It smelled like hops with sort of a chocolate / coffee aroma. It's more to enhance the original kit I think than to actually change the flavour. Would I actually just add bits of actual chocolate to the secondary fermenter if I wanted to enhance the flavour more? And how much?
No they were hops, they were labelled as "chocolate hops" at the brewing supply place I go to. I steeped them in hot but not boiling water, strained it and added it to the remaining batch. It wasn't actual chocolate if that's what you're asking, just a type of hop that gives off a bit of extra...
I started a Cooper's Irish Stout kit. It's a 23 litre batch all told. I boiled a couple cups of ground-up chocolate hops in two litres of water and added that to primary fermenting. Any other tips for how I can bring out the flavour or make the whole thing a bit richer during secondary fermentation?
First batch turned out way better than I expected. It needs another week or so in bottles but it'll do for now.
Anyway, I said I'd post a picture a while back, so here it is. Cheers! :mug:
Well thank you everybody. I figured I was just worrying needlessly, just wanted to have that confirmed. This is my first batch, after all. I'm gonna start brewing again this Wednesday so there will be a whole lot of needless freaking out to come.
I didn't put in any additions, I made it standard from a kit so it's just the wort and dextrose. I would actually say it tastes more sour than bitter if you associate bitter with hops, but in any case it tastes off. It wouldn't be contaminated, would it? I've taken lots of precautions to prevent...
I just put my Canadian Draught in bottles to carbonate. I tasted a bit of it and it tasted fine at first, but has a very bitter, unpleasant aftertaste. I'm wondering if this will go away as it matures in bottles or if something just went wrong during fermentation. Could it have been the...
What kind of beer would he be? A friend and I are going to a Springsteen show at the end of summer and I was going to brew a beer to mark the occasion. The only trouble is I can't decide which one to brew. Thoughts?
My first brew is a draught, it's almost time to bottle but the beer itself still looks a little too dark. I was told it would clear up by this point. Does colour matter much? It doesn't look gross, but it hasn't changed colour since I racked to secondary.
I like the idea of a cranberry wheat. Would you say to just add a couple cans of cranberry to the secondary fermenter and that should add some flavour?
Say I'm doing a secondary of about 23 litres, how much of the ingredient would you put in? Like how much extract or honey or something so that it's not overpowering but still noticeable?