vanilla beans

Is it better to add whole bean coffee beans to secondary or grounded beans in the secondary?
I have cold infused beer with coffee with a french press and it turned out very nicely.

 

Both are fine. Its really whatever works for you.

I never liked my beers when I added cold pressed coffee from a french press, although that may just be due to the fact that I make shitty cold pressed coffee. Dry beaning, for me, gave a punchier flavor and didn't dilute the beer, but neither procedure (dry beaning, cold press) will give you some of the crazy aromatics from a really really good cup of hot coffee (I had a long discussion with some pro brewers about this; they would do cupping with Intelligentsia, etc. and basically found that any good coffee will work as long as its not too acidic, as none of the nuances of each coffee varietal+roast were discernable in finished beers).

 

Since I'll be trying the "cold steeped coffee at bottling method" next week when I bottle my coffee oatmeal stout, what is the general range of volume of coffee typically added? I understand it's to my taste, but this will be the first time so I wanted a jumping off point.

 

24-36 oz might be a good jumping off point. Also really depends on how concentrated your cold press is.

 

I use 1/3 pound coarsely ground decaf Colombian(the green beans came with the roaster) in one pint of water. I am too impatient to cold steep so I heat water in a flask to around 150F, add the coffee grounds and let it sit until all the grounds have settled to the bottom. Strain or very carefully pour the liquid into the bottling bucket or keg and rack the beer onto the coffee to ensure mixing.