What is the best way to add Coffee to beer?

[Gnome Brewer]

I've used brewed coffee in place of sparge water before, i wouldn't recommend this though, it imparts that sour/acrid coffee flavor without much of the desired full roast bodied flavor

I've dry hopped whole beans and coarsely ground (pounded with a hammer actually) into the secondary and have very good luck with that for flavoring stouts and porters. The amount is of course up to you, but I would recommend going into a coffee shop and sampling several kinds of coffee and smelling the beans in order to choose the variety that you want in your brew

[SacoDeToro]

SacoDeToro

I'm curious about your process. I love espresso (second favorite beverage) and I have a nice espresso machine. I still bottle so I can't add it to the keg but I could add it before bottling. What sort of volume are you talking about? I have a american stout I'd like to espresso flavor to, how much are we talking about for 5 gallons and do you worry about head retention? Thanks in advance.

I've seen no adverse effects on head retention from the coffee additions I've made in my beers. I suppose you could add espresso to your mixing/priming bucket prior to filling your bottles. It really depends on how strong your espresso's coming out, you may want to use 1-2tsp per 12oz of beer as a starting point. You could always grab a commercial beer that approximates your beer and experiment beforehand to determine a dosing rate the suits your taste.

[sauderkraut]

Thanks for the helpful notes on adding espresso. I roast and have an espresso machine, and will be trying this in my next Stout:

Siphon 5 gal separately into bottling bucket to make three versions:

1gal. No coffee, just beer
2gal. Shots of Monkey Espresso (4oz) – from sweetmarias.com, roasted FC+ (just before 2nd crack)
{empty and rinse out monkey residue}
2gal. Shots of Gneiss Shot Espresso (4oz) – from sweetmarias.com, roasted FC+ (just before 2nd crack)

[snax]

I was going to pull some wort to do a cold extract with for a coffee porter I have in the works, but I let the beer finish out already and was thinking that I'd just do a cold water extract. I have a French press but also a Melitta "pour over" cone filter.

Any concerns about sterilizing the cold coffee brew with heat before adding and kegging/bottling?

[BleedingSaynt]

It's been a few years since this post was active; plenty of time for a lot of experimenting. Any more definitive opinions or results from any of you?

[Charlie]

Everything I have heard about this subject suggests that introducing ground coffee beans into the fermentor makes a complete effing mess!

Charlie

[brewinhard]

The more I read, the more I see that "dry-beaning" is the way to go. Used like dry hops, dry beans (either whole or coarsely broken) in a mesh bag can be added to a finished beer for 24-48 hrs prior to packaging. This seems to give a longer lasting coffee aroma and flavor to the finished product with minimal ease and work.

FYI, I have not used this method so I can't fully expand on it or give you my real observations on its effects. Just relaying info I have read.

[BleedingSaynt]

The more I read, the more I see that "dry-beaning" is the way to go. Used like dry hops, dry beans (either whole or coarsely broken) in a mesh bag can be added to a finished beer for 24-48 hrs prior to packaging. This seems to give a longer lasting coffee aroma and flavor to the finished product with minimal ease and work.

FYI, I have not used this method so I can't fully expand on it or give you my real observations on its effects. Just relaying info I have read.

I've read a lot of people saying espresso shots to secondary or keg was the best way to get the best flavor and aroma (it's a pretty big debate, obviously, but the consensus seems to be espresso). But I don't have an espresso machine and can't afford 10-12 shots from Starbucks or elsewhere at $6 a pop. So, maybe I'll play with the "dry-beaning". I actually really like that idea.