Using Starbuck's Via in a beer

[Lcasanova]

Having planned to brew a coffee porter this fall I've been looking into brewing with coffee and when to add it. A few days ago my girlfirend was given a box of Starbuck's Via, since she doesn't drink coffee it went to me. I gave it a try the other day and while I don't think it quite stands up to a brewed cup of coffee, it is still a nice quick convenient cup of coffee.

I looked online and the ingredients listed are: 100% natural roasted coffee, made without preservatives.

So...I know there are various ways to add the coffee to your brew, anyone think this would work? They have Columbia and Italian Roast out right now. I am thinking you could add the powder to primary or secondary or maybe at flameout.

PS- You coffee aficionados and purists out there, please don't get mad at me

 

[throwbookatface]

I'm pretty sure it would work. I know chefs who use instant coffee in cooking for eveyrthing from pork to ice cream. It's essentially crystallized coffee, so you don't have to deal with beans. Keep in mind that the product once mixed is essentially full-strength coffee, not just coffee beans, so you can't just "impart" a slight taste of coffee by leaving it a short while or anything. Essentially for any flavor adjustments you'd just have to lessen the amount of full strength "coffee" powder you're using, versus letting the ground beans sit around less. This might lead to taste differences if your recipe calls for actual beans that might not be brewed under heat.

From what I've tasted of Via, it's not quite gourmet, but it's tons better than any other instant coffee, close to what Starbucks brew is like, so I think you'd be good to go.

 

[rmseven4]

I would imagine you could add it at kegging/bottling time and adjust to taste at that point. Start with a little and add more until you get the taste you want. I'm assuming one packet is enough for one cup of regular coffee so adding a full packet right from the start doesn't sound like too much to me.

 

[JKoravos]

I've thought about doing the same thing. I want to make a coffee beer at some point this year. I'll probably brew the base beer, then split it up into several containers in secondary, trying a different method of coffee addition in each one. Via will definitely be one of them.

 

[EricCSU]

I think that it will work great. It will be more potent than adding coffee, so use caution.

Personally, I enjoy the flavor of cold-pressed coffee. You should give it a try.

Eric

 

[godofcheese]

VIA is a mix of instant coffee and very finely ground coffee. I bet most of the grounds would settle out and work just fine.

 

[Bassman]

I agree with the OP's opinion of VIA. It's not great coffee but beats what we have in the pantry at work or stale coffee at a 7-11.