Chocolate Milk Stout for Christmas?

SWMBO wants to make a beer to give away for Xmas. we came up with milk stout with vanilla, cocoa, bourbon & oak. this is my first milk stout and will be first time using cocoa so please give suggestions if something seems out of line. I want the chocolate to be there but not over-powering and the rest of the additions to be background complements with light roast, big body and not too sweet. i realize its cutting it close, but if I do it this weekend, 6 weeks should be plenty of time

5gal batch
1.066 OG, 30 IBUs

8lbs NW Pale
1lb Flaked Barley
1lb C60
1lb Chocolate
0.5lb Roasted Barley

2oz Fuggles @60
0.5oz Fuggles @15

1lb lactose (@ 5)
6oz cocoa powder (@5)
1 vanilla bean
8oz bourbon
1oz med oak

S-05

mash @154F, ferment @64F

chop vanilla bean & soak in bourbon w/ oak, add to keg.

I would cut the lactose to 8oz (1lb seems a bit much for a 5gal batch).

I would also get my hand on some cocoa nibs, they tend to provide more chocolate flavor than the cocoa powder.

Looks like the bean in the bourbon should be ok. Let us know how it turns out.

Don't cut the lactose. I always use a pound and love the sweet smoothness it adds.

I would definitely use nibs rather than cocoa powder, though. The powder can leave a slight slick/oily mouthfeel.

Otherwise, looks really good!

I used 1 lb and it's definitely sweeter, but IMO it's not too much for a milk stout. I think it would compliment the vanilla and bourbon nicely. I made a chocolate milk stout not long ago and everyone seemed to like it. I made it for my wife and gave it out to people who I knew liked stouts or did not like bitter beers (it was more of a porter). Nobody thought it was too sweet.

Next time I brew it (tonight?), I'll add a bit of vanilla. I'll also try one of the last batch with a capful or two of bourbon and see how it tastes.

I used 8 ounces of cocoa and 8 ounces of nibs.

This sounds pretty good. I'm going to brew something similar soon but adding some Peppermint extract at bottling for a peppermint pattie stout.

im considering trying to add the dark grains at vorlauf or cold steeping them with this. i have really soft water and although i use the EZ & bru'n water spreadsheets to adjust, i haven't loved my last few stouts. anyone have good luck going this route?

Homercidal said:

I used 1 lb and it's definitely sweeter, but IMO it's not too much for a milk stout. I think it would compliment the vanilla and bourbon nicely. I made a chocolate milk stout not long ago and everyone seemed to like it. I made it for my wife and gave it out to people who I knew liked stouts or did not like bitter beers (it was more of a porter). Nobody thought it was too sweet.

Next time I brew it (tonight?), I'll add a bit of vanilla. I'll also try one of the last batch with a capful or two of bourbon and see how it tastes.

I used 8 ounces of cocoa and 8 ounces of nibs.

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oh nice. you mind sharing the recipe? look forward to hearing out how the vanilla/bourbon works out if you end up doing trying it

There are a number of threads on adding the dark grains late in the mash or after. Try doing a google search, I think you'll come up with a lot of good information.

TheZymurgist said:

There are a number of threads on adding the dark grains late in the mash or after. Try doing a google search, I think you'll come up with a lot of good information.

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i did that earlier but much of the results i found were related to CDA's and the like, so wasn't sure if it would kill the roast too much. being a sweet stout its not that much of a problem, but i don't want it completely muted.

Funny I should find this. I just got my hands on 3 five gallon used whiskey barrels. We wanted to a do a milk stout in it. I only do extract and Northern Brewer only has chocolate milk stout kits, which any other time, I'd love. But I was thinking the chocolate might interfere with the whiskey flavor so I was planning on leaving it out and just using it in another batch. But now I'm not sure. I might keep the 4 oz cocoa nibs in there, which is pretty low.

Here are the barrels. Very excited to get a beer in there.

I would stick with the 1lb of lactose as well. I haven't used the nibs but can state that the powder will linger so either rack an extra time or two after cold crashing or maybe give the nibs a go. I think I will try the nibs myself next go round. I only used 4 oz of organic cocoa powder and got a strong chocolate flavor(This experience was from a Chocolate Covered Strawberry Milk Stout Recipe I did last year)

OP, how is your progress? I'm interested in brewing a Bourbon Milk Stout in the next few weeks. Did you end up going with the recipe that you posted?

mtnagel said:

Funny I should find this. I just got my hands on 3 five gallon used whiskey barrels. We wanted to a do a milk stout in it. I only do extract and Northern Brewer only has chocolate milk stout kits, which any other time, I'd love. But I was thinking the chocolate might interfere with the whiskey flavor so I was planning on leaving it out and just using it in another batch. But now I'm not sure. I might keep the 4 oz cocoa nibs in there, which is pretty low.

Here are the barrels. Very excited to get a beer in there.

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Morebeer has a sweet stout extract kit that would work nicely for you.

hodge said:

OP, how is your progress? I'm interested in brewing a Bourbon Milk Stout in the next few weeks. Did you end up going with the recipe that you posted?

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It's coming along really well actually. SWMBO is a big fan so thats always a win. The chocolate is up front but doesnt take over the beer, so about where i wanted. it kinda gets a nice mocha-like taste from the light roast. the vanilla, oak & bourbon give some light background subtleties to it, but they are a touch more subdued than i'd like them to be. I'm not sure someone else would know there was bourbon/oak in it, but it gives a lil complexity. I added the vanilla/oak/bourbon mix when I kegged it about 3 weeks ago tho so I'm hoping some of the flavor will develop more, otherwise I may add a lil more. i'll be sharing some with family tn & tmr so i'll get some more opinions on it

The only changes I made were splitting the 1lb chocolate 50/50 with pale chocolate and adding 0.5lb of brown sugar. I also soaked the dark grains overnight in cold water & added at vorlauf, but I then got a stuck sparge so that was probably moot. Final #s were 1.072 OG, 1.024 FG. I would like it a lil drier, but its actually not that sweet where it is and gives a nice full body.