Buzz Beer

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 11:34 am

Mate and me have been wanting to replicate this from the Drew Carey show.

Coffee and beer. Not just the taste tho, thinking of making it with real coffee so each bottle has not only a coffee taste but with a hit of caffeine!

Am guessing a stout or a dark ale would prob go best as a coffee flavoured lager would be a tad weird.

Any suggestions? I did a search before posting but couldnt find anything...

Cheers
DrSmurto

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 11:42 am

drsmurto wrote:... Am guessing a stout or a dark ale would prob go best ...

Agree.

My suggestion would be brew up a plunger of strong coffee and filter it then into the bulk priming bucket.

Cheers,
Greg

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 11:51 am

Cheers gregb, next batch of dark ale (my mates fave) will get the coffee treatment. He wants each longneck to be equal to an espresso shot but i reckon that would be a bit scary if we knocked back more than 6 which we have been known to do.

vitalogy · Post by **vitalogy** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 12:34 pm

Matilda Bay seem to have managed to whack some coffee into a pale beer with their Crema brew:
http://www.matildabay.com/ourbeers/outtherebeers.html

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 12:45 pm

Mmmmmmmmmm. That sounds good.

Anyone got an idea for a kit version, maybe an amber or nut brown ale that i could add some coffee to. Will take Gregb's idea and brew the coffee myself or could even do that while boiling up the malt and hops and then filter into fermenter......

So many ideas, so few fermenters.

Cheers
DrSmurto

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 7:39 pm

300ml of fairly strongly brewed (4 tsp) Colombian coffee filtered into a MSB Pale Ale, filled to 11.5L is what I did.

Its turned out quite nice, for a prototype.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Wednesday Dec 06, 2006 8:29 am

NTRabbit - sounds good.

Went home last night full of ideas and checked out what i have sitting around.

1 can Coopers real ale
1 brew booster kit - think its 500g LDM, 250g dex, 250g maltodextrin
Would prob replace this with 1kg of LDM or maybe a liquid malt?

Hops in the fridge - Golding, POR, Saaz and also have a Fuggles finishing bag.

Will be a 23L batch - so will need a full plunger of fresh strong coffee.

Any opinions on which hop(s) to use and all malt vs combo. The combo might be safer in case it takes bad......

Any ideas would be welcomed, got a few days left before i can free up a fermenter, fingers crossed i get another one for xmas!

Cheers
DrSmurto

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Wednesday Dec 06, 2006 8:47 am

drsmurto wrote:...Any opinions on which hop(s) to use and all malt vs combo. The combo might be safer in case it takes bad......
...

Agree (again). Also it is less likely overpower the coffee flavour.

Cheers,
Greg

N.C. · Post by **N.C.** » Wednesday Dec 06, 2006 10:43 am

drsmurto,

have used coffee in dark ales and stouts to general applause and aplomb in the past. as suggested, use a plunger and put a small amount of strong coffee in at the start - follow your favourite dark ale or stout recipe otherwise. i would also recommend adding a load of dark malt husk with the coffee so that the coffee falvour is not too out of character with the rest of the beer. lactose is maybe something to consider as well...

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Wednesday Dec 06, 2006 8:53 pm

It also depends on what you want to achieve - whether you want coffee notes in a beer style that often has them, as a compliment to the other flavours, or whether you want your friends to drink it and go "Holy shit, this beer tastes like coffee!"

I went for the latter.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Thursday Dec 07, 2006 9:12 am

NTRabbit - A subtle coffee taste is what i am after so will use your amounts but in 23L, reckon that should be relatively subtle. NC - Might add a bit of lactose to counter the extra bitterness of the coffee.

Cheers
DrSmurto

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thursday Dec 07, 2006 11:25 am

I've heard that you should only steep the coffee beans in the hot wort.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 12:50 pm

Decided to say sod it all and put down the experimental buzz beer yesterday.

Coopers Real Ale Kit
500g LDM
500g Dex
250g Maltodextrin
15g POR (5 min boil)
4 tbsp real coffee brewed in 2 cups water (plunger), added to fermenter.

Decided after reading many threads here and other sites that getting the initial temp down is half the battle so was clever during the week. Froze a crap load of filtered water and added the ice to the hot wort and then topped up with cold and room temp water. Thermo on the barrel is stuffed but felt well below 20. Used yeast that came with the kit.

Its a lot darker than the previous real ales i have done (coffee - dark - captain obvious).

Will dry hop once fermentation done and taste test to see if i need to add some lactose and the bulk priming stage.

Cheers for all the suggestions
DrSmurto

p.s almost bought some guarana tabs to crush up and add but $30 and not entirely convinced of their worth....

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 1:11 pm

When sampling, don't forget to use it to wash down a couple of No-Doz.

Seriously though, sounds like it could be a goer, post back after New Year with tasting notes etc.

Cheers,
Greg

111222333 · Post by **111222333** » Monday Dec 11, 2006 5:59 pm

I read on here a while back that putting ice directly into the fermenter is bad juju. I think it was Dogger who said that the freezer habours nasties impeccably (as they are not affected detrimentally by the cold, they only slow down their metabolism) and the risk of inffection is increased dramatically.

EDIT: did a search, Dogger has a quite alot to say on the subject.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 8:21 am

111222333 wrote:I read on here a while back that putting ice directly into the fermenter is bad juju. I think it was Dogger who said that the freezer habours nasties impeccably (as they are not affected detrimentally by the cold, they only slow down their metabolism) and the risk of inffection is increased dramatically.

EDIT: did a search, Dogger has a quite alot to say on the subject.

Freezer is a good place for nasties but being the nerdy scientist that i am - the water was filtered thru a brita and into sanitised containers, lids on into the freezer.

IMO this is as good as pouring water from the tap to the fermenter! Its just a dumpload colder......

Will keep you posted on the outcome, warts and all.

Cheers
DrSmurto

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 9:23 am

Just remember, there are more nasties in your fridge and freezer than in the toilet!

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 9:49 am

Chris wrote:Just remember, there are more nasties in your fridge and freezer than in the toilet!

After a night on the guinness washed down with a yiros i reckon i would take that bet......

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 9:52 am

A yiros? Bloody South Australians! It's a kebab.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 9:56 am

Its a kebab when made by the turkish, a yiros when made by a greek.....

Not to mention the fact the poms refer to them as kebabs and i like to distinguish myself from the poms