Caffeine In Beer?

[peas_and_corn]

OK, I have been considering putting caffiene into beer- probably a pale ale- but have been thinking of how to do it. There are a couple of questions that I think of when I consider it...

Firstly, where is a good source of caffiene? I was thinking those no-doz tablets, but I think there are other chemicals in it as well that would make it taste not very nice- are there alternative sources of caffiene if that one doesn't work?

Also, how would caffiene affect the flavour? My friend thought that it might add a bitter flavour, which made me respond with 'I'll add less bittering hops'; but really- how would the addition of caffiene affect the flavour?

 

[warrenlw63]

Like you need it P&K. h34r:

Warren -

 

[RobW]

Do you put hops in your coffee?
:wacko:

 

[PJO]

OK, I have been considering putting caffiene into beer- probably a pale ale- but have been thinking of how to do it. There are a couple of questions that I think of when I consider it...

Firstly, where is a good source of caffiene? I was thinking those no-doz tablets, but I think there are other chemicals in it as well that would make it taste not very nice- are there alternative sources of caffiene if that one doesn't work?

Also, how would caffiene affect the flavour? My friend thought that it might add a bitter flavour, which made me respond with 'I'll add less bittering hops'; but really- how would the addition of caffiene affect the flavour?

[post="92257"][/post]​

G'day peas_and_korn,

A few years ago I made a stout with coffee, called it Kick Start Stout.

I brewed about 1.5L of strong coffee (~300g ground beans) and added it to the bottling bucket.

This stout was great, roastier than usual, very tasty, had a great aroma. You couldn't exactly tell that it was the coffee but it did add to the flavour.

As for the effect well I'm not sure if it kept me up longer or not, I think alcohol is a stronger drug than caffeine and after a few the alcohol won out. :wacko:

Cheers,
PJO

 

[Wortgames]

I hate the idea of adding chemicals to beer, so if you were going to do it at all I'd say use good quality coffee. Either add some ground beans to the mash or add some strong black coffee to the fermenter.

 

[Scotty]

Add some berocca, to like a lager or something.

Scotty

 

[barfridge]

If you want to do a pale ale, try Asher's world famous green tea lager. I'm sure a clean ale yeast would work almost as well, otherwise make it a steam beer, this also works.

 

[Asher]

Absolutely barfridge... you can use any form of tea. Just add it at the end of the boil as you would your aroma hops. Some Indian tea may be nice in a pale ale. As for how much - start by using about 1/2 the strength you would drink it as tea.

Asher for now

 

[jayse]

Like you need it P&K. h34r:

Warren -

[post="92268"][/post]​

Classic :excl: :beer:

I think just about every emoticon works here but it won't let me do that.


Jayse

 

[KoNG]

you could try guarana... but that shite tastes like dirt...!

 

[barls]

you could call it buzz beer.

 

[roach]

you could call it buzz beer.

[post="92411"][/post]​

Yes but be prepared to get sued ala the Simpsons Duff beer :blink:

i remember that on the Drew Carey Show the main characters went into business and marketed a beer called Buzz Beer which was so named because it was coffee flavoured and contained caffeine. I think the motto for the beer was something like: Stay up and Get Drunk :beerbang:

 

[barls]

im sure hes not going to market it. but it was a good show

 

[boonspender]

The following brew seems like a pretty cool idea, it's been designed as a 'brand' and you can even download labels for it.

(quote from website)

Vores l (Our Beer) is a great tasting energetic beer and it's the world's first open source beer! It is based on classic ale brewing traditions but with added guarana for a natural energy-boost.

Vores l

 

[PhilS]

If you really want to add caffeine to your beer, I'd be inclined to use fresh espresso in the shortest of the short blacks you can make.

You can get pure caffeine but this is deadly in small doses in this state. Tablets such as those purchased from Chemists also contain additives, colourings and preservatives etc that may give you an undesirable effect.

 

[rodderz]

you could call it buzz beer.

[post="92411"][/post]​

Lovely little poem you got in your sig there mate!

Could those flavoured coffee beans you can buy be added to a mash, say vanilla or the like?

 

[peas_and_corn]

Like you need it P&K. h34r:

Warren -

[post="92268"][/post]​

lol Yeah, someone with as much insomnia as me...

G'day peas_and_korn,

A few years ago I made a stout with coffee, called it Kick Start Stout.

I brewed about 1.5L of strong coffee (~300g ground beans) and added it to the bottling bucket.

This stout was great, roastier than usual, very tasty, had a great aroma. You couldn't exactly tell that it was the coffee but it did add to the flavour.

As for the effect well I'm not sure if it kept me up longer or not, I think alcohol is a stronger drug than caffeine and after a few the alcohol won out. :wacko:

Cheers,
PJO

[post="92293"][/post]​

So you made black coffee (1.5L) and added it to the bottling bucket? Sounds interesting... do you have the recipe for the stout?

Absolutely barfridge... you can use any form of tea. Just add it at the end of the boil as you would your aroma hops. Some Indian tea may be nice in a pale ale. As for how much - start by using about 1/2 the strength you would drink it as tea.

Asher for now

[post="92337"][/post]​

That is another idea I could consider, as long as the green tea flavour doesn't come out too much- I can't stand that stuff. But maybe black tea could work as well

you could call it buzz beer.

[post="92411"][/post]​

Like in the Drew Carey show?

 

[Kai]

That is another idea I could consider, as long as the green tea flavour doesn't come out too much- I can't stand that stuff. But maybe black tea could work as well

Just beware that your beer will probably end up hazy. When tea cools the caffeine complexes with the polyphenols and makes the tea cloudy. In my experience this is much stronger with black tea then green, but you might be able to settle it out with extended cold conditioning.

That being said I don't think black tea would go very well in beer. I do like the sound of asher's green tea lager though, but have yet to brew or try one.

 

[PJO]

So you made black coffee (1.5L) and added it to the bottling bucket? Sounds interesting... do you have the recipe for the stout?

I reckon it would work well with any Irish dry stout recipe, heres the original one I brewed back when I was using extract:

40L batch
4kg Light DME
400g Wheat DME
600g Roasted Barley
600g Dextrose

Steep roasted Barley then remove and bring pot to boil, add malts and sugars, add enough hops for about 40IBU, etc...

1098 yeast

Just before bottling I went and used the coffee percolator at work h34r: and made 1.5L of coffee with 300g of ground beans, I bottled the coffee into two longnecks and capped it there, then when I got home it had cooled enough for me to add to the bottling bucket(s).

Cheers
PJO.

 

[PJO]

Forgot to mention that I ran the coffee through a number of filters to try and trap the oils. Got this idea from Al Korzonas' book Homebrewing Vol.1. He reckons that if you don't run the coffee through the filter a number of times the oils will ruin your head retention.

He also suggests 1/2 to 1 pound of ground beans per 5gal batch, quite a bit more than what I used.

Cheers,
PJO