Advice for cocoa powder

I want to make a chocolate porter and I was wondering if anyone had experience with cocoa powder. I know people have said nibs work better but I have powder on hand so I want to use that. From my quick research it look like people use varying amounts in everything from the mash to bottling. I'm doing a 5 gallon batch and I want to chocolate flavor to be present but not overwhelming. Any suggestions?

I've used powdered in chocolate stouts. Here are my thoughts on Hershey's cocoa powder:

• It's high in fat content, which means it kills head.
• It never completely falls out of solution, so you will have residual powder in every glass. I've let beers cold crash for over four months and it still won't fall out.
• Other than that, it's delicious.

I use about 1.5 ounces in a 5 gallon batch, added at 10 mins left in the boil for sanitation. I also use a half pound of chocolate malt in the recipe to add a roasted chocolate flavor. I've made it twice, and it tastes great but has a lousy, fast dissolving head (I have since named it "Headless") when bottle conditioned. I haven't tried kegging it yet but I will next batch I make.

Cacao nibs can lend that rich chocolate flavor without all the powder and fats spreading throughout the beer. There are some good chocolate stout recipes in the recipes section here and most people use them in a similar way, an ounce or two added to either the primary or in a secondary to age for a week or two (to taste).

I've made a chocolate porter/stout using 8 ounces (1 can) powdered cocoa (Hersheys and a store brand) and never had a problem with head retention. I boil it for about 10 minutes at the end and rack into the fermenter, leaving as much of the thick gunk behind as possible. After the primary I rack onto 8 ounces cacao nibs (for aroma) and secondary for 1-2 weeks.

The beer came out clear and pours a nice head. I also added 1 lb. of lactose to sweeten up just a bit since it's a beer made mostly for girls.

aiptasia said:

I've used powdered in chocolate stouts. Here are my thoughts on Hershey's cocoa powder:

• It's high in fat content, which means it kills head.
• It never completely falls out of solution, so you will have residual powder in every glass. I've let beers cold crash for over four months and it still won't fall out.
• Other than that, it's delicious.

I use about 1.5 ounces in a 5 gallon batch, added at 10 mins left in the boil for sanitation. I also use a half pound of chocolate malt in the recipe to add a roasted chocolate flavor. I've made it twice, and it tastes great but has a lousy, fast dissolving head (I have since named it "Headless") when bottle conditioned. I haven't tried kegging it yet but I will next batch I make.

Cacao nibs can lend that rich chocolate flavor without all the powder and fats spreading throughout the beer. There are some good chocolate stout recipes in the recipes section here and most people use them in a similar way, an ounce or two added to either the primary or in a secondary to age for a week or two (to taste).

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Just an FYI, there was only about 1.4 grams of fat in the amount of cocoa powder you used.
There was almost certainly more fat in the grain you used than in the cocoa powder you used.

I've done the same as homercidal (plus a vanilla bean), absolutely none of the issues aiptasia mentioned, came out great

BOIL IT!

I have a Vanilla Chocolate Porter, the HBS told me to put the powder in secondary (used Ghiradelli dark chocolate powder). It tastes like raw cocoa powder, after 8 mos. My first dumped beer.

Since this experience, I make a tea out of all spices, powders, etc., or add it to the last 10 min. of boil. Lesson learned.

I had to double-check my recipe to be sure, but I use 8 ounces of low fat cocoa powder at the end of the boil in a five gallon batch of my chocolate stout. Head retention is not a problem...


Cheers!

aiptasia said:

I've used powdered in chocolate stouts. Here are my thoughts on Hershey's cocoa powder:


[*]It's high in fat content, which means it kills head.
...

Cacao nibs can lend that rich chocolate flavor without all the powder and fats spreading throughout the beer....

Click to expand...

You've got it exactly backwards -- powder has minimal fats, while cacao nibs are something like 30%-40% fats.

I've never experimented on head retention with different forms of cocoa, but if indeed powder is worse, it's definitely NOT because of fats.

I've had issues with chocolate stouts, they're a bit of a unicorn for me. The two times I've made them they came out tasting metallic. I can't be sure if it's the pH of the mash or my own water chemistry since I didn't measure it. I use high % of dark grains so that could be it as much as the cocoa powder I use.

I've heard the dutch method, which uses caustics, can contribute negative flavors to the beer. Like I said though I don't have enough data to say one way or the other.

I used 4 oz in each portion of my split batch stout during secondary. I thought it came out great, but then again I haven't tried adding it to the boil. I'll have to give that a whirl. The chocolate especially came out in my oaked espresso portion with vanilla beans. delicious.

8 oz canister applied anywhere from 10-5 minutes left in the boil. I've used both 8oz and 16z of Lactos to smooth it out a bit. I make an chocolate espresso stout. People have liked this brew quite a bit.

I made jamil's chocolate hazelnut porter. I used a whole can of hershey's at flame out.

Worked out fine, great beer..It did make a large sticky mess in the boil kettle though.

day_trippr said:

I had to double-check my recipe to be sure, but I use 8 ounces of low fat cocoa powder at the end of the boil in a five gallon batch of my chocolate stout. Head retention is not a problem...

Cheers!

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Off topic, where do i buy those glasses, please say i can order them online.

day_trippr said:

I had to double-check my recipe to be sure, but I use 8 ounces of low fat cocoa powder at the end of the boil in a five gallon batch of my chocolate stout. Head retention is not a problem...

Cheers!

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Looks beautiful!

Thanks everyone, I can't wait

ronjonacron said:

Off topic, where do i buy those glasses, please say i can order them online.

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That is a Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" glass, and they are widely available. I've accumulated 8 of them through visits to the Jamaica Plain brewery but you can get them through the Sam Adams site as well as Amazon...

Cheers!

Perfect pint, awesome! Those are cool looking.

It's my favorite glass. Just feels right. And it's thick enough to survive...

Cheers!

Found a recipe that calls for 16oz powder in boil.... Seems like a lot? 5.5 gal batch

Fades47 said:

Found a recipe that calls for 16oz powder in boil.... Seems like a lot? 5.5 gal batch

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Yeah that's a massive amount. 3 oz powder gives fair (but not strong) chocolate notes / flavor. Maybe the author uses so much because he loses most of it while whirlpooling. That's why I add it to the primary -- thus you know exactly how much made it there.