People like coffee. It’s a morning beverage, an afternoon boost, and an after-dinner digestif. We eat coffee cake, cover coffee beans in dark chocolate, and even offer coffee beans infused with marijuana in states that allow such things (I, um, heard that from a friend). Coffee grounds can be used as a rub for meat. I’ve seen coffee-scented candles.
Again, we like coffee.
We’re accustomed to coffee added to our other favorite beverage, beer, particularly in stouts, whose dark malts accentuate the acidity, bitterness, and roasted character of a great blend of coffee. More and more, though, brewers are experimenting with adding coffee flavors to a wider variety of styles from pale ales and IPAs to cream ales and brown ales. Here are seven to look for on the shelves.
Alaskan Heritage Brown Coffee Ale
Brown ales and coffee seem like a perfect marriage and Alaskan Brewing Co. seems to have this one nailed. The sweetness of the malt melds nicely together with the roasted coffee creating a spectrum of flavors from biscuit and chocolate to nuts and caramel. It’s not a heavyweight at 7%, but you don’t have to be the biggest to be the pound-for-pound champ.
Stone Mocha IPA
Leave it to Stone to create an IPA with coffee. To be honest, this is a hard beer to wrap my head around. It’s hop-forward in that Southern California way; It’s got a dark beer-esque backbone; It’s coffee. Either way, it’s good.
Carton Regular Coffee
The New Jersey brewery’s Regular Coffee pays homage to the light and sweet cup of coffee. It’s an 11% imperial cream ale brewed in partnership with Fair Mountain Coffee Roasters. Look for this beer alongside it’s cousin, Irish Coffee, which is the same beer rested over Irish wood. Check out the video.
