Brewing with Coffee
It’s just one of those things, I suppose, but the combination of beer and coffee, for me, is among the most intriguing possibilities in the world. Ideally my day is divided into two sections: the coffee section (weekdays from awakening until about 4 p.m., weekends until about 2 p.m.) and the beer section (I never start before lunch!). When I have a coffee brew in the house, the two tend to overlap. And contrary to popular belief, coffee (beer) makes a great nightcap.
Selecting Your Coffee
Use fresh whole beans and crack them, like you would a specialty adjunct grain, as close to brewing as possible. Try experimental batches with different grades, varieties, colors, even flavored coffees to see what works best for you.
If the thought of mixing caffeine (a stimulant) and alcohol (a depressant) bothers you, there are many Swiss-process decaffeinated coffees you can use with flavors that are every bit as good as the caffeinated varieties. Brewing With Coffee
There are basically two points in brewing when coffee can be added. The easiest and most efficient is to steep the coffee in the cooling wort. I use this technique in most of my recipes. This is the method most likely to add some dark color to the beer. Lighter beers may require the use of the second technique, which is to soak the beans in a cold liquid and add it at bottling. Brewpub owner Greg Noonan, author of The New Brewing Lager Beer (Brewers Publications), suggests that “cold-brewing” coffee will even give a less coarse, smoother flavor, as well as making the beer lighter in color.
It should be noted that there are also coffee syrups, extracts, tinctures, and so on that may or may not be of use in brewing. If you think it might work, try it.
Selecting Your Beer
Almost any style of beer can be “caffeinated” in some way. One rule, though: Coffee will inevitably darken any beer, so some beers are better suited than others. What follows are recipes I have developed and used over the last five years or so. Each is based on a “standard” or “classic” style, so they do technically fit competition guidelines for the American Homebrewers Association and Beer Judge Certification Program. Coffee as an ingredient would be classified as a spice or herb. The best way to get a preview of these beers (although the brewing and fermentation process will change when coffee becomes an ingredient) is to take the classic style and add a slug of joe to it.
Recipes
All of the following recipes are extract with grain and make five gallons of beer.
Percolator Doppelbock
Ingredients:
• 0.5 lb. dark crystal malt, 90° Lovibond
• 0.25 lb. chocolate malt
• 0.25 lb. Munich malt
• 9 lbs. unhopped amber dry malt extract
• 1 oz. Tettnanger hops (4% to 5% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 1 oz. Perle hops (4% alpha acid), 0.5 oz. for 60 min., 0.5 oz. for 15 min.
• 0.5 lb. cracked (not ground) medium roast Colombian coffee beans
• 10 to 14 g. dry lager yeast or a liquid lager yeast slurry (1 pint at least), such as Wyeast 2308
• 2/3 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:
In 2.5 gals. cold water steep crystal, chocolate, and Munich malts. Heat gradually to 170° F and remove grains. Add extract to kettle. Bring to a boil. Add Tettnanger hops and 0.5 oz. Perle hops. Boil 45 minutes and add 0.5 oz. Perle hops. Boil 15 more minutes. Total boil is 60 minutes. Remove from heat. Steep the coffee in the cooling wort. Remove coffee after 20 minutes, chill wort, and top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled and chilled water. At 70° F pitch yeast.
After fermentation has begun (24 hours or so) move to cooler place (no warmer than 55° F) and ferment 10 to 14 days. Rack to secondary and age cold (38° to 40° F) for six weeks. Prime with corn sugar and bottle. Bottle condition six weeks.
Approximate OG = 1.080.
Café-Framboise Pseudo-Lambic
Ingredients:
• 0.5 lb. cara-pils malt
• 0.5 lb. flaked wheat
• 6 lbs. unhopped weizen (40% to 50% wheat; 50% to 60% barley) dry malt extract
• 1 oz. mild flavoring hops (3% to 4% alpha acid) — older, even stale hops are acceptable — for 45 min.
• 0.25 lb. cracked (not ground) French roast coffee beans
• 3 lbs. fresh (or thawed frozen) raspberries
• Belgian ale yeast culture
• Lambic culture (either collected from a bottle or use Wyeast 3278)
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:
In 2.5 gals. cold water, steep cara-pils malt and flaked wheat. Heat gradually to 170° F and remove grains. Add extract to kettle. Bring to boil and add hops. Boil 45 minutes. Let wort stand for 15 minutes in an ice-water bath, then rack from kettle into fermenter onto coffee beans and raspberries. Top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled chilled water. At 70° F pitch the Belgian and lambic cultures.
Ferment relatively warm (70° to 75° F) for a week, then rack off fruit/coffee to a secondary. Age in secondary for three weeks. Prime with corn sugar, bottle, and condition cool (50° F or below) for six weeks.
Approximate OG = 1.052.
Hazelnut Coffee Brown Ale
Ingredients:
• 0.375 lb. brown malt (or Belgian amber, if brown is unavailable)
• 0.25 lb. Belgian Special B malt
• 0.25 lb. chocolate malt
• 0.125 lb. black patent malt
• 5 lbs. unhopped amber dry malt extract
• 1 oz. Styrian Goldings hops (5% alpha acid), for 60 min.
• 0.5 lb. cracked (not ground) hazelnut-flavored coffee beans
• 0.5 oz. Styrian Goldings hops, preferably whole flower, (2% to 3% alpha acid), for post-boil steeping
• 10 to 14 g. of a dry ale yeast or a British liquid culture (Wyeast 1098 or 1028, for example)
• 1/2 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:
In 2.5 gals. of cold water, steep brown, Belgian Special B, chocolate, and black patent malts. Heat gradually to 170° F and remove grains. Sparge back into kettle with about 1 qt. hot water. Add extract and 1 oz. hops to kettle. Boil 60 minutes. Remove from heat to an ice-water bath. In cooling wort steep (all together in a bag) coffee beans and 0.5 oz. hops (preferably whole flower). Steep at least 20 minutes. Add to fermenter and top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled chilled water. At 75° F pitch yeast.
Ferment warmish (70° F or so) for 10 days, rack to secondary (remove coffee and hops at this point) and condition two weeks. Prime with corn sugar and bottle. Bottle condition two weeks, serve at “cellar” temperature (50° to 55° F).
Approximate OG = 1.045.
Kaffee-Vanille Weissbier
Ingredients:
• 0.5 lb. cracked wheat malt
• 0.5 lb. cracked unmalted wheat
• 0.5 lb. Belgian cara-Vienne
• 2 lbs. extra-light dry malt extract
• 3 lbs. unhopped weizen dry malt extract
• 1 oz. Hallertauer hops (4% alpha acid), for 45 min.
• 0.5 oz. Saaz hops (2% alpha acid), for 45 min.
• Liquid wheat beer yeast culture (for a Berlin-style sourness try Wyeast 3333; the Bavarian strains 3056 and 3068 give too many esters and other confusing flavors)
• 2 to 3 drops of a dilute (9 parts water to 1 part acid) lactic acid solution
• 4 oz. vanilla coffee tincture (steep 0.125 lb. light roast coffee and 1 chopped vanilla bean in 4 oz. vodka during fermentation time) for priming
• 7/8 cup corn sugar for priming
Step by Step:
In 2.5 gals. cold water, steep wheat malt, Belgian cara-Vienne malt, and unmalted wheat. Heat gradually to 170° F. Remove grains. Add extracts to the kettle. Bring to a boil and add hops. Boil 45 minutes. Cool wort, top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled chilled water. At 70° F, pitch yeast.
Ferment at 65° F for 10 days. Rack to secondary and add lactic acid solution. Condition in secondary two weeks. At bottling, add vanilla coffee tincture along with corn sugar to prime. Bottle condition three weeks in a dark, cool (45° to 50° F) place.
Approximate OG = 1.050.
Italian Coffee Porter
Ingredients:
• 0.25 lb. chocolate malt
• 0.25 lb. black patent malt
• 0.5 lb. dark crystal malt, 120° Lovibond
• 7 lbs. dark malt extract syrup
• 1 oz. Fuggles hops (4% alpha acid), for 50 min.
• 1 oz. Galena hops (10% to 12% alpha acid), for 50 min.
• 1 oz. shaved or crushed licorice root
• 0.5 lb. espresso coffee beans (cracked, not ground)
• 10 to 14 g. dry ale yeast or a British liquid culture (Wyeast 1028 or 1968, for example)
• 2/3 cup corn sugar for priming
• 2 oz. sambuca or Galliano liqueur for priming
Step by Step:
In 2.5 gals. cold water, steep chocolate, black patent, and crystal malts. Heat gradually to 170° F, turn off heat, and hold warm for 30 minutes. Remove grains and bring to boil. Add extract to the kettle. Boil 10 minutes and add hops. Boil 50 minutes. Remove from heat and place in ice-water bath. Steep licorice root and coffee beans in wort. Steep at least 20 minutes. Pour into fermenter, top off to 5.25 gals. with pre-boiled chilled water. At 75° F pitch yeast.
Ferment moderately cool (55° to 60° F) for two weeks, rack to secondary, and condition for three weeks. Prime with corn sugar and liqueur. Bottle and condition four to six weeks.
Approximate OG = 1.048.
