verboten

Recipes 

431brew

Recipes 

I brewed a 2.5 gallon batch yesterday and used 3 oz. of cocoa. When I racked it to primary, it had a rich chocolate taste...not a bitter one. Should I expect it to become bitter or is this the extent of the chocolate flavor? If this is it, I may dry hop to tone down some of the sweetness/richness. Thoughts or comments?

__________________
Chris/ 431brew
_____________________________________________

Drinking:
1. American Premium Lager (on tap)
2. Porter



Keg Conditioning:
Blonde (AHB)


Fermenter #1:
none

Fermenter #2:
none

ChshreCat

Recipes 

You're getting a LOT more sweetness than you'll end up with after it ferments out. There's tons of sugar there that won't be there in a few weeks.

431brew

Recipes 

Thanks, ChshreCat. This is my first chocolate brew and have never drank one either, so not sure what to expect. I know the sugars will ferment out, but again, I just don't know what to expect in the end.

I drank an 8 oz glass of it as I was putting it in the primary. It was that good even though it was warm, flat, green, and had stuff in suspension!

__________________
Chris/ 431brew
_____________________________________________

Drinking:
1. American Premium Lager (on tap)
2. Porter



Keg Conditioning:
Blonde (AHB)


Fermenter #1:
none

Fermenter #2:
none

bobz32

Recipes 

I have been extract brewing for a few months, and want to try a partial mash. I've decided to use your recipe! I would have a difficult time boiling 3.5-4g of water without keeping a lid on it, so I was hoping to steep in around 3-3.25g of water. Think there would be much of a problem with this, or just a little less efficiency? Also, did you just get your water to the right temp, throw in your grains, then throw the whole pot in your oven?

Also, have you ever thought of throwing in a few cocoa nibs with your vanilla bean in secondary? I love Southern Tier's Choklat, so I sort of want a chocolate overload (plus I love dark chocolate).

ChshreCat

Recipes 

That's pretty much it. Just run the oven for a few minutes first so it gets warm and then turn it off when you put the pot in. It's the residual heat you want that makes the pot cool down much more slowly.

I've thought of using cocoa nibs with other brews, but not with this one. It's already chocolate overload. I doubt you'd notice any difference.

bobz32

Recipes 

Sounds good. I just purchased the ingredients, and hope to make it this Saturday. It will be my first partial mash. The Belgian Strong extract I made last month will be coming out of secondary shortly, just in time to hold this tasty brew. I will let you know how it goes!

Sibem

Recipes 

Sounds like a very interesting recipe. I am a beginner and this will be my second brew. I did a partial mash as my first one, still in the primary...
I want to do this recipe this week-end but I have a few beginner question:

1) We are doing a partial mash, can I do it in 3 Gal of water, continue with my boil and at the end, after the chill, add the water necessary to get to the 5 Gal of the total batch?

2) Do we need to crush the grain before the steep?

Thanks a lot, and I will let you know how everything will go.

Jtd6628

Recipes 

Yes it is fine to top it off at the end of boil i find the only affect that is notable is the IBUs will be less but not to noticeable.
Yes crush the grains.

ChshreCat

Recipes 

Yep. Uncrushed grains will do nothing for you. Partial boil batches are always topped up with water to get your final volume.