Caffeine And Hops – Coffee And Beer’s Unique Relationship
Coffee is not the first thing you think of when reaching for any beer other than perhaps a stout. You might then be surprised to find that, according to USA Today, coffee-infused beers have featured heavily in nationwide polling of the most delicious craft beers and IPAs. The matter of taste is, of course, entirely subjective, but this suggests there is a place for coffee in the beer making process. What’s more, this suggests that it’s not only there as a catalyst – think the chocolate-enhancing effects of a little espresso – but as a flavor profile in itself. Like so many other good flavors, coffee is creating its own buzz in the craft beer world.
The Origins of the Beverage
Coffee beer is a strange concept for Americans to grasp but it’s not such a foreign concept around the world. Travel zine Travel.earth report that cafes in Copenhagen, Denmark, have been serving up not just coffee beer, but civet beer, for a while now. Civet coffee, for those who are unaware, is a brew made from beans that have been digested and excreted by Indonesian civet cats. It sounds off putting but the flavor is treasured across the world. When combined with beer it gives a trademark fruity, bitter taste, and is considered a hallmark for combining other coffee products with beer. Today, these include keto butter infused coffees, which are a great option for people with dietary requirements and help to minimize extra carbs in craft beers, as well as a whole range of porters and stouts that benefit massively from the coffee flavor profile.
The Flavor Profiles
These profiles are why the combination is so potent. While coffee has a wide variety of flavor profiles, just like beer, most roasts do share some features in common. There’s acidity, sweetness and bitterness, and they’re well balanced; just like a good beer. The particular focus on acidity and bitterness creates a richness which is lent well to stouts and porters. According to coffee brewing blog the Portola Coffee Lab, the Coffee Monster is an example of this; starring at the American Beer Festival, it used just a little coffee taste to strengthen the flavors in the beer. Just as chocolate enhances chili without overpowering, and coffee enhances chocolate, so too can the java flavor improve the key components of the right beer.
Lighter Colors
What about the non-dark colored beers? Coffee is a less obvious addition to pale ales, lagers and similar brews. However, Stone Brewing has debuted its own range of coffee IPAs that follow much the same trend as the stout-focused brews. By putting just a little brewed coffee into their batches they can subtly alter the color of the IPA to be a little darker and lend a bitter side note to the sweetness of the hops. The result is a more refreshing yet richer beer.
That variety is what coffee beer brewing is all about. By producing an extra layer of flavor, beer enthusiasts can have a new experiment for the taste-buds. In time, it’s entirely possible that coffee brewing will find its way into every single subcategory of beer.
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