pscole98

Recipes 

I have been drueling to do a Chocolate Stout. I saw ChsCat's Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout that sounds awesome and has recieved plenty of good reviews. I don't want to buy more equipment right now to start partial mashing so I need to stick with extract and grains for now.

I reviewed about 10 recipes last night, and came up with this. I ran this through the beer recipator spreadsheet for the numbers. but what I need is for you guys the experts to tell me if I should make adjustments or change anything.

MY GOAL is to make a Sweet Chocolate Stout.

Sweet Stout
5 gallon batch
SRM 44
IBU 20
OG 1.062
FG 1.010
ABV 6.8

7 lbs Amber LME
1 lbs American chocolate
4 oz American black patent
4 oz roasted barley
1 lbs flaked oats (10 minutes)

2 oz fuggles (60 minutes)
1 oz kent goldings (45 minutes)
.5 oz kent goldings (30 or 15)

10 minutes left to boil add:
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz belgain candi sugar
8 oz coco powder

Irish Ale yeast

1 vanilla bean in secondary

Steep all grains at 155 for 45 minutes, add hops and LME. Follow hops additions, with 10 minutes to go add brown sugar, candi sugar, coco powder and oats. Sparge and cool as usual, pitch yeast, 21 days in primary, soak bean in volka and add vanilla bean into secondary with wort for 1 week then bottle.


PLease review and give me some thoughts.

Lodovico

Recipes 

Looks pretty good but it isn't technically a Sweet Stout if it doesn't have lactose in it. All of those sugar additions are fermentable and lactose isn't and that's what makes it a Sweet Stout.

Looks tasty though.

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Lodovico Brewing Co.




On Draft: Northern German Alt
On Draft: Robust Porter
On Draft: Belgian Pale Ale
In Bottle: Brett Porter
In Bottle: Apfelwein
In Bottle: Espresso Porter
Fermenter: Biere De Garde
Fermenter: Belgian Amber Ale

HelperMunkee

Recipes 

In my admittedly limited experience you won't get a ton of chocolate flavor from 8 ounces in the boil. I've heard better results from using it in the secondary. And watch out for the coffee flavor from the roasted grains (although I see you are using mostly chocolate malt) to potentially overpower that chocolate flavor.

Go Sabres! (from a displaced Buffalonian)

Lodovico

Recipes 

I agree with this as well. I would say that there will almost be zero chocolate hint to this beer if you use just 8 ounces during the boil. If you want definite chocolate notes, I would secondary with some chocolate or some have used a little chocolate extract at bottling, but a little of that goes a long way.

Let us know how it turns out!!

__________________
Lodovico Brewing Co.




On Draft: Northern German Alt
On Draft: Robust Porter
On Draft: Belgian Pale Ale
In Bottle: Brett Porter
In Bottle: Apfelwein
In Bottle: Espresso Porter
Fermenter: Biere De Garde
Fermenter: Belgian Amber Ale

mkling

Recipes 

Actually, this isn't quite true. Lots of Sweet Stouts don't have lactose. Lactose is crucial for a sub-group of Sweet Stouts which are called either Milk Stouts or Cream Stouts. Sweet stout is the label for a traditional British (not Irish) stout and there are plenty of sweet stouts out there that aren't milk stouts or cream stouts.

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Currently On Draft: Bamberger Rauch Dunkel, Belgian Blond, Pilsener Urquell clone, Smoked Porter
Bottled: Concord Pyment, Mi'Apa Sparkling Mead, Chimay Blue, Old Simcoe American Barleywine, Old Cantankerous
Fermenting and Conditioning: Pseudo-Decoction Munich Dunkel, Left Hook Bitter
Recently Kicked Kegs: Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Citra Rye IPA
On Deck: Old Rasputin, Northstar IPA, Ur-bock Dunkel

pscole98

Recipes 

if I were to add Lactose to it how much should I add? As well as the chocolate to the secondary. What form of chocolate and how much?

What is I reduced the 1 lb of chocolate to 1/2 pound and up the barley to .5 lb.? Would this help with a more chocolate flavor?

HelperMunkee

Recipes 

I recently made the recipe below and found that half a pound of roasted barley is way too coffee-y for me (even before adding the coffee, but I followed the recipe). If you want to stay away from coffee flavors I would try reducing the barley and increasing the chocolate malt (if you need the color).

Buzz’ard Double Chocolate Espresso Stout (from BYO)

8 lbs. (3.6 kg) Alexander’s dark malt extract syrup
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) chocolate malt
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) roasted barley
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Ghirardelli Select Brown choco powder (added at 60 min)
2 oz. Northern Brewer hops
0.5 lb. (0.2 kg) espresso beans, fine ground, brewed to 1 gallon (3.8 L) of coffee added at bottling

Also note that this beer didn't have any chocolate flavor. I'm not sure what the most efficient way to make that happen is, but I'd be interested to find out.

Lodovico

Recipes 

No, I understand that my comment read that it has to be lactose but you are right. I meant that in order to technically be a Sweet Stout there should be some unfermentables in the recipe somewhere.

From BJCP style guidelines:

The sweetness in most Sweet Stouts comes from a lower bitterness level than dry stouts and a high percentage of unfermentable dextrins.

So no, you don't have to add lactose but this recipe as is won't really have the mouthfeel of a Sweet Stout.

__________________
Lodovico Brewing Co.




On Draft: Northern German Alt
On Draft: Robust Porter
On Draft: Belgian Pale Ale
In Bottle: Brett Porter
In Bottle: Apfelwein
In Bottle: Espresso Porter
Fermenter: Biere De Garde
Fermenter: Belgian Amber Ale

ChshreCat

Recipes 

I disagree completely. I use 6-9oz of cocoa powder (usually 9) in mine and it's very, VERY chocolatey.

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"Science + beer = good!"
-Adam Savage

Lodovico

Recipes 

You're the boss.

__________________
Lodovico Brewing Co.




On Draft: Northern German Alt
On Draft: Robust Porter
On Draft: Belgian Pale Ale
In Bottle: Brett Porter
In Bottle: Apfelwein
In Bottle: Espresso Porter
Fermenter: Biere De Garde
Fermenter: Belgian Amber Ale