Coffee stouts: a recipe for perfection

I’m on my way to Chicago this weekend for Uppers and Downers, an annual festival celebrating coffee, beers, and coffee beers hosted by Good Beer Hunting and Intelligentsia Coffee. Coffee and beer are two of my favorite things. Put them together, and it’s a recipe for perfection.

Big, rich stouts and porters often have aromas and flavors of coffee that permeate olfactory senses and palate, due to the commonly used, more heavily roasted grains. (You kiln grain the same way you kiln coffee beans to bring out the desired roast of the product.) Adding coffee to already robust stouts brings another layer of taste and smell complexity that is often welcomed by coffee drinkers and beer drinkers alike.

To make a coffee stout, some breweries blend cold-brewed coffee with the beer. Other breweries add whole or ground beans directly into the fermentation tank and let the beer steep. While I’m playing in Chicago and drinking coffee beers, there are several here in the STL market that you should get your hands on.

1. Schlafly Coffee Stout (Kaldi’s Coffee) is my favorite go-to winter seasonal on the market. With a robust, “dirty” coffee palate, great body and texture, and huge coffee aroma, this beer is a must try.

2. Sump Imperial Coffee Stout (Sump Coffee) from Perennial Artisan Ales is quite possibly the most beautiful coffee beer in the St. Louis market. Perfectly roasted coffee adds to the big body, chewy texture and aggressive palate.

3. 4 Hands Devil’s Invention (Goshen Coffee) showcases a beautiful coffee aroma and taste. This beer is totally quaffable – even for 7.2-percent ABV – with some beautiful chocolate notes and a touch of vanilla to round out the finish.

4. Nitro Hard Wired Coffee Porter (Allegro Coffee) from Left Hand Brewing Co. is new and boasts an incredible coffee aroma, creamy mouth feel, roasted malt on the palate and a slightly nutty finish.