Many factors play a role when binding beer with coffee, but for simplicity's sake lets focus on the two big ones; the beans and the means.
THE BEANS
It is important to select the optimal bean when deciding to add coffee to your beer. Hundred's of flavors can be identified in coffee, and an expert's opinion can go a long way in selecting the right bean for your brew job. Luckily, the Specialty Coffee Association of America has created a coffee flavor wheel. Take a look at it and select a few flavors you would like to target. Go to your favorite local coffee roaster and ask one of their friendly barista's which coffee can suit your needs. You should even try a few of them before making your final selection.
*Note: General descriptions of coffee flavors by region and roast are provided at the end of this post.
THE MEANS
As is often in the beer world, it isn't always about what you add, but how you add it. And this sentiment holds true for coffee additions. As I see it, there are 2 main ways to add coffee to your homebrew; as beans or as brew.
When going the bean route, you again have several options. You can add the beans at the end of the boil or during fermentation, but you'll need to decide if you want to crush the beans or not. I personally would advise against this strategy entirely. It will be difficult to control which, as well as how much, coffee flavors will be extracted. There have been many brewers who've made coffee additions this way, but I unfortunately have zero experience in this method and would advise a different strategy.
The other option, is to brew coffee separately from your beer and then add the coffee to the beer. I prefer this strategy because you can taste your coffee, verifying that it suits your fancy, and then add it to the beer. Again, this can be done at several different stages, but I would recommend doing so during the bottling stage. This way you can taste the beer and slowly hone in your ideal mixture.
If you have decided to brew the coffee and beer separately, then there is one additional choice to be made. We must select a brew method. You can brew the coffee hot (they way most coffee is brewed), but hot coffee has a very short shelf life and you don't want your beer to taste like old coffee. Also, this method might give your beer a watered-down characteristic. Alternatively, you can brew your coffee cold. This way you will avoid flavor degradation risks, and it will not water down your beer.
*Note: regardless of the method you pursue, do not use pre-ground beans, as they loose their flavors incredibly quickly. Instead, use whole beans and grind them immediately prior to use.
PROCESSES
Making cold brewed coffee is super easy. It takes whole coffee beans, a coffee grinder, ice water, and refrigerator, and creates a powerful coffee concentrate which is perfect for our home brewing application.
STANDARD COLD BREW METHOD:
1) Grind the beans (20g per gallon of beer)
- Its always safer to use more, but this would be my minimum requirement
2) Prepare ice water (7:1 water-to-coffee ratio)
- Just like with beer, water plays a big role in coffee. Use good water
3) Empty grounds into press pot or mason jar
4) Soak grounds with about 20% of your water
- Coffee officandos call this the "bloom". The grounds "off-gas" which expands the
coffee bed and allows for a more uniform extraction.
5) Add remaining water
- Feel free to give it a good stir while you're at it
6) Cover and place in fridge
7) Stir 8-12hrs
8) Remove from refridge and filter
- Using a coffee filter (I use a pour over cone), separate coffee and ground
9) Use immediately (or refrigerate until use)
Once the cold brew is made, give it a taste, and if it is up-to-snuff, throw it into your bottling bucket.
HOT-BLOOM VARIANT:
The idea behind this method is to perform the bloom (step 4) with hot water, and then finish the process with ice water. Essentially, this method is suppose to yield a higher acidity coffee that contains more delicate flavors and aromas that can be excluded during the cold brew process. However, hot-bloom cold brew has a shorter shelf life, so plan accordingly. For a very scientific explanation of hot-bloom coffee read Lorenzo Perkin's piece from Beans and Water.
I have tried my hand at the hot-bloom variant, and honestly cannot begin to describe how different the results are. Looking at the picture below, with hot-bloom (left) and standard cold brew (right), even the visual differences are evident. The hot-bloom has a healthy froth, that did not fade until a few hours later, and ended with most of the ground at the bottom of the mason jar. The standard cold brew is not frothy, and the grounds sit on top.
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| Hot-Bloom (left) and Standard Cold Brew (right) |
The most notable difference however is in the taste. The hot-bloom is super bright (read: acidic) in comparison and has a more lively aroma, whereas the standard cold brew is big and roasty. For this example, I was brewing a stout, and decided I preferred the standard method, but I would certainly advise on brewing coffee both ways and deciding which suits your beer profile best.
CREATIVITY
For the most part brewers, myself included, usually utilize coffees in darker beer recipes. And that makes a lot of sense. There are many dark grains that produce coffee-like and chocolate-esque flavors, so it is practical to incorporate coffee in beers of that style. However, there are several beers that have been able to turn convention on its head and actually taste good.
Odd Side Ales' Bean Flicker Blonde is an interesting take on a coffee beer. It wonderfully melds vanilla and coffee in a very smooth session beer. However, Barista Coffee Lager from Wolverine Brewing has to be my favorite. This Ann Arbor based brewing company, partnered with a local coffee roaster, RoosRoast, and took home gold at the 2015 World Expo of Beer.
So take it easy at first and hone your coffee-beer-hybridizing powers, but then go ahead and wreak havoc and brew something strange.
FLAVOR GENERALIZATIONS
Here are some gross oversimplifications, you can consider when selecting a bean.
- Roast Level: with a light roasted coffee, the unique regional qualities are most identifiable. Light roasts have high acidiity ("brightness") and a thinner body. As roasting continues, origin distinction and acidity fades, as bitterness and body increase.
- Brazilian Orgin: Nutty, heavy body. Chocolate and some spice is typical. Clean.
- Central American Origin: Fruit-like, occasional spice. Sugar-browning. sweetness. Chocolaty or sometimes buttery. Balanced and smooth.
- Ethopian Origin: Fruity, heavy. Wine-like or floral and tea-like.
- Indonesian Origin: Smoky and toasted. Savory and herbaceous. Very dark. Unsweetened cocoa.
- Kenyan Origin: Big, bold, and juicy. Savory-sweet characteristic. Acidic with black-currant tartness. Tropical-tasting.
- South American Origin: Strong caramel sweetness, perhaps with a nutty undertone. Sweet and medium-bodied, with mellow acidity.
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