Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Nothing Fancy Chocolate Milk Stout

Homercidal said:

I'd read a few recipes for chocolate stout. Recipes vary, but I did an 8 ounce can of cocoa late in the boil and then dry hopped on cocoa nibs.

I imagine people go from subtle chocolate to Hershey stout and everything in between.

I also added some lactose to up the sweetness just a bit for the wife. I bet the kit you bought has some of that in it.

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I got my kit from UPS today, will post all ingredients in the morning. I didn't wanna create a new thread about it, I just wanted to post what it came with and get your response, among others on exactly what I should add before brew day.....the 8 ounce of cocoa does sound like a winner, Is this dry or a store bought hershey's syrup thing....?

More people use cocoa powder.

Did it, samples great can't wait.

Awesome

So, it looks like all I'll need to do is pick up some cocoa powder? How much of the powder should be added to the end of the boil? Here's the ingredients:

Fermentables:

3.3 lb Special Dark LME
3.3 lb Light LME
.5 lb Lactose
.5 lb Maltodextrin

Grains:

8 oz caramel 120L
4 oz roasted barley
4 oz dark chocolate

Hops

.5 oz millennium bittering
.5 oz willamette aroma

I put in the whole 8 oz container. After the boil, there was a good amount of sludge on the bottom of the BK. I had used a copper scrubby on the end of my dip tube to keep the hops and stuff from getting stuck in the siphon hose. It seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping most of the sludge out too.

And I also forgot to put some bottles in the fridge to chill. Again. Maybe this weekend I'll remember and get a chance to report how the recipe worked out.

Oh man. This is what i changed out for my Christmas beer. I stuck with pacman yeast. Got some Brown Sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg from Rosauers. Added 1tsp cinnamon 1/2tsp allspice, 1/4tsp nutmeg. At 5 Min remaining in boil. Brown sugar at 15 min remaining. I'm going to make up a toddy and add either bottling or after primary fermentation. I also swapped special B in place of crystal. Oh I also used 2oz of Fuggles instead of NB going for a woody flavor along with holiday spice. It smelled excellent. Thanks eviljay for D inspiration BadA**

FWIW my wife did get to try that chocolate porter I made and she said she liked it. She even re-mentioned it this weekend. Frankly I'm surprised she liked it because it wasn't as "chocolatey" as I thought it was going to be. I think more roast character would have pushed into that realm, but it's not very bitter, so I think that helps her.

I'll have to see how often she drinks one to see if she is really liking it or just saying that to be nice.

I am going to try a 5 gallon version of this with only a few minor changes. I'll be using 1oz of Columbus at 60 min and using S-04 for the yeast. Also, where do you get cocoa nibs? Is that something you can get at the grocery store?

brew2enjoy said:

I am going to try a 5 gallon version of this with only a few minor changes. I'll be using 1oz of Columbus at 60 min and using S-04 for the yeast. Also, where do you get cocoa nibs? Is that something you can get at the grocery store?

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I ordered some from Amazon. I got 1 lb of organic cocoa nibs for $10.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EKHMXU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

There may be better deals out there, but this looked like the best deal at the time I ordered.

My LHBS has nibs, so that's where I personally get them. I know AHB just started carrying nibs and cocoa beans, that could be worth looking into.

I got mine at natural grocers and they carry at rosouers

Is this for 10 gallons? Just looking at it it would be 1.100 roughly for a 5 gal batch

Yes, the recipe is for a 10G batch.

Figured so. I was on my phone looking around, and tossed it in my program and the numbers were like 1.100 for a 5 gal batch. I want a beer that big, but it would be unbalanced at the 40IBU's it calculated.

Sounds good none the less, just smaller than I'm looking for right now.

This is what I came up with for a 5 gal batch. How does it look? I haven't decided if I'm going to use the nibs or cocoa powder yet.

8 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Brown Malt (65.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60. Hop

Looks good to me!

Although I still stand by extra dark crystal instead of 120.

I wouldn't mind using dark crystal but Brewmasters warehouse doesn't appear to carry it. 120 was the highest they have

brew2enjoy said:

I wouldn't mind using dark crystal but Brewmasters warehouse doesn't appear to carry it. 120 was the highest they have

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What about some special B.
I just racked a gallon of my nothing fancy stout onto some oak chips. The rest will be kegged. I got a white house porter too so I may keg it and let my stout age a bit longer.

advogold said:

What about some special B.
I just racked a gallon of my nothing fancy stout onto some oak chips. The rest will be kegged. I got a white house porter too so I may keg it and let my stout age a bit longer.

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I brewed this beer with special b (lhbs didn't have the dark crystal) and few other minor modifications and it turned out great.

Rdom said:

I brewed this beer with special b (lhbs didn't have the dark crystal) and few other minor modifications and it turned out great.

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How much special B did you use?

brew2enjoy said:

How much special B did you use?

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I did a 2.5gal batch. Here's my recipe:

3lbs 14oz Maris Otter
10oz flaked barley
7oz dingemans special B (LHBS didn't have extra dark crystal)
6oz Briess roasted barley
6oz Muntons chocolate malt
6oz Briess Special Roast (LHBS didn't have brown malt)
Hershey's Cocoa Powder 3oz at 15 min (used lowfat but would use non-fat in the future - it may have interfered with carbonation a little).
Lactose 8oz at 15min
Cacao Nibs 4oz (soaked in Grey Goose vodka for ~3 days) in primary 4 days prior to bottling.
Didn't do secondary.

Used Willamette @ 60min for bittering to ~31 IBU's (I could have probably pushed it up a bit higher).

Mashed at 155 for an hour.
Used Irish Ale yeast.

There was some tanginess to it that I really enjoyed. Don't know if it was due to the yeast or maybe the Special Roast. Chocolate not overwhelming though definitely there. Planning on brewing it again this winter.

sorry if you already addressed this but.. with how much water did you mash and sparge?

and by milk sugar do you mean lactose?

How much special B did you use?[/QUOTE]

I used same amount of special B as crystal it was replacing.

And yes, by milk sugar I mean lactose.

Just ordered all the ingredients online from Northern Brewer.....$85.77. I was like, Damn! This turned out to be an expensive 5 gallon batch!!! Ordered anyway..... Then realized it was for a 10 gal batch. Oops.

Awesome! 10 gallons for you!

WhiteEagle1 said:

Just ordered all the ingredients online from Northern Brewer.....$85.77. I was like, Damn! This turned out to be an expensive 5 gallon batch!!! Ordered anyway..... Then realized it was for a 10 gal batch. Oops.

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You could try upping the hop additions I bet, and make it a HUGE Imperial stout for 5 gallons.

Although... That would be an expensive all grain batch for sure.. I just did one that was 1.100 and cost me less than 40 locally.

I just did a 10g batch of a wee heavy. 45 pounds of grain. I felt so manly walking out of Annapolis Home Brew with a 55# bag of MO.

eviljay said:

I just did a 10g batch of a wee heavy. 45 pounds of grain. I felt so manly walking out of Annapolis Home Brew with a 55# bag of MO.

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Nice! Yeah, I like walking out of the LHBS with a bag with over 20# of grain it in for a 5g batch. Makes me feel like I know what I'm doing when people gawk. Little do they know!

Hahah. Someone asked me on the way out what I was making, I told him "I have no idea"

Haha! I said screw bags. I got a bucket to seal grains airtight and easier to pour into mash. Especially stirring in grains and holding bags with one arm don't want my 20# grains missing the mark

pulled gallon of my nothing fancy so I could bottle it and I have to say I added about a qtr oz of french oak chips and it is hella good wow it's amazing at bottling time. I can't wait to get it in my keg however that will not be oaked. Definitely good regardless!

Running down to the LHBS after work tomorrow to pick up the ingredients for this. Need to make sure I have everything on hand so I can brew during the hurricane

Had to sub the brown malt for Victory, other then that I kept everything about the same. Should be brewing tonight.

Well the brew went good. Only problem (if you want to call it a problem) is that I got 85% efficiency. I average 72% normally. So I ended up with a OG of 1.072! Closer to a double chocolate stout I guess. I added 1/2 lb of cocoa powder to the boil as well. Pitched rehydrated s04 over 24 hours ago and I still have no activity. It is sitting at 60 degrees so that could explain the sluggish start.

Got mine kegged gonna pull a pint soon as I get home from work

Anyone that brewed this recipe with cocoa powder. Did you notice a strange fermentation? This is my first stout and first time using cocoa powder. The beer seems to be slowly fermenting but there it absolutely no krausen! It's the strangest thing I have ever seen.

sorry I just used nibs