Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Double Chocolate Oatmeal Snout

CornyKegs 728
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bobz32 said:
Brewed this recipe today! First time doing a partial mash, think it went pretty well. Ended up with an OG of 1.073 ish. I eyeballed the last pound of LME, so I may have added a little more. I probably didn't have the most consistent mash temp, so if it ends up with less fermentables and a slightly higher FG, I am fine.

Used 8oz of cocoa powder. Couldn't find any non-fat in time, though. Oh well!

Also, I used the Northern Brewer's NeoBritania Wyeast instead. Should be some good stuff, thanks!
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@bobz32 - how did the NeoBritannia work out? I have some washed and wondering how it does in a similar stout. Would be nice to not have to buy yeast for my next batch.
 
second batch is mashing right now, will be using the 9 OZ of chocolate this time, and an extra bean :)
 
I opened my first bottle a couple weeks ago, after just 3 weeks in the bottle. As expected, it tasted very raw still even though it had an impressive head after the pour. The head dissipated quickly and left a flat, syrupy beer with a hot alcohol bite. That seemed to be in line with what everyone here was reporting.

I opened my next one last Friday, just short of 5 weeks in the bottle, and it has really turned the corner. It's dry and bitter, with a mouthful of roasty oatmeal goodness. The carbonation is fizzy for the first few minutes but leaves the last quarter in the glass a bit flat. Hopefully that will clean up in the next week or two, as it hasn't even conditioned for 6 weeks yet.

I can't wait to share this one and get some feedback. It's up there with some of the best stouts on the shelf. Thanks for sharing, chsrecat.
 
With all that alcohol, it's going to be a bit slow to carbonate. The short life of your carbonation is in line with a beer that just hasn't carbed up. Also, make sure you're chilling them for a good 48 hours before opening them to make sure.
 
made this for christmas/new years. came out great. i used 8 oz chocolate and one vanilla bean. this came out well but i would put another vanilla bean next time.
i also bottled four bottles with 1/4 of the left over vanilla bean inside them. opened the first on christmas and it tasted amazing! give it a try
 
I brewed this last friday. Hit OG on the nose at 1.070. A few days after pitching with Windsor and having activity, I noticed airlock activity Stopped. I tested gravity over a few days and was stuck at 1.032. So yesterday I repitched with nottingham thinking it would be a little hartier and kick it off again. Well, I still dont have any movement. Maybe the notingham needs more than a day to start ??? what else could I be missing here? I hope the batch isnt toast. Any advice?
 
Should be alright. Did you try giving it a gentle swirl to rouse the yeast? You might have had a cold snap in the night and caused the yeast to go dormant. Just a gentle swirl for a moment will get some of the yeast up into suspension again. That, or just give it time.
 
ok. Im really surprised that even after re-pitching, I dont have any airlock activity. I've had a beer do this before. I'll take another gravity ready and see if its still stuck.
 
Just give it time. I've had them stall out. Give it a gentle rousing, keep it warm (but not too warm) and it should make it's way down.
 
As of today, I have a few bottles left that we are drinking, a 5 gallon keg carbonating, and a 6 gallon batch fermenting, every batch is a bit different, the latest batch is getting lactose and some chocolate extract to mimic souther tier chokolat....which I think will match it pretty well!!
 
Thanks for the recipe Cheshire. I live in KC Missouri and my girlfriend wanted to get me some of Boulevard's seasonal chocolate ale for my birthday. Crazy thing is they sold out everywhere by noon, even all of the bars were tapped out by 5:30! So I told her that we could make a brew that would put theirs to shame, this was about the time I stumbled onto this thread. I recently got a new supplier in the area, and he doesn't have any extracts, so I pieced together an all-grain recipe based on yours. Just finished brewing it and got it settled into the primary, and it looks amazing, recipe goes as follows:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WL002 English Ale
Yeast Starter: 1 qt amber dme overnight
Batch Size (Gallons): 13
Original Gravity: 1.088

Ingredients
17 lb 2 Row
5 lb Pale Ale
5 lb Flaked Oats
4 lb CaraMunich
2.5 lb Crystal 60L
2 lb Carastan
2 lb Chocolate Malt
2 lb Barley (Roasted)
20 oz Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder (last 10 min)
4 oz Fuggles (60 min)
1 oz Fuggles (last 3 min)
0.5 oz Amarillo (last 3 min)
3/4 lb. Brown Sugar
4-5 Madagascar Vanilla Beans (secondary)

I only added the brown sugar because I got too much water out of the mash, and knew it wouldn't end up as strong as I wanted. Should end up around 7.5% ABV. I also just added the Amarillo because I had it sitting around, and thought it would mix well with the brew and give it a nice aroma. So far tastes like chocolate milk and is about as thick and beautiful as any beer I've made so far. I can't wait until this has fermented out and is ready for the keg. I will give you guys an update as it progresses, but I'm pretty excited about this!
 
ChshreCat, Now that I actually see his recipe is for 13 gallons, he is actually within range of your original recipe (Cocoa powder).
 
naz420 said:
Do they sell vanilla bean at the grocery store?
Click to expand...

Yes, in the aisle with the other common spices. They even come in the same spice jars, with just one bean inside. Check the prices, as there was a big difference between some brands versus others.
 
Just moved my primary to the secondary and added the vanilla beans (split and soaked in vodka for a week). The gravity was 1.011, making it approx a 7.9% AC. A bit stronger than I had planned, may have to let it sit for awhile longer, but it tasted great!

20 oz of cocoa for 13 gallons may a bit on the chocolatey side, but my girlfriend asked that I make it extra chocolatey. I also added an extra vanilla bean to mellow it out more.

Overall from what I can tell so far this is a great all-grain batch, I will post an update once it's kegged and bottled, and has had a few weeks to come together.
 
It's been a while since I read through this thread. Has anyone tried putting this on nitro?
 
This went into the primary last night, 1.080 hydrometer reading. Pitched at around midnight or so, and fermentation is giong quite well 7 hours later. I don't think I've ever seen fermentation kick in this quickly!

The mash was a killer... like trying to strain molassis...
 
adamfargo said:
Thanks for the recipe Cheshire. I live in KC Missouri and my girlfriend wanted to get me some of Boulevard's seasonal chocolate ale for my birthday. Crazy thing is they sold out everywhere by noon, even all of the bars were tapped out by 5:30! So I told her that we could make a brew that would put theirs to shame, this was about the time I stumbled onto this thread. I recently got a new supplier in the area, and he doesn't have any extracts, so I pieced together an all-grain recipe based on yours. Just finished brewing it and got it settled into the primary, and it looks amazing, recipe goes as follows:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WL002 English Ale
Yeast Starter: 1 qt amber dme overnight
Batch Size (Gallons): 13
Original Gravity: 1.088

Ingredients
17 lb 2 Row
5 lb Pale Ale
5 lb Flaked Oats
4 lb CaraMunich
2.5 lb Crystal 60L
2 lb Carastan
2 lb Chocolate Malt
2 lb Barley (Roasted)
20 oz Ghirardelli Cocoa Powder (last 10 min)
4 oz Fuggles (60 min)
1 oz Fuggles (last 3 min)
0.5 oz Amarillo (last 3 min)
3/4 lb. Brown Sugar
4-5 Madagascar Vanilla Beans (secondary)

I only added the brown sugar because I got too much water out of the mash, and knew it wouldn't end up as strong as I wanted. Should end up around 7.5% ABV. I also just added the Amarillo because I had it sitting around, and thought it would mix well with the brew and give it a nice aroma. So far tastes like chocolate milk and is about as thick and beautiful as any beer I've made so far. I can't wait until this has fermented out and is ready for the keg. I will give you guys an update as it progresses, but I'm pretty excited about this!
Click to expand...

---how could I translate this into a 5 gal batch?
 
Brewed this one today, based on the original recipe posted, I did however add in 6oz of Lactose to counter the bitterness of the chocolate.

OG came out to 1.083, some killer efficiency (combined with the lactose) really looking forward to this one. Will post my thoughts after I get it finished.

Initial tasting thoughts were sweet chocolate up front and then bitterness of the hops came through in the after taste, quite good so far.

Edit: Efficiency 89%
 
JMSetzler said:
My next brew is going to be an all-grain chocolate oatmeal stout that is going to be based on your ideas here. The ingredients will look somethign like this:

9 lbs pale 2-row malt
1lb flaked oats (i might toast these.. not sure yet)
3/4 lb crystal 60L
3/4 lb chocolate malt
1/2 lb cara-pils
1/2 lb roasted barley (I may reduce this to 1/4 lb)
1 oz Chinook @ 60 mins
1 oz Glacier @ 5 mins
WLP001 California Ale or S-05 yeast
6 oz cocoa nibs (soaked in small amount of vodka) dumped in secondary
1 or 2 vanilla beans done the same way into the secondary

5.5 gallons into the fermenter

I'm trying to decide what type of body I want for this beer. I'm currently thinking about a medium body and a 154° mash, but I might mash slightly higher but not up to 158°... maybe 155 or 156...

EDIT - 9/15/2009

I did modify this recipe just a little and I will post the update after I have taste tested sometime in December....
Click to expand...

Why soak the nibs in Vodka? Is that to sterilize? How much and for how long?
 
kevinb said:
Why soak the nibs in Vodka? Is that to sterilize? How much and for how long?
Click to expand...

That's how you make extract (check the label of any vanilla extract bottle). The alcohol extracts what you need from the bean. Use enough vodka, or whatever spirit you select, to cover the nibs and let them soak for a couple of days. And yes, the vodka does keep it sterile too.
 
Lots of flavors are alcohol soluable. Vodka brings little more to the party than alcohol so it's a pretty good carrier as long as you don't use too much.
 
Draygon said:
Brewed this one today, based on the original recipe posted, I did however add in 6oz of Lactose to counter the bitterness of the chocolate.

OG came out to 1.083, some killer efficiency (combined with the lactose) really looking forward to this one. Will post my thoughts after I get it finished.

Initial tasting thoughts were sweet chocolate up front and then bitterness of the hops came through in the after taste, quite good so far.

Edit: Efficiency 89%
Click to expand...

How'd this turn out!?
 
Turned out amazing!! Im actually going to enter this into the Gnarly Barley competition here in Colorado in August.

Came out smooth, good mouth feel with really good chocolate tones. Originally thought that the chocolate would be over the top (I used milk chocolate not dark) but it mellowed out considerably. Came out at 7.1%
 
Has anyone used vanilla extract as apposed to a bean? I brewed this earlier this year and it was fantastic. Im going to brew again but wanted to use vanilla extract and add mint leaves. Thoughts?
 
I'd start with a teaspoon or two in secondary, sample it before bottling and adjust a little in the bottling bucket if you need.
 
I notice in the gluten free recipe they roasted the oats. I haven't seen anything here about it, but I'm assuming you do right? What temp how long?

Plan to brew it this weekend as it will be my first partial mash.
 
Do you think adding the cocoa powder to the secondary. Would add a smoother more mellow chocolate flavor?? Brew nubie question
 

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