Adding Coffee Beans To Home-Brewed Beer

Do you head for the coffee maker immediately after waking up in the morning? According to StatisticsBrain.com, over half of adults living in the U.S. drink coffee on a daily basis. If you fall under this category, you might be interested in brewing your own coffee-flavored beer. It’s a quick and easy way to infuse your traditional home-brewed beer with the rich flavors of coffee. And contrary to what some people may believe, brewing coffee beer is actually quite easy.

Benefits of Coffee Beer

There are a few attractive features of home-brewed coffee beer, one of which is the flavor. Coffee has a naturally rich, almost chocolaty flavor that compliments the hop flavors of beer. If you are one of the millions of people who drinks coffee on a daily basis, chances are you’ll love the taste of coffee beer. When brewed correctly, it creates a delicious mixture of coffee and beer flavors that’s  surprisingly well balanced.

Of course, another benefit of coffee beer is the hidden jolt of caffeine it provides. Coffee is an excellent source of caffeine, and adding it to your beer will give it a boost of energy. With that said, you should use caution when adding any caffeinated ingredients to your beer, as it’s oftentimes difficult to determine exactly how much caffeine is transferring over.

Adding Shots of Espresso

One of the easiest ways to infuse coffee into your home-brewed beer is to simply add a couple shots of espresso. If you access to an espresso maker, you can give your beer an authentic coffee taste by tossing in some espresso. The exact amount will depend on the quantity of beer you are brewing. However, it’s usually best to start with just a shot or two of espresso and gradually add more as you see fit.

Adding Coffee To Secondary

Another technique is to cold brew a pot of coffee and add it to the secondary fermentation stage of your beer. It’s important to note that only cold coffee should be added, not hot coffee. Turn your coffee maker on the ‘cold’ setting to use in your beer.

Once your coffee is ready, pour it into the beer during the secondary fermentation stage. Thoroughly mix it in and continue brewing your beer as you normally would. Once the brewing is complete, pour and glass to test it out. It should still maintain the foamy, frothy texture of beer but with a bite of authentic coffee flavors.