd recommend googling "5 gallon extract cream ale recipe" and going from there

 

Hmmmm I don't think people are understanding that you are going after a imperial cream ale with coffee based on a actual beer.

Carton uses dextrose and lactose in theres, so I would think including one or both for sweetness to balance out the coffee. There's is 12 Abv so I would aim high, maybe not this high but a higher og. I would recommend use cold press for coffee as I think it's what carton does. They've said they are almost actually going for a stale coffee taste and want it's present but not overbearing (I could be wrong on the cold press though...)

 

It's still a lot of malt. We're looking at an OG north of 1.120. A 12% beer would need to finish at like 1.045 or higher depending on the efficiency with the oats.

 

I do a White Stout that could also be called a coffee cream ale...40% MO + 40% 2 Row + 8% flaked oats + 8% white wheat + 4% C-10...I then hop with Galena and Glacier like a typical stout and I use a good bit of cacao nibs and vanilla bean tincture in the secondary for around 10 days and add about 2-3 oz of coffee beans, cold pressed, at kegging. Most who taste it absolutely love it, although it was disqualified at a competition for not being a true stout, the judges came up and complimented me on it afterwards and told me to enter it as a cream ale next time and it would most likely place in the competition.

 

If you're doing it extract, then sub the 2 row for extra light DME and then do a mini mash of the Marris Otter and other grains...I don't think it would taste nearly as good if it didn't have the MO in it.

 

Regular coffee is an awesome beer. Had it at extreme beer fest and went back for third and fourths. My memory is pretty foggy but I would think you want to keep your FG as low as possible. As stated above, going to need to add lactose at bottling/kegging. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

 

Nothing to add to the coffee part, but don't steep 3# of flaked oats, you need to do a mini-mash

 

remember that there is really no cream quality in a cream ale. very little character in a cream ale seems to sit well with coffee in my estimation.
but the name Coffee Cream Ale works. who knows, this might be a good idea, and I don't want to discourage you. just not sure it will turn out like planned.
Cheers.

 

I've had coffee in a lighter beer - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/97432/. It works, but I think it would be easy to add too much coffee. I would imagine a little coffee would go a long way in a lighter colored beer, as opposed to a stout or Porter. Just a thought.