Coffee Addition (Post Boil)

[goldstein114]

I've got an Dry Irish Coffee Stout in Pilot right now and hoping to get a full 25 Barrel batch out for St. Patricks Day. From looking over the forum the ways I've seen suggested are: Beans In the Mash, Beans In the Boil, Beans In a Hop Bag in the Fermenter, Coffee Blown directly into the Fermenter like a Dry hop, Cold Brewed and added directly to the Bright Tank/Serving Tank.

I'm trying to avoid the astringency/bitterness/foam killing oils that comes from boiling the coffee so I would like to add it cold/at any point after the boil.

However unlike the other posts I've seen here, I'm not sure how to avoid the issues of either adding D.O. from adding Cold Brewed coffee, or causing an infection from whatever could possibly be in the beans or coffee. The ABV on the stout is about 5% so not sure if the alcohol would be able to prevent an infection, rather not have a Sour Coffee Stout. Any suggestions?

[Matt Dog]

Never had a problem adding whole beans post ferment. If you were really worried a quick soak in vodka or maybe just heat them in the oven. Try to find a local roaster and get it fresh. Should be plenty sanitary after a roast.

[Natrat]

Stick the crushed beans in the whirlpool post boil, leave them in for 10 or 15 minutes...no boiling, and no infection.

Or when you brew your coffee for cold injection into the bright, make sure it stays at 180 F for 20 minutes in a corny, then use that to push it into your bright.

[beejay]

Every brewer I know, myself included, makes cold pressed coffee and adds it to the brites. Most people dont even treat the cold water. I personally just take cold filtered water, soak the grounds over night, and add, via corny keg, to the brite before bottling. Ways to prevent infection include using pre boiled water and getting freshly roasted beans, though I haven't gotten any infected coffee stouts yet.

Not sure about DO pickup.. and I would NEVER use hot process for the coffee. IMHO it tastes terrible in beer.

[Junkyard]

fermentation of the coffee (beans, grounds, etc..) leaves a distinct green pepper/jalepeno taste. I would advise cold pressing the coffee and adding it post fermentation for the best results.

[imperialipa]

For the cold pressed coffee what sort of ratio are you guys using per bbl?

[KFBass]

For the cold pressed coffee what sort of ratio are you guys using per bbl?

I can't speak per barrel, but when I make cold pressed coffee at home, I do 1L of water to 100g coffee. Grind, and let soak overnight at room temp.

I did the same thing for a much bigger batch of beer. roughly 8HL. I'll have to look back in the notes but I think we used 5kg of coffee, soaked it in a keg, then added to the beer right before filtering.

[Junkyard]

we get cold pressed coffee in 64 oz growlers that our local coffee shop makes in 5 gal buckets. I think we added 32 oz to a 5 gal keg of a 7 percent abv porter and that seemed to be alright. It's obviously going to depend on the beer your putting it in and the strength of the coffee. I would reccommend using a graduated flask and pipetting coffee into your finished beer. You can figure out a good ratio this way.

[beejay]

we use about 15 lbs of coffee to make 5-7 gallons of coffee for a 7 bbl batch 0f 9+% ABV stout with great results

[dereknobleluke]

local roaster. Dry bean. 50 pounds for 35 bbls. 4 day soak. transfer off the beans. beautiful.

[goldstein114]

local roaster. Dry bean. 50 pounds for 35 bbls. 4 day soak. transfer off the beans. beautiful.

I feel like this is a quandary. The fresher the roast, the more sanitary, but the more oils that remain in the beans possibly killing head retention (necessity for an Irish Stout), the older the roast, the higher chance that the sterilization of high temperature roast loses its effectiveness allowing for a new infection.

Secondary question about adding beans directly: Are you crushing or adding the beans whole?

[dereknobleluke]

I feel like this is a quandary. The fresher the roast, the more sanitary, but the more oils that remain in the beans possibly killing head retention (necessity for an Irish Stout), the older the roast, the higher chance that the sterilization of high temperature roast loses its effectiveness allowing for a new infection.

Secondary question about adding beans directly: Are you crushing or adding the beans whole?

whole beans right through the dry hop port. transfer beer off beans once you get the flavor. (have fun getting the beans out of the tank--hope you have 2" ports...) The flavor: It doesn't go away. Two years ago I made a 30 bbls of a 12% beer that I aged on chipotles, habaneros, cacao nibs and blue agave. Let it sit in the tank until I literally sweat by trying a taste of it (7 weeks)--then it was time to bottle. Corked in April. Opened in November and it was 1/2 the heat and a perfect mellow....

But with the beans (12 % base beer), the flavor hardly changed and held up over time....

One could probavbly use less beans and crush them...but then you gotta filter it, sanitize the crushed beans lalalala...this way was much easier, safer (no bacterial counts) and head retention is rockin!

[JDN]

Anybody tried using the beans in a hopback? Wondering if it might avoid some of the bitterness from kettle or WP additions, but maintain the ease and sanitation of keeping the beans on the hot side.

[traviswilkinson]

One method that leaves a great smell and less of a coffee taste is to place the freshly ground coffee in the bright tank when carbonating. Try to buy it locally roasted to guarantee the freshest grind, coffee loses lots of flavor and aroma after only a few days roasted. You might try a few different roasts by putting a small amount in a few bullets with the beer you want to infuse and let it sit cold for a few days before tasting. I like to add the coffee in a hop bag (.4oz per gallon) before I purge with CO2.