Cold Brew Recipes and Process?

[djonesax]

Hi,

I have been kegging cold brew for a couple years now and serving on nitro. It's so nice to be able to pour a glass on summer mornings and hit the road and not have to wait for hot coffee to brew. I mix it with my other beers and also protein shakes sometimes for nice caffeinated afternoon snack or even breakfast sometimes.

I was curious how many others out there are doing this and what your water to coffee ratios are. I am aiming for drinkable coffee right out of the tap without diluting but it sometimes it's hard to get a good strong coffee flavor without way way to much caffeine. This last batch I did half french roast and half Jamaican blend with chocolate and spices. The french roast did add some bitterness though. It was pretty good but still extremely caffeinated. Next I am going to try Charleston Signature Blend Bold Roast from Costco and see how that works.

I had settled on 5lbs of coffee with 6 gallons of water, which seems like a lot but the coffee was coming out a bit watery other wise. I steep for 18-24 hours in my fermentation chamber. One thing I'll try different this time is to stir it up every few hours and see if that helps get more flavor out.

So I am curious what any of you are doing as far as process and water to coffee ratios, as well as brands of coffee you've tried.

Thanks,

David

 

[BalloonGuy]

I use a similar weight to water ratio of 1lb per gallon of water. I also steep at room temp for about 36 hours. I do water down though.
If you want to reduce caffeine but keep flavor why not mix 4 lbs regular and 2 lbs of decaf or any other combo that gets the right level for you?

 

[djonesax]

If you want to reduce caffeine but keep flavor why not mix 4 lbs regular and 2 lbs of decaf

Wow, sometimes the best solutions are the simplest and I never even considered that.

36 hours seems like a long time, I tried 48 hours once in a fridge and it was considerably more bitter. What kind of coffee do you use?

 

[ibrown]

So glad I stumbled upon this thread. I just moved and happened to get an extra side by side fridge out of the move. Freezer will be used for extra meat storage, but the fridge will probably be my first kegerator conversion. Our move was fueled by Starbucks' Nitro cold brew, and I quickly became an addict. With no standalone Starbucks in town, a healthy coffee and beer habit, and an extra fridge to boot, I'm getting ready to commit to a DIY project.

I'm thinking 3 CO2 taps and 1 Nitro (N2?) tap. Not a home brewer yet, but I'm hoping to start with cold brew coffee and that might be the catalyst with the wife. Definitely subscribing to learn more about cold brew recipes and ratios.

 

[djonesax]

If it helps I have settled on a 1/10 ratio for drinkable coffee that I don't have to dilute with water. I just add cream and Splenda and head to work. It's still pretty strong but not cold sweats strong. Thats 1 ounce of coffee to 10 fluid ounces of water and I soak for around 18 hours with cold water in the fridge but I have heard you can do 12 hours with room temperature water. I found that I get a better extraction if I DON'T soak in a bag but rather just in a big pot and the siphon it through a bag later. I just put the bag in the keg when racking it. Then I stick it on beer gas at 35 PSI and start drinking it and eventually it develops a nice creamy head and I serve it with a stout faucet.. You'll have to play around with different coffees but I think bolder coffee is better especially if it has some chocolate notes. Some of the medium roasts I have tried were very good and others, come out thin/watery but still very caffeinated. The Charleston Signature Blend Bold Roast from Costco turned out really good but I may dial back the soak time next time to 18 hours to reduce some bitterness. I now have a Columbian Supremo Medium roast that I am going to try tonight, I wanted a dark roast but I didn't realize it was medium when I asked a friend to pick it up from Costco for me but I bet it will be good. It smells great in the bag.

Anyway good luck, I love having cold brew on tap. I have 4 taps but 7 secondary regulators so I can condition more kegs at different pressures. 4 are C02 and 3 are Beer Gas so I can serve nitro coffee and stout at the same time.

 

[deadwolfbones]

I used to run a third-wave cafe in Vietnam and we used a 9:1 (mL/g) ratio with a medium-coarse grind. 20 hours in the fridge.