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**mrgstiffler** · 05-13-2009, 02:41 AM

There have been a few mint chocolate stout recipes posted here and elsewhere, but most of them have been all-grain, or have a few things I didn't like about them. This is my first attempt at creating my own recipe, and it's more like a compilation of a half-dozen other recipes I've found. I think I'll be brewing this next weekend. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Stiffler Mint Chocolate Stout v1.0 - Extract

Recipe Overview
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.015 SG Expected OG: 1.058 SG
Expected FG: 1.016 SG Apparent Attenuation: 71.0 %
Expected ABV: 5.5 % Expected ABW: 4.3 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 31 IBU Expected Color (using Morey): 52.5 SRM
BU:GU ratio: 0.52 Approx Color:
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 70 degF

Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
US Chocolate Malt 8.00 oz 5.7 % 33.1 In Mash/Steeped
US 80L Crystal 8.00 oz 5.7 % 7.3 In Mash/Steeped
US Roasted Barley 8.00 oz 5.7 % 28.4 In Mash/Steeped
US Black Malt 4.00 oz 2.9 % 23.7 In Mash/Steeped
Amber LME 7lb 0oz 80.0 % 4.5 Start Of Boil

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
US Willamette 4.0 % 1.00 oz 4.0 Loose Whole Hops 60 Min
US Willamette 4.0 % 0.50 oz 4.0 Loose Whole Hops 15 Min
US Willamette 4.0 % 0.50 oz 4.0 Loose Whole Hops 5 Min
Unsweetened Cocoa N/A 10oz N/A Powder 15 Min
Mint N/A 2oz N/A Loose Leaf Dry-Hop

Yeast
White Labs WLP013-London Ale

eschatz · 05-13-2009, 02:57 AM

Looks great. I wouldn't leave the mint in the secondary too long. It gets overpowering pretty quick.

**mrgstiffler** · 05-13-2009, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschatz

Looks great. I wouldn't leave the mint in the secondary too long. It gets overpowering pretty quick.

Your sig is what got me thinking about a Mint Chocolate Stout. I want to leave the mint in the secondary until I bottle (~2 weeks depending on how it goes). Would you suggest I use less to keep it in the whole time?

eschatz · 05-13-2009, 03:14 AM

No, I would use the 2 oz and keep tasting it every 3 days or so just so it doesn't get too overpowering. Over the course of time the mint flavor will lessen (incase you over-mint it). But if you're planning on drinking it this year I wouldn't bank on that. If you're aging it you might want to let it go a little extra. Just keep tasting it so that you can get it perfect. The worst thing about my experiments with it involved over-minting it. If it's underminted it's still a good beer if the base beer is good, which yours seems to be.

Tripod · 05-13-2009, 03:20 AM

This looks like it would be good! Please let us know how it turns out!!

-Tripod

**mrgstiffler** · 05-17-2009, 12:58 AM

Just got the ingredients from the store today. At the recommendation of the shop owner, I changed the Dark LME to Amber LME and the Chinook at 60 Minutes to Willamette. He said that the Dark LME would add too much of a burnt taste. He also said that the Cocoa Powder will add a lot of bitterness, so I should reduce the bittering hops. Chinook had an AA of 13.1 so I went down to all Willamette which is 4.0. Gonna brew this up tomorrow.

chrisrush · 10-08-2009, 09:19 PM

How'd this turn out?

**mrgstiffler** · 10-08-2009, 09:34 PM

Not very good at all. My AC went out during primary fermentation and the temp got up to 90F+ for a day and averaged 80-83F for the rest of the fermentation. The initial flavor is absolutely amazing, but there's a plastic/medicine/bandaid aftertaste that ruins it. I'm almost positive that the high temps are the cause. If I do it again, I'm going to double the chocolate malt and substitute 4lb pale DME and 3lb dark LME for the 7lb amber LME. That should produce a higher gravity stout and a cleaner malt flavor.

chrisrush · 10-08-2009, 11:24 PM

That's too bad. I'm sure the high temps didn't help the flavor.

I'm brewing mine tomorrow (getting the starter ready now) and I'm using the recipe from Radical Brewing, which is as follows:

7 lbs. Pale LME
2 lbs bisquit
.5 lb roast barley
.5 lb black patent

Hops:
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (8.1%)

I have some fresh spearmint and a Lifesaver peppermint candy, plus some unsweetened chocolate bars.

Did you put some spearmint in the secondary or at the end of the boil? What about the chocolate?

OLDBREW · 10-10-2009, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisrush

That's too bad. I'm sure the high temps didn't help the flavor.

I'm brewing mine tomorrow (getting the starter ready now) and I'm using the recipe from Radical Brewing, which is as follows:

7 lbs. Pale LME
2 lbs bisquit
.5 lb roast barley
.5 lb black patent

Hops:
1.5 oz Northern Brewer (8.1%)

I have some fresh spearmint and a Lifesaver peppermint candy, plus some unsweetened chocolate bars.

Did you put some spearmint in the secondary or at the end of the boil? What about the chocolate?

take a read on the tips for the use of chocolate/cocoa powder/cacao nibs within this article.
it will help you with using it and vanilla in brewing.

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/formulating-and-brewing-winning-chocolate-porter