Chocolate Cherry Stout

Hopefully an easy question here...I have purchased the ingredients for Hannah's Cherry Stout but would like to make a chocolate cherry stout instead. I was going to switch to 4oz of Stienbart's Cherry Extract in lieu of the Cherry Juice Concentrate and throw in a vanilla bean for additional flavor. Now I know brewing recipes are a complex balance of ingredients but where would I add some Bakers unsweetened chocolate (I'm guessing about 1 pound) in this recipe...I was going to add 2oz of the cherry extract and the vanilla bean in the primary. Then add the remainder of the cherry extract prior to bottling. Should the chocolate be added with the hop addition and is 1 pound too much? Any info would be much appreciated. :->

Jeff

Hannah’s Cherry Stout
Issue 2008
Online Date Wednesday, 31 December 1969



Hannah’s Cherry Stout
5 gallons (19 L)

Ingredients:

* 1.5 lbs. lbs. (0.68 kg) Crisp Maris Otter 2 row malt
* 2 lbs. (0.9 kg) Cargill Special Pale malt
* 1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) English roast barley malt
* 1 lb. (0.45 kg) DMC biscuit malt
* 1 lb. (0.45 kg) Mich Weyermann Light Munich malt
* 1 lb. (0.45 kg) Mich Weyermann Wheat malt
* 1 lb. (0.45 kg) Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
* 0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Caramunich® malt
* 0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Caravienne® malt
* 0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Chocolate malt
* 0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) Black Patent malt
* 0.25 lb. (0.13 kg) Aromatic malt
* 0.13 lb. (0.07 kg) Special B malt
* 1.5 qt. (54 oz.) Michigan Montmorency Cherry Juice Concentrate
* 2 oz. (56 g) Centennial hops
o (10.0% alpha acid) 60 min. boil
* 0.5 oz. (14 g) Fuggles hops
o (4.6% alpha acid) 10 min. finish
* 0.5 oz. (14 g) Goldings hops
o (4.1% alpha acid)10 min. finish
* 1 pkg. White Labs WLP002 English Ale
* 1 tsp Irish Moss


Step by Step:
Cook Oatmeal in 6 cups water. Add cool water to bring to 128 ºF (53 ºC), add 1 lb. (0.45 kg) base malt, hold 15 min. and then heat to 156 ºF (69 ºC). Add remainder of grain and water to the base mash and hold at 156 ºF (69 ºC) for 60 min. until converted. Mash out at 170 ºF (77 ºC) with sparge.

Boil 75 min with Irish moss and hop additions, then add 1 qt. (~1 L) cherry concentrate at strike (SG – 1.110).

Note: Add 0.5 quart (~0.5 L) cherry concentrate in secondary before bottling. Enjoy!

Don't use cherry extract. You'll be very unhappy with the results. Cherry extract tends to smell like cherry but taste like cough syrup. Also, are you going to a LOT of chocolate flavor, or just a noticable hint? This will determine how much cherry you should use.

If you're looking for over the top chocolate flavor, I'd probably go with a full lb. Some people think this is too much, but I think it's perfect to get a good choco flavor. You can add half of it to the boil with about 10 minutes left and the other half in secondary when you add your cherrys.

If you're just looking for a hint of chocolate, I usually use around 6oz. Again, I think half and half always works best.

I also suggest using REAL cherries. I understand they are expensive, but it's worth it. Frozen cherries will also work. You can probably even get away with cherry pie filling if you check the ingredients list carefully. I usually use 1lb of cherries/gallon but that produces a pretty strong cherry flavor. If you want to chocolate to be noticable of the cherry, then use around 3lbs.

Thanks for the advice...this would be my first modification to any recipe...so I can only hope it goes well.

Jeff

Bottled: Double Chocolate Stout, Doppelbock Lager, Dunkel Lager

How'd this turn out? I'd like to try this in the near future.

This sounds like something that might make my wife a little extra frisky! HMMMM!

I made Jamil's Black Forest Stout. Added .50lb cocoa powder at 0m and used 2oz black cherry extract from AHS in the keg. The Cherry aroma is faint but more chocolate comes through. Flavor is all chocolate with some black cherry. Been told its like eating a Queen Anne Cordial Cherry. I plan on making this again with puree or fresh cherries this fall/winter along with another 2oz extract and see how different it tastes. I used fresh cherries in a cherry wheat a few years ago and that still had to be one of the best liked beers I have made.