For most of the readers of this website, the notion of coffee in beer is old hat. You are well aware of the effect of adding some coffee to a dark porter or stout (or even the occasional IPA, right Mikkel?). The sharp roast and dark burnt character can accent a dark beer quite nicely.
But for most consumers, this is a novel phenomenon. The two seem like they should be on opposite poles of the beverage family. One is a morning upper, the other an evening relaxant. When I add a coffee-infused beer to a tasting event, I regularly get initial responses from the guests of “coffee and beer?? What??”. I find many of the doubters are people who have not sampled a lot of stouts or porters, and so are less aware of the roastier side of beer flavour. Once they have a taste, they quickly come to realize the combination can work.
So, when the editors of Vue Weekly told contributers that they were doing a coffee issue, I jumped right in. I saw the opportunity to pontificate about the potentials of coffee and beer. You can find the resulting column here. My goals for the piece were fairly modest – introduce consumers to the possibilities of coffee in beer so that they might consider purchasing an example. I spend a bit of time discussing how to infuse coffee in beer and then look at three good examples, ranging from the more mild to the more assertive.
I start with Mill Street’s Coffee Porter, which I find quite an enjoyable beer. The coffee roast and chocolate malt notes blend well together. Without the coffee I suspect this would be a fairly boring beer, but with it the beer becomes quite interesting.
The second beer is Yukon’s Midnight Sun Espresso Stout. I did a stand-alone review of it a couple years back, so didn’t go into any great detail about it. However, I can say here that it remains one of my favourite coffee stouts. I really appreciate the balance they find in the beer, which is generally one of their hallmarks. I am glad they went away from the 1-litre bottle in which it used to be packaged, going for the more friendly six-pack.
The third beer was going to be Mikkeller’s coffee-infused IPA, but it is no longer available in Alberta, so talking about it would be irresponsible. To be honest, I was rather underwhelmed by that beer, but I really wanted to show that coffee wasn’t just for stouts. I remember wondering where the coffee went, which suggests that the effect of coffee in beer is partly influenced by the roasty malts in the beer. Instead, I highlighted Beer Geek Breakfast, which is worthwhile for a variety of reasons, including its name (and the excuse to highlight the bacon-infused version). I discuss the original version (although I find the bourbon barrel-aged version preferable). It is a good closer because it is such an intense beer. Intense coffee, intense body and roastiness, and intense alcohol It completes the continuum from mild to intense. Just like coffee.
I enjoy opportunities to demonstrate just how versatile beer is. That is one of the great hurdles beer faces – getting people out of the rut that beer is only suitable for sporting events and frat parties.
February 22, 2012 at 6:56 PM
You forgot one of the world’s highest rated coffee infused beers Dieu du Ciel’s Peche Mortel. Currently on Ratebeer’s top fifty beers in the world and the highest rated beer brewed in Canada according to that same website. As president Stephen Ostiguy says about the beer when he wants to drink all night this beer has enough booze in it to close one eye and enough coffee in it to keep the other eye open.
February 23, 2012 at 9:09 AM
Indeed, Hoser, Peche Mortel is a great coffee RIS. I did consider it for the column, but only had so many words to work with and wanted a range of beer strengths. The Mikkeller offered a bit more flexibility for my purposes. But I will say to anyone how much I appreciate and enjoy a glass of Peche Mortel.
February 23, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Like my Peche with about 6 months in the cellar and always have a six pack on the cellar floor.
February 23, 2012 at 6:21 AM
I would love to do a side by side tasting sometime with Alesmith Speedway, Peche Mortel and Great Divide Espresso Yeti. All are pretty good coffee imperial stouts. The wife and I were drinking Espresso Yeti in their taproom earlier this week and I brought a couple bottles home.
I am personally quite fussy about coffee infused beer. Very tough to get the right balance, and the coffee character changes with time, often not for the better.
February 23, 2012 at 6:18 PM
Um you Do realiize Peche Mortel is no longer what it once was? I got a six pack about Dec… 20th & Wpw…cosmopolitanized. Once a proud strutting tomcat, now a neutered feline…it Is quite decent though((it took me a couple bottles to ‘warm up’ to it). I found it quite carbonated, lighter coffee & I picked up a bit of a vanilla latte note. I’d say it’s more approachable now…or more ‘accessable’. I miss the original though, I must admit.
February 28, 2012 at 1:23 PM
Coffee stout-related though…I tried the Lagunitas Cappucino Stout last week. While fairly unimpressive,,,, it was decent enough(certainly a nice cappucino quality, imho). A creaminess-lactic?-comes out before any coffee, then when the coffee emerges it’s subtle & roasty. I got a bit of ‘coffee-with-just-a-splash-of-cream’ aftertaste too.
March 19, 2012 at 10:17 AM
Darrell – I find Peche Mortel to still be quite “in your face.” It does seem to have a lot more carbonation than it used to, which I find an odd characteristic in a coffee stout, but I personally don’t agree that it’s been neutered. It’s definitely a different brew than it used to be, though.
March 31, 2012 at 11:48 PM
Well Adam, I guess I could’ve used the ‘slap-in-the-face’ analogy.(And keep in mind that I like strong black coffee – I usually drink it black). Peche Mortel used to be a full-on slap-in-the-face of unavoidable coffee flavour. Now it’s no longer a slap, it’s a weak half-hearted flick-of-the-wrist(imho). And the coffee flavour Is still there, but it’s been dialed down from that Spinal Tap-esque 11…to a 5 or 6 – too much for my tastes. But that’s my opinion as a coffee-fiend.
Dieu du Ciel’s Aphrodisiaque is still ok/as I remember it(long-time chocolate-lover).