Coffee Stouts

I've done both.

Added coffee ground coarse at near flame out, 1 min I think it was.. Added whole beans to secondary.

Coffee was very forward, and lasted a long time.. Almost too much.


Then in a RIS, I did 16oz of cold pressed coffee that I sat for a day or two. Added that at flame out.

I think the flame out cold pressed gives me a better coffee flavor when I'm not looking for the acrid bitter flavor in the beer.

 

Is an acrid bitter flavor ever desired? Maybe it's a silly question.

 

Dry beaning in secondary works great. I've also steeped ground beans shortly after flameout, 180F or so, for 1-2 minutes with good results. I agree that doing both might be a bit much.

 

I have never had any luck using coffee that was brewed hot.

 

Well.. no, but in some cases, people think the acrid roast flavor as overly roasted. It's not desired, but it's sometimes the case in some big roasty stouts.. A bunch of black patent in there, and roasted barley, and you've got that black tar, acrid super roasted flavor popping out. Thats what I meant.

If you add coffee to the boil, you'll get that super roasted, extra bitter flavor from the coffee and lose some of the actual profile of the roast and the bean.

 

Good Luck!!! In my (limited) experience, "dry beaning" can sneak up on you quickly. I did 8oz of my local bike shop's personal roast to share with my buddy who works there and it got too much coffee flavor a little too quick. If I remember, it sat on the beans for only 2 or 3 days so take samples religiously and yank that shit as soon as you've got what you want! I suppose it also matters greatly your personal recipe and the coffee you're using, but thought I'd share!

Cheers

 

You never want your coffee in the same room with boiling water. Even for your morning wake up. It tastes like crap in the cup, there's no reason to expect it to taste any better in your beer. I cold steep 2oz of coarsely ground FRESHLY roasted beans in a 32 oz French Press overnight in the fridge, then add that to the keg. The coffee flavor intensifies with age, so don't overdo it. It never loses the fresh flavor.

 

Big fan of dry beaning. Coursely crack about 1 to 2 oz of your coffee of choice then add to secondary the day before you plan to bottle or keg. Been doing this method for years and get really good results.

 

I currently have a batch of Oatmeal stout on tap that I split the batch, 3 gallons in each keg. To one I added 2 oz of coarsely ground dark roast coffee in a strainer bag right in the keg. Keg was at about 60 degrees, 48 hours later I removed the strainer bag and put the keg in the kegger. Turned out great. I prefer it to the non coffee'd batch. Just the right amount of coffee flavour and aroma.​

 

I tend to eventually add coffee to most of my stouts. I get bored about halfway through a keg and coffee adds a nice touch of interest. Maybe I'm just not brewing interesting stouts.

 

I have done dry beans to secondary and cold press. I preferred the cold press version, but that is my preference.

 

In my experience, 2 oz can give a pretty hefty hit of coffee flavor a few months after pitching. 1/2 pound, I fear, will overwhelm anything that hints of beer except, perhaps, the fizz. FWIW, I'd skip the flavored stuff (probably lots of artificial flavors and sweeteners in there) and stick with the Kona (dark roasted Kona? Are you serious?) Though I think you'd be better off with an African bean - a good Kenyan, for example, if you like it dark.