It’s been a couple weeks since I bottled my new beer, a porter stout with coffee that I call “Mo Joe Porter.”
The coffee is so pronounced in this brew that I’m not sure if I should describe it as an ale with coffee, or a coffee with ale.
I realize now where I goofed. I boiled the coffee before adding it to the second fermentation.
Adding anything to the wort is risky, especially if it’s not sanitized. Not wanting to spoil 5 gallons of good beer, I chose to play it safe. But when you boil crushed coffee beans, you get…coffee!
So in effect, I added a small pot of coffee to the second fermentation. And boy does it make its presence known when you taste it!
I like it. Probably because I’m choosing to think of it as a spiked ice coffee. 🙂
I think I’ll focus on good old fashioned ales with my next few brews. Well, a red ale and then a stout. But no added spices or coffee!
Marc, for the Mo Joe Porter, besides the fact that optimum coffee brewing is at a temperture below the boiling temp., may i suggest something better to improve quality and intensity in the same step. Opt rather for espresso extraction (ristretto pull) over drip coffee. Besides reducing the actual volume of water, you will still get adequate TDS and furthermore the imulsified oils that bring even more complexity to the concoction. As they say, less is more.