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Jimmyc1219 · 09-23-2011, 12:18 PM

I am brewing a Sweet Milk Stout this weekend and want to add a hint of cherry flavor with some chocolate.

I have never added flavors like this before and want to give it a shot. I am looking for what is the best way to go about this. Is it best to put fresh cherries into the boil during the last 10 min or during fermentation? When should I add chocolate and what type do it add?

Any advice you can lend would be welcome.

day_trippr · 09-23-2011, 12:58 PM

For my honey chocolate stouts, I add 8 ounces of the lowest fat cocoa powder I can find at flame-out. A week or more later I put 8 ounces of cocoa nibs in a sealed container with enough unflavored vodka to cover and let that stew for a couple of days with an occasional shake. When I rack the stout to secondary I dump in the cocoa nib slurry and let that sit for at least a couple of weeks before racking to a keg.

I've never added fruit to a brew (yet!) but if I did my inclination would be to add half at flame-out and the rest after primary fermentation was complete, to try to preserve some of the more volatile aroma components that could be lost to "scrubbing bubbles"...

Cheers!

**normzone** · 09-26-2011, 08:25 PM

Probably too late to be of help to you, but adding in the secondary, or after your primary has settled down will definitely help preserve the fruit characteristics you're looking for.

If you've already added fruit consider kicking in some more at a later stage.

Jimmyc1219 · 09-27-2011, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by normzone

Probably too late to be of help to you, but adding in the secondary, or after your primary has settled down will definitely help preserve the fruit characteristics you're looking for.

If you've already added fruit consider kicking in some more at a later stage.

Whats the best way to sanitize the fruit before you add it to the secondary?

bob3000 · 09-27-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmyc1219

Whats the best way to sanitize the fruit before you add it to the secondary?

You can use campden tablets to kill wild yeast.

Also check out Jamil's can you brew it episode on specialty beer. i think he brews a chocolate and cherry stout.

slogger · 10-01-2011, 01:29 PM

This might not be what you're looking for but I brewed an AHS Coffee Malt Stout and added 3 Vanilla (sliced down the middle and scraped) beans to the secondary for three days. Funny thing is it brought out this amazing cherry and chocolate flavors that weren't there before. I didn't intend for this to happen but it was a welcome suprise!