Questions about Brewing with Chocolate

JMSetzler · 08-18-2009, 03:20 AM

Greetings to everyone...

I have been reading a lot around here lately because I'm getting ready to brew my next batch, which will be a chocolate oatmeal stout. I have a lot of questions about brewing with chocolate, and I haven't really found a lot of definitive answers. I just see what people are doing... It seems that cocoa nibs and cocoa powder seem to be the favorites from what I can see. I see cocoa powder going in near flameout and cocoa nibs (soaked in vodka) going into the secondary in some cases.

Question 1: What kind of chocolates are NOT acceptable to use in the brewing process? I have read a couple places that some of the oils in chocolates can hamper the fermentation process.

Question 2: What are the advantages/disadvantages of adding chocolate at flameout as opposed to going in the secondary fermenter?

Thanks in advance

Scut_Monkey · 08-18-2009, 04:02 AM

I don't have any information for you but a question. What is a cocoa nib and more importantly where do you get them?

JMSetzler · 08-18-2009, 04:26 AM

Cocoa nibs are like crushed cocoa beans, but just crushed.. not powdered... I'm not sure where to get them just yet. My local natural food store didn't have any. I haven't looked for an online source for them yet.

JippZ · 09-13-2009, 11:58 PM

Hello beer lovers and guzzlers. I'm also curious to see a response to these questions. I've got a jar of cacao seeds my friend and I picked, fermented and roasted while in Trinidad. I just need to crack the shells off of them and grind them up. I was going to use them to make some sort of a chocolate stout but would seriously hate to have the chocolate go to waste if it ruins the batch.

I previously made a version of Papazian's Goat Scrotum Ale and used hefty amounts of organic baker's cocoa and it turned out oh so tasty. I didn't notice any significant oil separation and the beer ended up with great head retention. I added the chocolate at the beginning of the boil. I'm not sure how the flavor would have been affected if I had added at a different point in the process.

JMSetzler · 09-14-2009, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JippZ

I previously made a version of Papazian's Goat Scrotum Ale and used hefty amounts of organic baker's cocoa and it turned out oh so tasty. I didn't notice any significant oil separation and the beer ended up with great head retention. I added the chocolate at the beginning of the boil. I'm not sure how the flavor would have been affected if I had added at a different point in the process.

This is good to know... What brand and type of cocoa did you use?

**Nurmey** · 09-14-2009, 03:14 AM

I made the Goat Scrotum beer too and used an 8 ounce can of Hershey's cocoa. I put some in at the end of boil and some in the secondary. It turned out fantastic.

On a side note, my guys wouldn't let me say or tell anyone the name so it was labeled as "The Brew That Shall Not Be Named".

True story.

JippZ · 09-19-2009, 05:52 AM

The cocoa I used was an organic fair trade baking cocoa I picked up from whole foods.