mixology

Chocolate Stout Frapp-Brew-ccino

There is a point in every day that the clock tips from coffee-drinking hour to beer-consumption o’clock. It’s a gradual transition, the coffee cravings are slowly pushed aside by your desire for a beer that’s beckoning you from the fridge. In the middle of these two worlds is a bit of a beverage gray area, an afternoon slot where a crossover can take place. Beer and coffee, both are accepted. Coffee beer had this time in mind when it was being brewed. A beverage no-mans-land. Because coffee beers exists, you no longer have to choose between these two well-loved drinks.

But what is a coffee beer?

Brewers are magically creative people, constantly chasing new flavor combinations, new ways to brew, waking up in the middle of the night to jot down beer concepts to flush out the following day. Most brewers start the day in a similar way, a steaming cup of coffee in their hands, rubber boots pounding the wet cement between fermenters and mash tuns, checking batches, sampling wort, mashing in. Coffee still fresh in their mouths as they make giant batches of beer. Coffee and beer never seemed a peculiar combination to this set.

Coffee can be added to beer in a variety of ways. Most commonly is right from the beans. Either ground and added to large bags that function like tea bags, or whole beans added during brewing, the beans are steeped to extract the flavors. On occasion brewers use brewed coffee or espresso. Brewers have a natural affinity for local ingredients, you can bet that in most cases craft breweries will seek out high quality, local, craft beans. Most beers that are infused with coffee are dark beers, like porters and stouts. But don’t ask a brewer to limit themselves or fit within any box. Cream ales have been used and Fort George Brewing makes a coffee IPA called Java The Hop. For this recipe, a bold coffee stout or porter is the way you want to go.

A few to seek out:

Great Divide// Espresso Oak Aged Yeti

Founders // Breakfast Stout

Surly // Coffee Bender

Ballast Point // Victory at Sea

Alesmith // Speedway Stout

Southern Tier // Mokah

Lagunitas // Cappuccino Stout

Schlafly // Coffee Stout

Stone // Coffee Milk Stout