Chocolate Stout - What kind of chocolate?

thedailyaustin · 02-24-2009, 02:15 AM

I'm making a chocolate stout for my wife, here is my recipe:

9# 2-row
3# chocolate malt
0.5# CaraPils
0.5# Crystal 120L
1# Lactose
0.5oz Warrior Hops at 16% AA
White Labs WLP004 - Irish Ale Yeast

I plan on adding some chocolate, maybe baker's chocolate or semi-sweet and I need some opinions. I've read some people put the chocolate in the boil, some put it in at flame out, and some throw it in the secondary. Anyone have any advice on what type of chocolate to use and when to use it? Also I bought 1oz of warrior hops at 16% AA and that seems really really high to me for a stout so I knocked it down to 0.5oz, but maybe its needed to balance out. Anyone got any opinions on that?

**Edcculus** · 02-24-2009, 02:26 AM

Cocoa powder.

Add around 8 oz of cocoa powder and any other spices to a small amount of water. Bring the mixture to around 180*F. Exact temp is not important. You are just trying to kill bacteria/wild yeast while not bringing the mixture to a full boil. Whisk to incorporate the cocoa powder in the water. You could also add in the lactose here. Just compensate with more water and a slightly bigger pot. Add this mixture at flameout, to the cooled wort or in the secondary.

For more chocolate info, read
What you need to know about chocolate for brewing
and
The Chocolate Emulsion: My Crazy Theory

tmoney1224 · 02-24-2009, 02:42 AM

That looks like a lot of Chocolate Malt to me. I'm not sure what kind of flavors that much would give you. I think the most I have used in a 5 Gallon chocolate stout recipe was 1#

+1 on cocoa powder, I have also just added the powder straight to the end of the boil

oms1981 · 02-24-2009, 02:55 AM

I agree use 8oz cocoa powder. I used Hershey's in my chocolate espresso stout. I wanted to use something better, but that was all they had at the store I went to and I was in one of those "I'm gonna brew right now, dammit" kinda moods. Didn't wanna chase around. I actually just finished bottling it about 15 min ago and it smells like it may just be the greatest thing I have ever created. So the hershey's chocolate vs more expensive chocolate might not make a huge difference.

**jonp9576** · 02-24-2009, 02:57 AM

i used bakers chocolate. i think its pretty good

thedailyaustin · 02-24-2009, 03:12 AM

sweet, thanks for the input guys.

oms1981 · 02-24-2009, 03:17 AM

fyi, not sure if you know this, but cocoa powder does not dissolve. emulsify it carefully in boiling water before you add it to your wort, so it's like adding a chocolate sauce. If you put the powder straight in the wort you will end up with a lumpy mess. You will also have a ton of chocolate in your primary. I waited until I was satisfied that it had all settled before I racked to secondary. It took awhile for it to come out of suspension.

thedailyaustin · 02-24-2009, 03:22 AM

After looking up "emulsify" this seems like its gonna be a bit more involved than I originally thought. Also seeing as this is my first AG batch its gonna be fun! Do chocolate stouts benefit from sitting in the secondary for a long time or will my usual 3 weeks to a month work fine?

Also anyone have an opinion on the hops? The recipe I based this off of used 1oz of Warrior but that is 1oz of 16% AA. Is that too much or is that needed to balance out the sweetness?

oms1981 · 02-24-2009, 04:04 AM

I had mine in secondary for about 5 months, but that was just mostly due to laziness on my behalf. I just couldn't motivate myself to bottle it. I did taste it after about a month and it was a little harsh tasting yet so I figured I'd let it sit. Mine was an imperial stout though and high grav beers generally go longer.

TravelBastard · 02-24-2009, 05:48 AM

This may be arguing semantics but is cocoa powder and hot chocolate mix the same thing? I was thinking about trying this in a porter with Godiva hot chocolate mix