Gluten Free Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

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Lcasanova

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Location
Park Ridge, IL
Ingredients:
------------

Grains:
1 lb 8 oz Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats, roasted (1 SRM)
12 oz Wild Rice, roasted (350 SRM)
8 oz Millet, roasted (20 SRM)

4 lbs Brown Rice Syrup (60 min)
1 lb 4 oz Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 lb Molasses (60 min)
3 lbs Sorghum Syrup (15 min)

.75 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (60 min)
.25 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (30 min)
.50 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (15 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 min)
9 oz Fat Free Cocoa Powder (10 min)
8 oz Maltodextrin (5 min)

2-3 Vanilla Beans, split, chopped (Secondary, 7 days)

I roasted the oats for 1 hour at 350-F; the wild rice for 1 hour at 400-F, it has a chocolate color to it once roasted- no longer black and shiny; millet starting at 225 with a 25 degree increase every 30 minutes until it was the color I wanted

Carbed with 3.8 oz of corn sugar

**Adapted from CheshreCat's recipe here**

If I were to make this again, which I will in the fall, I will probably cut back to about 6 oz on the cocoa powder and maybe cut the oats back to 1 lb.

The beer took a while to carb and it is finally coming to it's stride. Some of my friends really like it and for some it is wayyy too bitter chocolaty.
 
Here's a pitcure- I think to balance it out I need to cut back on the chocolate and the rice syrup...it finishes pretty dry.

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Nice! :mug:

Don't blame you for backing off on the cocoa. The original was for those of us with serious bitter dark chocolate fetishes. 6oz is just fine for regular sane people.
 
what is "chocolate wild rice"? I couldn't seem to find that anywhere, even at local version of a whole foods. the guys at the homebrew store gave me funny looks when i asked about it too
 
Oh man, my bad! I should have explained about that in the OP. I called it Chocolate Wild Rice because I roasted it at 400-F for an hour and the color was "chocolate". I'll edit that so it makes more sense.

I bought wild rice from whole foods (the all black kind) and used that. Make sure you crack it before you use it and put it in a grain bag while steeping. Any little bits that come out aren't going to hurt or they will get left behind anyways.
 
I want to try this soon, it sounds great. What temp did you ferment at?
 
Here is the recipe with some changes I've made based on the batch last year:

Grains:
2 lb Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats, roasted (1 SRM)
3 lbs Brown Rice Syrup (60 min)
3 lbs Sorghum Syrup (60 min)
1 lb Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 lb Molasses (60 min)
.4 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (60 min)
.25 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (30 min)
.25 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 min)
6 oz Fat Free Cocoa Powder (10 min)
8 oz Maltodextrin (5 min)
S-04 SafAle Yeast

1 lb Dark Candi Sugar (after fermentation has started)
3 Vanilla Beans, split, chopped (Secondary, 7 days)

The grain bill has changed, I don't really feel that I got as much from the rice as I should have, and it was a PITA to do. Hopefully, even though there is no conversion on the oats, I get some of the smoothness from them. I cut back on the BRS and upped the Dark Candi Sugar. I've also backed off on the Chocolate a bit since it seemed wayyy to bitter for my liking. That ought to decrease the perceived acidity a little too. This might still be a little hot and take a while to carb but I think it is heading it the right direction. If anything I might be able to do without adding some sugar during fermentation but I guess I'll find out. Oh- and hopefully this comes out darker than the last batch.
 
Sounds good! My wife & a few friends are celiacs and want a good dark beer. I was thinking of making this with a few adjustments: cutting back the cocoa to 4 oz and leaving out the vanilla, and adding some coffee, maybe 3/4 lb?
Also, I noticed you left out the rice & millet in your re-write. You think I'll be wasting my time by using them?
And how do you add candi sugar to the secondary? Boil it down or just pitch it?

Thanks!

BTW, my second batch was a GF Wit using your "Wicked Messenger" recipe. We're drinking it now and it's a hit!:mug:
 
I can't really say if you'd be wasting your time. I think they add a little more depth to the beer but with all the chocolate it just gets over powered. I haven't really experimented with the grains enough to give you a good answer though.

Glad you like the wit- it is one of my favorites thus far
 
I'm getting to try this recipe on Friday. I just found it. How critical is it to roast the oats and how long do they need to sit before I try and brew with them so I don't pickup any funky tastes/smells?
 
i brewed this one and cut back the cocoa to 5oz, and added 1 cup of espresso ground coffee. it turned out alright, but i needed to roast the grains longer, it turned out to be closer to a chocolate brown than a stout. my celiac friend loved it, but she isnt a much of a beer drinker for obvious reasons.
 
I didn't roast my oats on the last go around if that means anything to you?

Euripaetus- it seems that no matter how long I roast my grains- unless I am going to mash them to get my wort, the color just isn't going to be like a stout.
 
Ok, thanks Lcasanova. I roasted them last night. How long and at what temp did you mash them at?
 
thanks! a good friend of mine has gluten allergies and i can't wait to play with this recipe... sounds great. thanks for sharing it. read your review of it as well, very helpful.
 
I'm brand new to GF brewing, but I made the non-GF version of this beer and liked it, so I made this batch for my girlfriend who is gluten intolerant. Since it was the first batch, I scaled backed to 1 gallon to experiment. I brewed my first batch in late September (I don't have my brew book with me - but it was around 9/28). I forgot the chocolate, so I decided against the vanilla bean as well. I also had to use Lactose because I the home brew mart here didn't have maltodextirne. I racked to secondary after 2 weeks, then to bottles 2 weeks after. I cracked the first one today and it was great!

First tastes were good, but the aftertaste was fairly bitter. There was little to no head on the beer which I was curious about since most of the comments said the chocolate would be what killed the head. I'm going to try this beer again and scale back the hops slightly, actually add the chocolate and perhaps throw some coffee in the mix. But really I want to figure out why there's no head - anything I can do?
 
Just a little update. I let the brew sit for a few more weeks and it mellowed out very nicely. Still has that "gluten free" taste though - which I was hoping the chocolate would help cover (unfortunately I forgot to add the chocolate haha). Over all it was a very good brew.

I'm getting ready to brew this beer again, however I've tweaked your receipe slightly - the ingredient list is pretty much the same (plus or minus), but I'm using 4 gallons to brew the wort and adding 1 gallon of cold pressed coffee to the secondary or before bottling (still figuring that out). My hope is this cuts off the "gluten free" taste and gives more full body.

I noticed that you are adding candi sugar again after the beer is in the fermenter. I didn't do this before (must have missed it) - but do you just drop the crystals in, stir and then pitch the yeast?
 
I can't remember exactly what I did but I've done this two different ways.

-I've just dropped the crystals in
-I've dissolved them in warm water then racked on top...

I couldn't say which is the "correct" way, but just go with your guy, I'd say
 
I wouldn't add dry sugar to a fermenter that's been going for a while. You could have a bunch of dissolved CO2 in it. Think mentos and diet coke.
 
Here is the recipe with some changes I've made based on the batch last year:

Grains:
2 lb Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats, roasted (1 SRM)
3 lbs Brown Rice Syrup (60 min)
3 lbs Sorghum Syrup (60 min)
1 lb Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 lb Molasses (60 min)
.4 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (60 min)
.25 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (30 min)
.25 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 min)
6 oz Fat Free Cocoa Powder (10 min)
8 oz Maltodextrin (5 min)
S-04 SafAle Yeast

1 lb Dark Candi Sugar (after fermentation has started)
3 Vanilla Beans, split, chopped (Secondary, 7 days)

The grain bill has changed, I don't really feel that I got as much from the rice as I should have, and it was a PITA to do. Hopefully, even though there is no conversion on the oats, I get some of the smoothness from them. I cut back on the BRS and upped the Dark Candi Sugar. I've also backed off on the Chocolate a bit since it seemed wayyy to bitter for my liking. That ought to decrease the perceived acidity a little too. This might still be a little hot and take a while to carb but I think it is heading it the right direction. If anything I might be able to do without adding some sugar during fermentation but I guess I'll find out. Oh- and hopefully this comes out darker than the last batch.

Hey man, I wanted to try your recipe it looks awesome. I'm fairly new to this as I've been only doing for about a year, done about 6 batches so far and have enjoyed them (I have celiac). Regarding the fat free cocoa-I bought Hersheys but it doesnt say fat free and has a little fat in it like .5g/tbs I think. it was the lowest fat one I could find at Wegmans, there were no "fat free" ones. would the Hersheys still work? also the BRS I bought there as well its just organic BRS would that be ok? I've only ever used 6.6 lbs of sorghum for my recipes. any input would be much appreciated, this web site is awesome!
 
The fat will cause some level of reduction in head retention, but that's it. Just a little less foam when you pour. I usually get the fat free cocoa at the food co-op. Any hippy type stores like that should have it.
 
The fat will cause some level of reduction in head retention, but that's it. Just a little less foam when you pour. I usually get the fat free cocoa at the food co-op. Any hippy type stores like that should have it.

nice, I'll check a health food store and if not I'll just roll with that. gonna try this weekend, I'll give an update. I like to brew gf beer styles that I cant buy so I dont go nuts with boredom so I hope it turns out.
 
Hi there,

I redid this receipe again and tweaked it some more. I don't have my brew book with me right now but one big difference is I added coffee to the mix (1 gallon of cold brewed coffee). That really helped to clean up the taste in my opinion. It really removes the "GF" taste.

There was a good amount of bitterness which needs to be overcome.

Still needs some tweaks in my take on this receipe but this will be a staple of my GF brewing for sure.
 
This recipe looks great, I'm thinking of giving it a shot. My wife hasn't been able to enjoy a decent beer in years so I'm hoping this turns out good.

Quick question: would vanilla extract work in place of actual beans? How much extract would be suitable for a 5 gal batch? Just curious, as beans are crazy expensive.
 
I've used chocolate and pumpkin extract with success, but they were both extracts that you can't get in stores. I did get my beans from Midwest, and IMO they were pretty cheap. The only problems I seemed to have was that the siphon kept getting stuck!

Figuring out the extract on a 5 gallon batch won't be easy though. You wouldn't need that much and how could you measure it?

Sorry if that's vague
 
I get my beans at the local co-op. Only a buck or two per bean. Probably not the best beans, but they work. Costco is also a good place to get them cheap.
 
Would adding dark brown sugar instead of molasses help with the bitterness?

The 1lb of Dark candi goes in after fermentation has started--so in the primary, correct? how long after fermentation do you add it or does that not matter?
 
I simplified this recipe to a 3-2-1
3.3# sorghum
2# dark sugar
1# Molasses
Fuggle hops
and I dropped 6oz of unsweetened cocoa the last 5 mins of the boil.
I have some Great decaf hazelnut coffee that my wife loves and I am going to cold steep some of that at add it at bottling unless I am told of a better way to get the coffee flavor in. I tok a grav reading at tasted it, and right now it tastes like like chocolate grapefruit. It looks like chocolate milk and smells wonderful.
 
Brewed this up several weeks ago. Did a tasting at two weeks, so far it's fairly undrinkable. Very astringent, probably mostly from the molasses. Going to let it sit for another month and try it again.
 
I've been brewing a few gluten free beers, with the most success from Wicked Messenger Wit (thanks!). Looking at this one and thinking about the sorghum bitterness, since adding more fermentables will just cause more fermentation, even if you get some flavour out of them, I imagine that adding some lactose would smooth that out a bit. Non fermentable and sweet. It would become a milk stout, but what the heck?!

BTW, I wonder about the comments re: losing head retention from oils in cocoa. From my experience, head retention is simply not a feature of GF beers, so would this really matter? I'd love to know from people who have managed to get a decent and somewhat lasting head (or at least some lacing) what they did.
 
good point about head rentention...

Brewed this up several weeks ago. Did a tasting at two weeks, so far it's fairly undrinkable. Very astringent, probably mostly from the molasses. Going to let it sit for another month and try it again.

Before I researched the forums I did an experimental gluten free beer for my wife... It was mostly honey and molasses.. it has gotten "better" with time... but astringent (and bitter as hell) is a good description... I only made a gallon since it was strictly experimental; after a year in the bottle it's almost tolerable... whereas even I could not drink it after only a few months (and I'll drink about anything!)... So don't give up on it, just age it like a fine wine if you have to.
 
I just finished the last of these. really enjoyed it! the Hersheys chocolate worked fine. a little bit of nasty looking fat like stuff on the krausen but I was easily able to rack it without that stuff getting in. I also did a 50/50 split on the sorghum/brs which was the first time I did that and I liked it. Head was awesome, thick creamy head I think from malto dextrin which I use in every beer. I also did the dark candi sugar directly into the boil rather than in the secondary. I just didnt trust that going well. I got a good postive response from a lot of people who arent GF so that was nice. I'll do this again for sure. next up my pale ale!
 
Hell yeah man... Thanks for the info. Looking forward to trying this out when use up all the malt and such I have now.
 
Before I researched the forums I did an experimental gluten free beer for my wife... It was mostly honey and molasses.. it has gotten "better" with time... but astringent (and bitter as hell) is a good description... I only made a gallon since it was strictly experimental; after a year in the bottle it's almost tolerable... whereas even I could not drink it after only a few months (and I'll drink about anything!)... So don't give up on it, just age it like a fine wine if you have to.

You seem to have made a mead more than a beer to me. If that is the case, it would take 1-2 years to become something drinkable in my limited mead making experience...
 
yeah, I think you're right; I have two batches of mead in the works too... I can't remember if it was a 50/50 mix of molasses and honey... could look it up, but it's not really worth it, lol... too much molasses in any case... but I will keep aging it and keep drinking it along the way until the gallon's gone.

I'll stick to topic now!
 
Ingredients:
------------

Grains:
1 lb 8 oz Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats, roasted (1 SRM)
12 oz Wild Rice, roasted (350 SRM)
8 oz Millet, roasted (20 SRM)

4 lbs Brown Rice Syrup (60 min)
1 lb 4 oz Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 lb Molasses (60 min)
3 lbs Sorghum Syrup (15 min)

.75 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (60 min)
.25 oz Chinook, pellet 11.4% (30 min)
.50 oz Fuggles, pellet 4.8% (15 min)

1 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (10 min)
9 oz Fat Free Cocoa Powder (10 min)
8 oz Maltodextrin (5 min)

2-3 Vanilla Beans, split, chopped (Secondary, 7 days)

I roasted the oats for 1 hour at 350-F; the wild rice for 1 hour at 400-F, it has a chocolate color to it once roasted- no longer black and shiny; millet starting at 225 with a 25 degree increase every 30 minutes until it was the color I wanted

Carbed with 3.8 oz of corn sugar

**Adapted from CheshreCat's recipe here**

If I were to make this again, which I will in the fall, I will probably cut back to about 6 oz on the cocoa powder and maybe cut the oats back to 1 lb.

The beer took a while to carb and it is finally coming to it's stride. Some of my friends really like it and for some it is wayyy too bitter chocolaty.
Did you soak the oats before roasting and if so for how long? If you posted that info already, I didn't get that far yet.
 
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