Coffee Beer-Adding Java to Your Brew

The easy way to brew coffee beer!

Coffee beer, a match made in heaven, right?  It definitely can be if done right.  Why would you want to add coffee to your homebrew anyway?   Because adding coffee will add a rich aroma, alluring complexity, and enhanced mouthfeel to just about any beer.  Think about why chefs add espresso powder to cakes, cookies and brownies.   It enhances the chocolate notes and integrates really well with the bready flavors in baked goods.  Well guess what, beer also has bready flavors from the base malts, and many of the darker beers have chocolate notes from the highly-kilned malts used in their production. 

In the US, adults drink an average of 587 million cups of coffee per day.  It’s a big part of our morning, and many people would drink coffee all day long if not for the effects of the caffeine. Recent research reveals that drinking coffee may give you more than just an energy boost.  Studies suggest that there may be several health benefits associated with drinking coffee. These include protecting against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, liver disease, liver cancer, and promoting heart health. 

Health benefits aside, the flavor and intoxicating aroma of coffee are familiar to so many people around the world that it just makes sense that we would want to combine two of our favorite beverages into one.  If beer is awesome, and coffee is awesome too, shouldn’t coffee beer be doubly awesome?  Well, there are some really good and some great beers being made today.  It’s not just stouts and porters either.  American brewers are known for pushing the envelope with their combination of beer and other brewing ingredients.  If done well, coffee can be added to any beer style from a cream ale to an imperial stout, and all styles in between.  The brewer needs to add the coffee judiciously though, because if used with a heavy hand, the roasted flavors can overpower a lighter beer and throw even some darker beers off balance.   So how should we add coffee to our beer recipe?