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**passedpawn** · 12-11-2010, 11:04 PM

wowowow. Nice winter brew. Hope I remember this next fall. Thanks for the pic, btw, not enough brewers take the time to do that. It means a lot. A taste would be nice too. I'll PM my address

**modernlifeisANDY** · 12-11-2010, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nootay

just finished brewing this one! some how ended up with 4.5 gallons instead of 5. because of that i ended up with a gravity of 1.068. Hopefully thats not too high. I did not make a starter with this one because of the low gravity i was planning on. this is my first chocolate stout. i tasted the wort and it was pretty darn bitter. is this normal for a chocolate stout? does the bitterness tone down some after its finished fermenting/cooled/carbed? definitely looking forward to the finished product

A lot of that bitterness is probably from the cocoa powder, and it tones down after a bit. Not sure what brought you down to 4.5 gallons but if you ended up using the WLP400 like me you might want to get another vial; I'd worry about that stalling out.

It should tone itself down, just make sure when you take it out of primary and bottle or keg that you siphon from the top or you're going to suck up all of the chocolate sludge.

Keep me posted!

**modernlifeisANDY** · 12-11-2010, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by passedpawn

wowowow. Nice winter brew. Hope I remember this next fall. Thanks for the pic, btw, not enough brewers take the time to do that. It means a lot. A taste would be nice too. I'll PM my address

It's on my re-brew list for next week. I'll keep you informed

**nootay** · 12-11-2010, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by modernlifeisANDY

A lot of that bitterness is probably from the cocoa powder, and it tones down after a bit. Not sure what brought you down to 4.5 gallons but if you ended up using the WLP400 like me you might want to get another vial; I'd worry about that stalling out.

It should tone itself down, just make sure when you take it out of primary and bottle or keg that you siphon from the top or you're going to suck up all of the chocolate sludge.

Keep me posted!

yep i used the same yeast. im kicking myself for not making a starter. i had all the stuff out to do it last night and got lazy and decided i didnt need one. i dont have a brew store anywhere near me, so the quickest i could get the yeast would be 4 days. should i bother with placing an order just for yeast? i do have some notti and a vial kolsh yeast on hand.

rodneypierce · 12-11-2010, 11:41 PM

this look awesome!!! I might have to try this one!!! I love chocolate beers.

**modernlifeisANDY** · 12-12-2010, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nootay

yep i used the same yeast. im kicking myself for not making a starter. i had all the stuff out to do it last night and got lazy and decided i didnt need one. i dont have a brew store anywhere near me, so the quickest i could get the yeast would be 4 days. should i bother with placing an order just for yeast? i do have some notti and a vial kolsh yeast on hand.

You should be okay letting it go. You can always pitch more later if it stalls, plus Notty is neutral enough so you can do that if you need to.

**nootay** · 12-12-2010, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by modernlifeisANDY

You should be okay letting it go. You can always pitch more later if it stalls, plus Notty is neutral enough so you can do that if you need to.

alright good deal. ill let you know how it goes!

**modernlifeisANDY** · 12-19-2010, 04:26 AM

Brewed this again last night. I cut the cocoa powder in half, just to make it a bit more subtle. I also decided to try and bring tha mint forward instead of so focused in aroma, so I threw in ten Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea bags in the last five minutes. She's bubbling away as we speak.

**TonyR** · 12-19-2010, 04:50 AM

I brewed this on Friday evening, using the BIAB method. I cut the recipe in half to make a 2.5Gallon batch. I did better holding @156 than I have in the past, but my efficiency was only about 55% according to BeerSmith. My OG ended up being 1.052. I was worried about the coco powder sticking to my chiller, so I just chilled using an ice bath in my sink.

I used a 1qt S-04 starter that I made on Wednesday. Fermentation started within 3 hours, standard amount of krausen, much co2 coming through airlock, probably the most vigorous fermentation I've seen all year. By this afternoon, not seeing anything coming through the airlock, though it is in a 5Gal better bottle. Leaving it sit for now, I will take a gravity reading in a week and see how it looks.

**nootay** · 12-27-2010, 01:41 AM

i kegged this today. ended up using 1.5 tsp of mint extract. while bleeding out the o2 from the tank, i could definitely smell the mint! did you let this one age on gas any time or drink as soon as it was carbed?