Cocoa vanilla beer! Help me with the recipe plz

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Tilldeath

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So going to be doing a cocoa vanilla beer this thursday and can't find alot of recipes out there for them. Got this recipe from a friend and since I
new I don't know of there's anything missing or anything I need to add/change? I would like to stress however, and I know I might get some crap for it, that I'm looking for a cocoa vanilla beer that dominates with the cocoa and vanilla, only minor hops here and as much as I hesitate to say it, ONE DIMENSIONAL. Here's the recipe....
1.0 lbs. Weyermann Carafa® III
0.5 lbs. American Caramel 120°L
0.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt

6.0 lbs. Dry Extra Light Extract

0.5 oz. Magnum (Whole, 13 %AA) boiled 120 min.

16 oz. of cocoa powder (use Nestles) at 15 minutes left in the boil

2 vanilla beans, halved and scraped, added at 5 minutes left in the boil

Cool and pitch 1 quart starter of White Labs WLP002 English Ale

My thoughts on the recipe are, us 16oz of cocoa enough? Is the vanilla enough? Should I add it in the boil? Should I add another bean or 2 to the secondary and or should I make an extract using vodka or white rum??

Sorry I know it's alot of questions but Id really like to get this perfect, it will be a christmas Present for most of the family.
 
My thoughts are the vanilla (and perhaps the cocoa as well) should be added to the secondary. When in doubt, start with less than you think (perhaps 8oz of cocoa and only 1 vanilla bean) and then taste it after a few days. Add until you get the right flavor profile you're looking for. You'll be very frustrated if you add too much, because you can't take it back out.

One thing to consider is that the sugars in the cocoa will likely ferment out. I don't know what this means for your recipe, just something to consider.
 
Good thoughts, how long does it usually take in the secondary for the vanilla flavor to be fully utalized? Anyway to calculate fermentables in the cocoa powder? I recently had a maple porter that do to the syrup ended about 11% was shooting for 7% so yeah lol
 
I'd definitely add the cocoa late in the boil, but the bean can go in secondary. I used 9oz of cocoa and one bean in my chocolate stout recipe and it's very very chocolate and almost no vanilla, if that gives you a guidepost.
 
A whole pound of carafa III? That sure seems like a lot to me. I've only used it in an alt beer, but I used about 2 ounces. A pound sure seems like a lot. Of course, I have never made a coccoa/vanilla beer, so maybe it'd work. I would just double check that amount with your friend. That combined with .5 pound of chocolate malt just makes me shudder a bit. That sounds like it would taste burnt. 120L is has a good, but kind of raisiny, flavor.
 
Anyone else got any thoughts on the recipe? So I've never used carafIII what kind of flavors am I looking at? Are there any other malts that would work better or should I cut back?
 
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