Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Mint Chocolate Stout

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HomebrewDaddy said:
Hey all, I wanted to brew a chocolare stout, using cold pressed chocolate (no additives). I used the grain bill, hop schedule and opted to use the wyeast Rogue yeast. I brewed according to schedule, held my fermentation temp at 69, then kegged and pitched 2 oz of chocolate and let it sit for a month....minus the every other day keg shaking in an effort to keep the choc in suspension. My results? AWESOME!!! Everyone that has tried this beer has had told me they are really impressed. Thank you for the recipe. Cheers!

So if I read you right, you didn't add the chocolate in the boil but in the keg ? Did you use mint also or stuck only to chocolate ?
 
OK, so i brewed this in late October, and it ended up not being ready at Thanksgiving (too sweet).

I just sampled it last night while trying to figure out which mint method I was going to go with, and this thing is absolutely delicious now. The chocolate def comes through with a nice bitterness. I experimented with cold-brewed mint tea, hot-brewed tea, and vodka infusion.

So far, between the 3, I found that the cold-brewed tea seems to have the most punch and flavor. I'm still trying to decide between floating the tea bags in the keg itself, or just adding a small super-concentrated mint tea.
 
OK, so i brewed this in late October, and it ended up not being ready at Thanksgiving (too sweet).

I just sampled it last night while trying to figure out which mint method I was going to go with, and this thing is absolutely delicious now. The chocolate def comes through with a nice bitterness. I experimented with cold-brewed mint tea, hot-brewed tea, and vodka infusion.

So far, between the 3, I found that the cold-brewed tea seems to have the most punch and flavor. I'm still trying to decide between floating the tea bags in the keg itself, or just adding a small super-concentrated mint tea.

Mine is definitely getting a better fusion of flavors the longer it sits. I used a bag of andy's mint crumbles (dont recommend that to anyone!) which I was not thrilled with after the 1st couple tastings. Mixed 1 cup of boiling water + herseys mint coco powder when going into the secondary. Def improved overall flavor, but I think the actual mint candies just raised the body to much. Even now it tastes pretty dang good, its just so much mouthfeel...
 
OK, so i brewed this in late October, and it ended up not being ready at Thanksgiving (too sweet).

I just sampled it last night while trying to figure out which mint method I was going to go with, and this thing is absolutely delicious now.

So did you find the sweetness disappeared or dropped to an acceptable level?
Did you add any lactose to the original recipe, as I saw others doing? (1lb which seems like heaps?)
 
So did you find the sweetness disappeared or dropped to an acceptable level?
Did you add any lactose to the original recipe, as I saw others doing? (1lb which seems like heaps?)

No lactose at all here. I followed the recipe except for lactose.

I think the mint adds too much and distracts from the choc stout flavor, so I'm probably not going to brew this one again, but it definitely has been interesting.
 
I added 1 lb of lactose in my choc stout and I was worried it would be too sweet, but it's great. The roast bitterness balances it nicely. I've even had a guy at work tell me that he liked the beer, but it was on the edge of being too bitter for him.
 
I'm throwing this out here after skipping from about page 4, but I just experimented with a chocolate stout recipe this past weekend (different recipe - one I came up with on my own) - I used 1.75oz of cocoa nibs from my grocery store for a 2.5 gallon batch. I ran the cocoa nibs through my "bullet" food processor for just a few good pulses - you could put them on a cutting board and chop them up too. I tossed them into the mash after adding the strike water and then stirred well. I had no problems with clogging while draining. The chocolate aroma wasn't as strong as I was hoping (but note how little I'm using compared to this recipe) but I could definitely pick up the chocolate flavor in the finished wort. I'm VERY anxious to taste this beer (I'm adding raisins in the secondary for a "Raisinet" beer).

If it comes out well, I'm thinking of trying a variety of other beers by splitting the wort and adding different adjuncts either in the secondary or what-not, such as cherries, pistacchio extract, or mint.
 
I brewed this about 5 weeks ago, and put it in a keg last night. I see people used multiple ways to impart the chocolate and mint flavors, so I'll throw my methods into the bucket too. Please feel free to criticize any moronic choices I may have made.

For the chocolate, I threw in a can of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder at flameout
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EQ5AHW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20.

I was a bit shy of hitting the target OG, but nothing drastic. What I will say though is that this fermentation was slow, and fizzled out at 1.027. After unsuccessfully trying to kick-start it with bottling sugar and amylase enzyme, I concocted a second yeast starter, and threw it in. I was finally able to get the FG down to 1.020

Instead of transferring to a secondary like I usually do, I straight up kegged it from the primary last night, and put in a small (unmeasured) amount of peppermint extract I picked up in the spices sectoin at the local grocery store. Hopefully it will be carbed by this weekend so I can report back how awful or delicious it is.
 
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By far the best beer I've brewed, so I wanted to share. I made this with one modification: 4oz Hershey cocoa powder (not 8oz). It sat in primary for about 7 days. Then racked to a cask with 3oz of dextrose in 1cup of water (boiled, then cooled) and 0.5oz fresh Chocolate Mint from a friend's garden, soaked in some vodka. Secondary ferm for about 10 days (6 days at 68F, 4 days at 54F), then vented/tapped. The conditioning was a little rushed, but I knew with the 3oz of sugar I would have good head pressure to over carbonate.

Poured from a beer engine, I found it extremely bitter for my taste (undrinkable). Certainly that could be due to the sparkler, lack of carbonation, timelines of a cask/greener beer, etc. etc. so hard to draw a conclusion on that alone. In any case, I added 8oz of Dextrose (would use lactose next time, but didn't have any on hand and the beer will be gone in a few days anyway). Let it sit overnight... WOW...what a difference - awesome. The mint is just barely apparent in the aroma, but you can taste it in the head (a beer engine treat you might say). I am not a huge chocolate guy, so the amount of cocoa is perfect for me. The choc and caramel malts come through nice as well. It's a perfect blend. I will definitely make this again, with some gourmet cocoa, but change nothing else. AMAZING. Thanks. Cheers.

WP_20131028_20_35_48_Pro.jpg
 
I'm a fairly new home brewer. My wife wants me to make a chocolate mint beer. I'm thinking a porter. Does anyone have a recipe a novice can follow?
 
I'm a fairly new home brewer. My wife wants me to make a chocolate mint beer. I'm thinking a porter. Does anyone have a recipe a novice can follow?

I have a 1 gallon all-grain recipe you can follow. Extremely easy test-batch, or you can scale it up to 5 gallons rather easily.
 
Have anyone tried dried mint? Im thinking of adding it both to the end of boil and seccondary. Maybe 1oz each...
 
what were your strike temps? and how much water for mash and strike?

I have attached my brewsheet from my BeerSmith program. I added Chocolate Malt, and tweeked the recipe a little.

The sheet should answer all your questions.

The plain text below. I hope this helps.
==============================================

Recipe: Chocolate Mint Stout (Girl Stout)
Brewer: Mario Martinez
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.37 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 23.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 69.6 %
1 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 8.7 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.7 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.7 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.3 %
0.70 oz Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 15.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] Boil 10.0 Hop 7 5.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 9 0.8 IBUs
8.00 oz Cocoa (Boil 5.0 mins) Flavor 8 -
1.00 oz Mint (Secondary 0.0 mins) Spice 11 -
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 10 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 17.57 qt of water at 166.0 F 156.0 F 45 min
Mash Out Add 5.75 qt of water at 209.0 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.72 gal water at 168.0 F

View attachment GirlStoutBrewSheet.pdf
 
Mint Chocolate Stout


8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.31 %
1 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 8.16 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 8.16 %
12.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 6.12 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.70 oz Cluster [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.8 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
0.25 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (2 min) Hops 0.4 IBU
0.50 oz Mint (Secondary 5.0 min) Misc
8.0 oz Cocoa Powder (3.0 SRM) Sugar 4.08 %
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale


60 Min mash at 152 F

This beer is very balanced and dry. A thick chocolate flavor is rounded by a slight bitterness from the cluster hops. The mint character waits until the finish of the beer when it comes through very cleanly and smoothly. This does not have an overwhelming mint character. This is a very subtle and balanced beer. Enjoy. :mug:


Made it
It is delicious. The only thing missing is a little mouth feel. I would like it a little more creamy. Next time I make it I will be adding 1 lb of flaked wheat, to see if it creams up a little more. Other than that, it was very good.

chocolatmintstout.jpg

Revised Recipe

Recipe: Girly Stout
Brewer: Mario
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 9.79 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.10 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.08 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.63 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 35.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 64.0 %
1 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 8.0 %
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.0 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.0 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 8.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.0 %
1 lbs Flaked Wheat Grain 6.5
0.70 oz Cluster [7.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 15.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 Hop 8 5.8 IBUs
8.00 oz Cocoa Nibs (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 9 -
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 10 0.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 11 -
1.00 oz Mint (Secondary 0.0 mins) Flavor 12 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 18.82 qt of water at 166.2 F 156.0 F 45 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (2.09gal, 5.30gal) of 168.0 F water
 
I'm going to make this...probably a one gallon test batch at first to see if I like it and if I think it needs any tweaks. I'm looking forward to this!
 
Made it
It is delicious. The only thing missing is a little mouth feel. I would like it a little more creamy. Next time I make it I will be adding 1 lb of flaked wheat, to see if it creams up a little more. Other than that, it was very good.

Why not flaked oats? They are supposed to add a lot of body without adding a lot of fermentables.
 
Why not flaked oats? They are supposed to add a lot of body without adding a lot of fermentables.

Newsman, I would rather bolster the alcohol content along with the mouth feel. Just a personal preference I guess.
 
The one oz of mint. Is that fresh mint? Do you grind our crush it up at all? Wondering what prep is needed for it.
 
I have used McCormick's extract 2oz, I have used fresh leaves muddled, and I have used the chopped leaves you get from Northern. The extract the most flavor, while the muddled leaves give the best flavor.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to muddle it. I have everything needed to make a 2 gallon test batch. Still not sure if I will like it or not. It's something different to make though!
 
Well I just mashed in on this. The only thing I changed about the revised recipe is that I'm putting the cacao nibs in at flame out. It already smells amazing! :)
 
Oh and I changed out the hops.
3/4 oz of east Kent golding at 60 and 1/4 oz ekg at 10.
Doesn't seem like much but it is only 2 gallons...
 
Just had my first taste of this...Well the first one that was any good. When it was first kegged the mint flavor was way too much. The chocolate flavor was over powered.
I think I will make a full sized batch next time, however I will raise the cacao nibs and reduce the mint by a bit. Thinking .75oz of mint for 5 gallons. 10oz of cacao nibs for 5 gallons. Keep everything else the same.
 
I just brewed this on the weekend. Everything went really well. Used the full 8 oz of chocolate and it appears very prevalent. Hope it's not too much... Smells great so far. Fermentation took off like crazy now slowing down a bit.
 
I just kegged this, tasted good (as good as warm flat beer can taste). Not much chocolate at all. Not sure if I moved it to a secondary too early (2 weeks). Looking forward to trying this properly in a couple of weeks.
 
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