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debtman7 · 11-06-2006, 01:46 PM

Well I kegged my chocolate stout and I'm not certain on it. It still taste's funny, after 1 week in primary and 3 weeks in secondary. I'm going to let it sit to see if it gets any better but I don't know. The 8 oz of cocoa added a nice chocolatey touch but it isn't overhwelminigly chocolate. Similar to the chocolate taste of rogue's chocolate stout.

Only problem is, it tastes a bit off. Hard to describe, but it is kind of tangy, almost acidic. Not sour, more like a sweet tang, I dunno.... I'm not sure if it's the alkalinity of the cocoa powder or what. I measured the PH and it came in at a little over 6, so it is slightly acidic, but I have yet to find out what the normal ph for a beer should be...

Trappist Artist · 11-06-2006, 08:24 PM

I'm not sure of the exact pH of beer but I do know that it is slightly acidic (the carbonation will certainly lower the pH). So, ph of 6 doesn't sound that bad...

SkaBoneBenny · 12-03-2006, 02:49 PM

I'm thinking of having a big St. Patty's day paty this year with friends and such. I'd like to brew a batch of chocolate stout for just this occassion. After reading this thread it seems that there is a great deal of debate over chocolate stout recipes. Does anyone know which of the listed recipes has come out closest to tasting like Young's Double Chocolate Stout?

I want a Chocolate stout very closely resembling Young's but with maybe more chocolate and a little vanilla. Wow this is a hodgepodge of a post. I guess my big question is how did your chocolate stouts turn out? Chocolately enough? Too bitter? Hopefully they were all great!
-Ben

Flyin' Lion · 01-11-2007, 02:24 AM

So MriswitH, How did this turn out? I've got a Chocolate Stout in primary right now (recipe is from the 150 clones book) I was really tempted to try this recipe but didn't bring it with me when I went to the LHBS so I went with the clone.

Really curious to see how this one turned out.

MriswitH · 01-11-2007, 01:17 PM

Hey bud! I brewed this on New Years Eve with my sister, her boyfriend and my girlfriend and its actually in the secondary right now. I modified the recipe a little bit, it is as follows:

1lb Chocolate Malt
1lb Crystal 60
1/2lb Roasted Barley
1lb Oats

5lb Muntons Light DME

1oz Kent Goldings 60min
1oz Northern Brewer 30min

10oz Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder
8oz Lactose

Nottingham's Ale Yeast

Secondary:
Cannot find cocoa nibs, so i'm going to go with a chocolate essence from LHB.

OG was a dissapointing 1.050 and FG so far was 1.019-1.020, making it about 4%; was in the primary for 8 days. The taste test going into the secondary was actually very good. Strong chocolate/cocoa flavor, almost reminded me of cocoa-puffs more than a chocolate bar flavor, ala Young's; still good though. The color is more of a really dark brown too, instead of a typical stout black.

A couple of problems I ran into (resulting in low OG, etc.) was the fact that my scale was fubar'd, so I probably ended up with something like 4lbs of DME. On top of that, its obviously a ton of grains and the nylon bag that I thought would work was a bit stuffed to the brim. Also, who the hell brews on New Years Eve, if you get my drift, haha. In any event, i'm pretty happy how it turned out so far. You live an you learn and keep good notes. If I repeated, i'd probably due the same recipe, making sure the bag issue was corrected so the grains were looser and also make an even 5lbs of DME. For secondary, i'd probalby do 4-6oz of cocoa nibs as well.

Anywho, i'll keep you updated on how it turns out in the keg. I got another couple of weeks before I can try a glass, but its looking good so far.

mcaustin · 01-12-2007, 02:52 AM

I just racked my Mocha Stout to secondary this evening... and so far, it tastes great! My wife was a fan, and she's not normally a stout fan.

I started with one of the chocolate stout recipes on HBT, then changed a few things (minor changes) and added 28 oz of cold-brewed coffee.

Here's what I brewed, and am calling my Mocha Stout:

6 lbs dark DME

Steeped 45 minutes:
1 lb 60L Crystal
1 lb Pale Malt
0.5 lb Roasted Barley
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt
0.25 lb Oatmeal

1 oz Norther Brewer (60 min)
0.5 oz Tettnang (60 min) - left over from a previous batch
1 oz Fuggles (20 min)

1 tsp Irish moss
8 oz Lactose (put in boil with 15 min left)
0.75 cup dark cocoa (put in to boil with 5 min left)

London ESB Ale (Wyeast 1968)

Edited to add: added 28 oz cold-brew coffee to secondary!!

Anyway, can't wait for this one to be ready to keg and then drink later!

Austin

Hippiefreak · 02-16-2007, 04:04 AM

funny how every time I google a clone recipe for a beer me and SWMBO like, I run across this site.....glad to be a member!

Can any of you who've cracked one open fill me in on how your batches turned out?

SWMBO is not a big beer fan, although she likes mixing my stouts with Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream

I'd like to make something for her to enjoy with her car bombs!!!

Lookin for something to try out with my new mash/lauter tun for my first AG batch.....any suggestions welcomed.

peace, love and spare beer,

chris aka Hippiefreak
http://db.etree.org - anyone lookin for some brewing music check this out - I've got lots to share

MriswitH · 02-16-2007, 12:49 PM

We've been drinking off the keg and i'm decently satisfied with how this beer turned out. It is very malty as a result of the large quantity of malts that I used and almost a little too sweet for my liking. It is a very, very smooth beer though and it goes down very easily.

If I were to make it again, I would cut back on the amount of lactose I used and possibly use 1/2lb of Crystal instead of a full pound. The chocolate flavor is quite evident, but I would also suggest throwing cocoa nibs in secondary to get a more pronounced and distinct (See: Youngs Double Chocolate Stout) flavor out of it. It tastes more like cocoa puffs then it does a chocolate bar.

**BierMuncher** · 02-16-2007, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hippiefreak

Lookin for something to try out with my new mash/lauter tun for my first AG batch.....any suggestions welcomed.
http://db.etree.org - anyone lookin for some brewing music check this out - I've got lots to share

This turned out very nice and "SWMBO" friendly. I replaced Chocolate Malt instead of Roasted Barley to get a sort of hybrid less bitter stout. The addition of Quick Oats gave a nice creamy texture and the head has a nice thickness to it.

I sampled this at the Superbowl party and all agreed, this needs to be brought to the St. Patty's day parade party.

8.82 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.43 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
0.43 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
0.43 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.42 lb Quick Oats (3 Cups) (1.0 SRM)
0.27 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (60 min)
0.13 oz Fuggles [4.50%] (15 min)
8.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule:
Total Grain Weight: 10.53 lb

Dough in at 169 degrees for a 155 mash at 75 minutes.

Batch sparge at 170 degrees. Bring preboil volume to 6.25 gallons and boil to a 5.25 gallon batch.

Rhoobarb · 02-16-2007, 07:56 PM

I've done a chocolate imperial stout twice now and while they have turned out very, very good, I have yet to get the pronounced chocolate flavor of a Young's DCS. Here is the last one I did. I'd like to try the chocolate nibs idea (if I can just get my hands on some!). Sam Adams used them in their chococlate bock.

I was recently given some advice on using flaked oats from a brew master at one of the best brewpubs in my area. I used it on a recipe that I just sampled last night and it paid off. I'd highly recommend it. I'm going to use it for any recipe calling for flaked oats: Spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in a 325oF oven for ~30 mins. - just until the kitchen begins to smell like an oatmeal cookie. Cool and store until brew day.