Cream Ale with Coffee

[grrickar]

Can you guys give me input on this? Never brewed a cream ale before

4.5lbs 2-Row
4.5lbs Pilsener
1lb flaked corn
1oz hallertau @ 60min
.5oz crystal @15min

Mash at 154 for 60 min
Pitch US05 at 68F, maintain temp, primary for 7 days
Rack onto cold brewed coffee in secondary with 4oz lactose, for 3 days (remove coffee)
Cold Crash and bottle after 10 days

 

[casualbrewer]

Imagine taking Budweiser and mixing with coffee... That's pretty much what to expect. I think it would be pretty awful honestly. Maybe make a milk Stout?

 

[grrickar]

Ever had Calm before the Storm by Ballast Point? It is actually pretty tasty.

 

[Sadu]

YMMV, but I like to do experimental stuff like this in a 1 gallon batch first before rolling out a full sized batch. It is no fun at all having to work through 5 gallons of beer that is sub-standard but not bad enough to dump. But even if it does come out good, you will probably find you want to tweak the recipe a bit to make it even better.

If 1 gallon batches aren't your thing, another good approach is to split the batch when you rack to secondary - half coffee, half normal. Then if the coffee is too strong you have the option to dilute with normal beer, or if it's beyond terrible then you at least get a half-batch of normal beer out of it.

 

[jjeffers09]

I think the right roast on the coffee makes a difference. I have had a lot of pale coffee beers lately, and I really think coffee has to be as key to the beer as the yeast. Each variety and level of roast really carries the beer in different directions. I for one don't think you are getting anything like coffee Budweiser out of that grist, if you did you could make a killing as an after race day specialty breakfast beer...

 

[grrickar]

I think the right roast on the coffee makes a difference. I have had a lot of pale coffee beers lately, and I really think coffee has to be as key to the beer as the yeast. Each variety and level of roast really carries the beer in different directions. I for one don't think you are getting anything like coffee Budweiser out of that grist, if you did you could make a killing as an after race day specialty breakfast beer...

BuzzBeer!

I agree on the coffee, and unfortunately I am not an avid coffee drinker. I like tea better - go figure. I go like espresso and coffee cubano, but I can't stand regular drip coffee. Even the strong stuff I can either take it or leave it.

I have read that cold brewing the coffee is key too, but I see lots of ways to go about it.

Add beans/grounds to mash

Add at flameout

Add in primary, then second dose in secondary

Add in secondary, then bottle

Cold brew and add to bottling bucket*

* this is probably the safest, as I can add and taste before, and I can bottle half with and half without

So any suggestions on coffee? All I have in the cabinet is Cafe Bustelo.

 

[tmendick]

I make a light coffee beer all the time, it's my most requested beer.

I would recommend 2 things:
I would take out the corn, you'll want to reduce the dryness of the beer since your adding the acidity from the coffee.
Use good whole bean coffee (I use about 2 oz of light roast from a local coffee shop) added to the secondary for 3-4 days

 

[Auger]

Carton Brewing does a beer called Regular Coffee, an imperial cream ale with coffee. It's freaking delicious. Here's a recipe that might point you in the right direction.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/10/american-blonde-ale-with-coffee-beans.html


ETA: Sorry, this is the actual recipe, previous link was about the finished product.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/08/blonde-ale-on-coffee-beans-recipe.html

 

[bucketnative]

Why rack onto cold-brewed coffee and lactose for "secondary" when neither of those ferment?

You're just setting up a situation with greater risk to oxidation and infection.

Add the lactose to the boil, then add the cold brew at time of bottling. I would suggest a subtle addition.

For what it's worth, Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore makes a damn good coffee cream ale.. AM Gold. It was a really good beer; with the coffee just barely there (beer was a deep gold). I was skeptical when I ordered, but I went back for seconds. Too bad they don't produce it any more as far as I can tell.

 

[mattdee1]

I had a light coffee-flavored beer that I liked once, but I can't imagine having a whole batch of it.

On a semi-related note, I recently brewed 10gal of kolsch and threw about half a pound of carafa II (steeped in about 1 gal of water, and boiled) into one of the fermentors. That beer has a subtle coffee note to it, and is very drinkable.

 

[grrickar]

Why rack onto cold-brewed coffee and lactose for "secondary" when neither of those ferment?

You're just setting up a situation with greater risk to oxidation and infection.

Add the lactose to the boil, then add the cold brew at time of bottling. I would suggest a subtle addition.

For what it's worth, Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore makes a damn good coffee cream ale.. AM Gold. It was a really good beer; with the coffee just barely there (beer was a deep gold). I was skeptical when I ordered, but I went back for seconds. Too bad they don't produce it any more as far as I can tell.

Just repeating 'advice' I have seen reading various forums. I plan to do it in the bottling bucket as I stated in my post, although hops aren't fermentable either - you add to secondary for aroma and flavor. Not sure why coffee would be any different.

This recipe apparently went well, and he added whole beans to the primary...http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/08/blonde-ale-on-coffee-beans-recipe.html

"As with my usual process for coffee beers, I added whole beans loose to the fermentor (without sanitizing them). We pulled a sample after 28 hours, and it already had enough coffee to proceeded with kegging. It’s amazing how much character comes through thanks to the extraction by both alcohol and water."

I have used vokda to make extracts of vanilla, coffee and chocolate. I guess his method is same, just a lower ABV in play...

 

[grrickar]

I plan to swap the corn with the naked oats as suggested in the other recipe. I don't think I have the Cascade hops, and I want more coffee flavor and little hops (just enough to balance)

With my hops it seems I am in the neighborhood of the IBUs for Calm Before the Storm by BP, which is exactly what I was aiming for.

 

[unviewtiful]

I plan to swap the corn with the naked oats as suggested in the other recipe. I don't think I have the Cascade hops, and I want more coffee flavor and little hops (just enough to balance)

With my hops it seems I am in the neighborhood of the IBUs for Calm Before the Storm by BP, which is exactly what I was aiming for.

I did a Coffee Blonde that turned out awesome, you can check out the thread [thread=568926]here[/thread]. I ended up using golden naked oats instead of the rolled oats in that thread, and I added the whole beans straight to primary after fermentation was complete. I went a bit overboard with the beans and did 4oz/5gal so I'd back that down to 2-3 oz if I made it again. IBUs in the 15-20 range is a good target, and definitely use a lighter roast coffee.

 

[grrickar]

I did a Coffee Blonde that turned out awesome, you can check out the thread [thread=568926]here[/thread]. I ended up using golden naked oats instead of the rolled oats in that thread, and I added the whole beans straight to primary after fermentation was complete. I went a bit overboard with the beans and did 4oz/5gal so I'd back that down to 2-3 oz if I made it again. IBUs in the 15-20 range is a good target, and definitely use a lighter roast coffee.

I just ordered some Simpsons Naked Oats. Can't wait to brew this one!

 

[55x11]

Can you guys give me input on this? Never brewed a cream ale before

4.5lbs 2-Row
4.5lbs Pilsener
1lb flaked corn
1oz hallertau @ 60min
.5oz crystal @15min

Mash at 154 for 60 min
Pitch US05 at 68F, maintain temp, primary for 7 days
Rack onto cold brewed coffee in secondary with 4oz lactose, for 3 days (remove coffee)
Cold Crash and bottle after 10 days

I thought cream ales are warm-fermented with lager yeast (sort of like steam beer) and doesn't use lactose. Calm before the Storm, which is an excellent beer by the way, also has a bit of vanilla.

 

[55x11]

Just repeating 'advice' I have seen reading various forums. I plan to do it in the bottling bucket as I stated in my post, although hops aren't fermentable either - you add to secondary for aroma and flavor. Not sure why coffee would be any different.

This recipe apparently went well, and he added whole beans to the primary...http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/08/blonde-ale-on-coffee-beans-recipe.html

"As with my usual process for coffee beers, I added whole beans loose to the fermentor (without sanitizing them). We pulled a sample after 28 hours, and it already had enough coffee to proceeded with kegging. It’s amazing how much character comes through thanks to the extraction by both alcohol and water."

I have used vokda to make extracts of vanilla, coffee and chocolate. I guess his method is same, just a lower ABV in play...

I like to add all flavoring additions - lactose, cold brew coffee, vanilla, coco powder - late - as close to kegging/bottling as possible.
My reason - you can adjust it to taste a bit. Also many flavors dissipate quickly, so closer to bottling/kegging, the better.

Finally - never boil coffee or coffee beans that go into beer. It extracts oils and harsh bitter flavors.