Christmas-esque Stout adding fermentables?

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fightingfreuds

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Brewed a dark and roasty stout on sunday that's fermenting strongly. Used a lot of chocolate rye and some roasted barley so this will be a black one that I'll let sit until the winter. I was thinking of kicking up the fermentable sugar a little as abv will probably be low, looking for some opinions.

5 gal

2 Row US 10.5 lb
Chocolate Rye 2 lb
Roasted Barley 11.5 oz
Crystal 80 7.5 oz
Rye 4.8 oz

Kent Goldings 1 oz 60 min
Cascade 1 oz 60 min
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 5 min

Mint extract, vanilla beans, pumpkin pie spice in secondary TBD

OG was 1.55
using WLP002 so brew target estimates 4.6 abv.

Think adding honey/molasses/maple syrup would be acceptable after primary fermentation, prior to adding secondary items? Don't mind waiting on it as long as it's drinkable 5 months from now.
 
what temp did you mash at? i find the calculators vastly underestimate the attenuation of 002.

as far as your additives, the honey won't leave much flavor and molasses can be fairly strong. no experience with maple syrup. personally, id add whichever one you choose during primary.
 
Off topic from your question, but i'm not so sure about the mint extract. Doesn't seem to go with the pumpkin pie spices.
 
Skip the honey and the maple syrup -- you'll never taste them in your stout. Molasses on the other hand is great in a big stout, holiday or otherwise. I recommend 0.75 lb in your recipe. I'd skip the mint as previously indicated. Pumpkin pie spices and molasses will put your beer in the holiday mood.

Edit: go with regular molasses. The blackstrap stuff will be overpowering at this beer's gravity. Add the molasses (simmered for a minute in a bit of water to thin it out) in the primary as fermentation just starts to slow down.
 
Mashed at 152.

And yea I'll take your advice and skip the mint that might just end up being a distraction rather than contributor, first attempt at a spiced beer so simple does sound better.

Molasses it is then, 3/4 of a lb sounds pretty reasonable, looks like it'll take me just past the 5% which is more reasonable.

Thanks all
 
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