Cold brewed coffee - how much compared to steeping at flame-out

[GlowingApple]

I have a chocolate coffee stout that I've brewed several times. I keep making improvements and love how it turns out! For a 5-gallon batch I add 0.2 lb of coarsely ground coffee to the boil at flame-out. Just the right amount of coffee flavor, but does add a lot of bitterness.

I'm going to brew this beer on nitro and want to dull the bitterness a bit by using cold-brewed coffee instead. Any ideas of how much to add to get the same coffee flavor? I've seen 4:1 mentioned as a ratio (water/coffee) for concentrated cold brewed coffee, but not sure how much of that concentrate to add to get the same flavor as 0.2 lb steeped hot.

Can I add it in the primary, after wort chilling, or is it better to add to the fermentor or keg after fermentation?

 

[1977Brewer]

I add at packaging. Last brew was 4 oz. of coffee in a quart of water, cold brewed in the fridge for ~48 hours. It's not carbed yet, but I had one the other day and the coffee really shines without adding bitterness.

 

[BigMack]

6 oz coffee in 32 oz water overnight in the fridge in my Breakfast Stout. Came out delicious with a strong and smooth coffee flavor.

If you are trying to balance coffee with chocolate though I may go with the above suggestion of 4 oz of coffee.

 

[olotti]

I add at packaging. Last brew was 4 oz. of coffee in a quart of water, cold brewed in the fridge for ~48 hours. It's not carbed yet, but I had one the other day and the coffee really shines without adding bitterness.

Did you just dump the grounds right into the water then filter before you added to the bottling buckets or keg however you serve.

 

[olotti]

6 oz coffee in 32 oz water overnight in the fridge in my Breakfast Stout. Came out delicious with a strong and smooth coffee flavor.

If you are trying to balance coffee with chocolate though I may go with the above suggestion of 4 oz of coffee.[/QUOT

Was this for 5 gal? I'm looking for amounts for when I add coffee to my RIS at bottling and want the coffee present for sure because im also adding rye bourbon too. What kind of coffee did you use?

 

[1977Brewer]

Did you just dump the grounds right into the water then filter before you added to the bottling buckets or keg however you serve.

Important detail I left out: I starsan my french press, anduse it to filter. I can leave most of the grounds in the big jar I use, but not all.

 

[BigMack]

6 oz coffee in 32 oz water overnight in the fridge in my Breakfast Stout. Came out delicious with a strong and smooth coffee flavor.

If you are trying to balance coffee with chocolate though I may go with the above suggestion of 4 oz of coffee.[/QUOT

Was this for 5 gal? I'm looking for amounts for when I add coffee to my RIS at bottling and want the coffee present for sure because im also adding rye bourbon too. What kind of coffee did you use?

Yes, this was for 5 gallons. I used Peet's Major Dickason. I won't be changing a thing the next time I brew it.

 

[olotti]

Important detail I left out: I starsan my french press, anduse it to filter. I can leave most of the grounds in the big jar I use, but not all.

Oh ok. Yeah I don't have a French press so I was going to boil and cool 32oz of water then put that and the grounds in a large 2qt Pyrex mixing cup then just filter through a coffee filter day of bottling. Or I've read where people will fill the coffee filters with grounds and Ty off like a tea bag and let them steep like that to contain the grounds. Lots of ways but the French press would seem ideal.

 

[GlowingApple]

Thanks for the responses! I assumed cold-brew coffee was weaker than steeping at boiling, but sounds like it's pretty close to the same! I'll shoot for 4 oz for this beer then. The coffee flavor was just about right the last few times I brewed it, though a little less would be fine too, but it did give a fairly strong coffee bitterness that I'd like to reduce, especially since I want to nitrogenate this batch!

 

[BigMack]

Thanks for the responses! I assumed cold-brew coffee was weaker than steeping at boiling, but sounds like it's pretty close to the same! I'll shoot for 4 oz for this beer then. The coffee flavor was just about right the last few times I brewed it, though a little less would be fine too, but it did give a fairly strong coffee bitterness that I'd like to reduce, especially since I want to nitrogenate this batch!

If you're really trying to avoid as much bitterness as possible you should also use a blonde roast coffee rather than a darker roast.