The Rise of Coffee Beers

Coffee + Beer = Collaboration

Brewers don’t simply walk into Starbucks and buy a bag off the shelf in order to make a coffee beer. Just how other collaborations are born in craft beer, the relationship with a roaster is critical to nailing nirvana in the glass.

Jeff Duggan, co­-owner of Portola Coffee Lab in Costa Mesa has been involved in well over 60 coffee beers. Aside from winning micro­roaster of the year in 2015, brewers see Jeff as an asset after winning six medals at the GABF and World Beer Cup with Pizza Port Carlsbad and Beachwood BBQ & Brewing. Being a homebrewer himself has enabled him to hone in on nuance while testing intuition.

“If the coffee is fresh, it will make a big impact on the end product,” says Jeff. Coffee, like hops, are susceptible to oxidation. Achieving a beer where coffee pops out of the glass relies on timing. Jeff advises using fresh, green coffee beans prior to roasting and introducing those beans to the beer within 10 days. Packaging or serving of the beer also relies on some level of speed to achieve perfection, as coffee aromas fade over time.

But what kind of coffee is right for a beer? From a brewer’s standpoint, a conversation with a roaster should start with a picture of the desired finished product. Does the brewer want a coffee-­forward roast bomb? Or does he or she want to create something balanced with a more fruity and delicate coffee presence? Origin, roast level, blend, dosing rate and production method can create vastly different effects in coffee beers. 

Origin, roast level, blend, dosing rate and production method can create vastly different effects in coffee beers, including color, such as in Noble Ale Works's Naughty Sauce – a Nitro Golden Milk Stout with coffee.

Not all coffee beers are black

For Evan Price, head brewer at Noble Ale Works in Anaheim, California, a vision of making a beer that “drinks like a super creamy cappuccino” was the inspiration behind “Naughty Sauce,” a Nitro Golden Milk Stout with coffee. “People that don’t necessarily enjoy beer end up loving it; it’s a super-approachable gateway beer,” says Price. Stripping out roasted malt from the beer, the perceived stoutiness comes from the coffee alone. Although fresh batches may have some degree of coffee dust haze, the beer is lighter than a hefeweizen and has more coffee aroma than a 24-­hour diner at 3 A.M.

Once Naughty Sauce’s nitro cascade settles, creamy carbonation caps the beer like cupcake frosting, and ends up creating coffee-scented beer mustaches after the first few sips. “We let Portola Coffee Lab geek out with the blend ... we know beer; they know coffee,” Price continues. For a special event, Noble brewed a batch of Naughty Sauce using famed Don Pachi beans ($100/lb), which are full of coffee richness and mindblowing aromatics.