Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Andes Mint Chocolate Stout

Hey Andy, if you won't toot your own horn I will. This is a great label.

Toot toot:

modernlifeisANDY said:

Latest label for my mint stout:

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Reno_eNVy said:

Hey Andy, if you won't toot your own horn I will. This is a great label.

Toot toot:

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Thanks man! I didn't have time before Christmas gatherings to actually print my labels and do it the right way, but I did this instead! A full case, tagged and bottled

Sjorge3442 said:

Just an update for everyone. I've brewed this twice now and the first time followed the directions to a T except only 5 oz of chocolate. Second time jumped to 7oz with WL Burton ale yeast. The Burton was way too active for this stout. Way over carbonated and I only used 4oz of dextrose at bottling. Needless to say. Non beer drinkers like this beer and so do seasoned beer snobs. This will probably become my house stout recipe. Next time going to make it a coffee stout with fresh pressed Brazilian coffee.

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I changed it a bit http://hopville.com/recipe/1656987 Im going to brew it again and use 7-8oz of coco this time. maybe more chocolate grains too. but it still went over well it was gone in 2-3 weeks. that a new record for me. probably brew it again in a week

I followed the recipe exactly (4 oz cocoa, 10 bags celestial peppermint tea, WLP 004, etc). The pre-fermentor taste test was great: nice and chocolatey with a great aroma. Fermentation went fine at 69 degrees for a week. Clarified in secondary for a week followed by a mid-30 degree cold crash for a day. Pre-keg taste was kind of flat; chocolate taste was gone as was the lovely peppermint aroma, so I tossed two more tea bags into the keg, force carbed and tasted a few days later. Almost no chocolate or peppermint taste or aroma other than the cocoa bitterness. Any ideas what went wrong? Any thoughts about remedies? (I'm thinking about adding a bit of chocolate extract and another few tea bags to the keg, perhaps even a little peppermint extract.)

mheitt said:

I followed the recipe exactly (4 oz cocoa, 10 bags celestial peppermint tea, WLP 004, etc). The pre-fermentor taste test was great: nice and chocolatey with a great aroma. Fermentation went fine at 69 degrees for a week. Clarified in secondary for a week followed by a mid-30 degree cold crash for a day. Pre-keg taste was kind of flat; chocolate taste was gone as was the lovely peppermint aroma, so I tossed two more tea bags into the keg, force carbed and tasted a few days later. Almost no chocolate or peppermint taste or aroma other than the cocoa bitterness. Any ideas what went wrong? Any thoughts about remedies? (I'm thinking about adding a bit of chocolate extract and another few tea bags to the keg, perhaps even a little peppermint extract.)

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I've found that for me, if I let the beer settle in the keg for a week or two, the flavors mesh a lot more than they do initially. It IS subtle, though.

modernlifeisANDY said:

I've found that for me, if I let the beer settle in the keg for a week or two, the flavors mesh a lot more than they do initially. It IS subtle, though.

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Same here... I was just surprised by how much flavor and aroma I lost during fermentation and clarification (secondary). I'm hoping it'll improve in a couple weeks... my club is meeting on 1/15 and I want to serve this proudly.

I made a label, but went with "Peppermint Pattie" instead of "Andes Mint" because Peppermint Patties are my favorite food.

This may seem like a stupid question, but when you measure 4oz cocoa powder, is that a volume of 4oz or a weight of 4oz?

I go by weight.

Lumpyyyyy said:

This may seem like a stupid question, but when you measure 4oz cocoa powder, is that a volume of 4oz or a weight of 4oz?

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I'm probably not the best guy to ask given my previous post (see above), but I weighed out 4 oz.

I'm thinking about adding some chocolate extract and peppermint schnapps to the keg. Anyone have any idea about how much to add? I already did 4 oz cocoa powder and 10 tea bags in the kettle and 2 bags in the keg and the flavor and aroma are barely noticable.

just placed an order to brew this again. last time i used 8oz of cocoa and am excited to try with 4oz. i also have a bunch of loose leaf peppermint tea, so will throw about 6TBS of that in during the boil and see how it turns out.

Sounds great! I really think the 4 oz. of cocoa powder is a better bet than the original 8 oz. Much more subtle and still chocolaty.

I've got my cocoa powder, I've got my ten tea bags. This sucker's getting made tomorrow! I'll update post-brew. I'm very minorly concerned about a stuck sparge as I have no rice hulls. We'll see!Kyle

Well, after a mediocre brewday it's in the bucket and yeast is pitched. The hydro sample tastes great. Mint comes in at the back end but is still there. The beer is a melted-chocolate color at the moment, though I expect it to darken as it settles.

I had monsterous trouble achieving and maintaining a boil today. It is 26F here and that may have something to do with it, but my BG14 on NG should still handle the burden. I still ended up at 5.3 gallons, which was my target boiling from 6.3. Are there any nasty mythical creatures in the Andes? I'm thinking this beer may get that name. Kyle

Conan said:

Well, after a mediocre brewday it's in the bucket and yeast is pitched. The hydro sample tastes great. Mint comes in at the back end but is still there. The beer is a melted-chocolate color at the moment, though I expect it to darken as it settles.

I had monsterous trouble achieving and maintaining a boil today. It is 26F here and that may have something to do with it, but my BG14 on NG should still handle the burden. I still ended up at 5.3 gallons, which was my target boiling from 6.3. Are there any nasty mythical creatures in the Andes? I'm thinking this beer may get that name. Kyle

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It's a stretch, but in the Inca's (who populated the Andes) religion, Viracocha was the creator (one of many deity gods).......cocoa / Viracocha....

Told ya it was a stretch..

They call me Stretch. Stretch Armstrong!


Thanks for that, though! I think it's something I could work in to a name very wittily. Kyle

I got the ingredients for this recipe and will he brewing tomorrow. I have 3 one gallon fermenters and thinking of 3 different styles before bottling. In one gallon Im thinking of adding lactose. This is my 2nd time brewing and not sure when and how much to add. Im guessing at priming and maybe 1/3 pound?
The other two gallons will have different amounts of mint extract. Will post if all goes well.

Looks awesome! Looks like Andy's recipe has stood the test of time here. Does anyone that's made this use BeerSmith, and have a .bsm file for this?

i got this brewed for the second time. Used S-04, 6 tbsp of loose leaf mint tea (mix of spearmint and peppermint), and 4 oz of cocoa powder. My efficiency was a bit better than normal so have an OG of 1.066

I did a post-fermentation hydro test today and it came in at 1.012. That's much lower than I anticipated (was shooting for 1.015), and BeerSmith had an FG of 1.017. Oh well, it's an even 6% ABV.

Now, on to the tasting. It's....bold. Aroma is very minty with a hint of chocolate, and in fact smells exactly like a fresh Andes Mint. Flavor is not that great yet. The cocoa powder is very evident, and dominates the profile. Mint is present as well at the end of the tasting experience. My wife, who doesn't like stouts, said she didn't like that it the aroma is so sweet and balanced but the flavor is sharp and bitter. I agree, though in my experience the cocoa-bitter will subside. It's cold-crashing now and will be for a couple days, then I'll keg and update again.

While this preliminary review may sound a disappointed or negative it is in no way meant to be. I brewed this 8 days ago and cocoa powder takes time to mellow. I don't expect glory for at least another week. If you're thinking about brewing this recipe I still recommend it, if nothing else than for the potential mine currently shows. Enjoy! Kyle

Conan said:

I did a post-fermentation hydro test today and it came in at 1.012. That's much lower than I anticipated (was shooting for 1.015), and BeerSmith had an FG of 1.017. Oh well, it's an even 6% ABV.

Now, on to the tasting. It's....bold. Aroma is very minty with a hint of chocolate, and in fact smells exactly like a fresh Andes Mint. Flavor is not that great yet. The cocoa powder is very evident, and dominates the profile. Mint is present as well at the end of the tasting experience. My wife, who doesn't like stouts, said she didn't like that it the aroma is so sweet and balanced but the flavor is sharp and bitter. I agree, though in my experience the cocoa-bitter will subside. It's cold-crashing now and will be for a couple days, then I'll keg and update again.

While this preliminary review may sound a disappointed or negative it is in no way meant to be. I brewed this 8 days ago and cocoa powder takes time to mellow. I don't expect glory for at least another week. If you're thinking about brewing this recipe I still recommend it, if nothing else than for the potential mine currently shows. Enjoy! Kyle

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Thanks for all the feedback, Kyle. You are absolutely right about the cocoa powder. It is a very strong flavor that does subside with time. Did you use the full 8 oz. from the original recipe or 4 oz.?

I went with 4oz. of cocoa and 10 teabags. I cooled a portion of the hydro sample and that alone mellowed the entire palette. Kyle

Bottled with DME about 2 weeks ago, still not carbonated. The wait is killing me.

I brewed this the other day and eyeballed about 4oz of the hersheys unsweetened chocolate. I didn't continue reading about using the mint tea bags in the boil so do you think adding a mint tea mixture at bottling time would be better than the mint extract? I've used extract before (vanilla) and it turned out quite harsh. Regardless, I planned on splitting the batch at bottling for 1/2 without mint and 1/2 with.

benchwrmr22 said:

I brewed this the other day and eyeballed about 4oz of the hersheys unsweetened chocolate. I didn't continue reading about using the mint tea bags in the boil so do you think adding a mint tea mixture at bottling time would be better than the mint extract? I've used extract before (vanilla) and it turned out quite harsh. Regardless, I planned on splitting the batch at bottling for 1/2 without mint and 1/2 with.

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The tea is probably the better bet. The extract was a bit too harsh for my liking which is why I switched. I think I should probably edit the front page.

Andy,

Please update the recipe on the first page for your current one. I made this beer based on the original recipe BEFORE reading all of the updates. I know, my mistake, but now i'm worried about what i'm about to bottle. All of the revisions would greatly help.

Thanks.

aiptasia said:

Andy,

Please update the recipe on the first page for your current one. I made this beer based on the original recipe BEFORE reading all of the updates. I know, my mistake, but now i'm worried about what i'm about to bottle. All of the revisions would greatly help.

Thanks.

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I updated the recipe on the first page. Don't worry about the beer you brewed - in its initial incarnation, the beer was still great, which is why I bothered posting it. The other changes have been refinements over time, but you won't make bad beer. Give it maybe an extra week of conditioning to let the cocoa mellow out a bit. You can also try brewing a peppermint tea to add at bottling instead of the extract.

Thanks! I'll do a mint tea mixture when I boil up the water for the priming sugar. I may scale the bags back to about 6 since it'll have less time to bulk age. Now I have to decide if I'm racking into secondary onto a cocoa nibs solution . Decisions decisions...

modernlifeisANDY said:

I updated the recipe on the first page. Don't worry about the beer you brewed - in its initial incarnation, the beer was still great, which is why I bothered posting it. The other changes have been refinements over time, but you won't make bad beer. Give it maybe an extra week of conditioning to let the cocoa mellow out a bit. You can also try brewing a peppermint tea to add at bottling instead of the extract.

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I decided to do the extract because it's all I had and didn't want to spend any more on mint tea bags. I scaled your recipe to a 1 gallon batch because I typically don't enjoy stouts as much as other styles, but this recipe might change my mind.

I must say, I have a tasting cup of the young beer here with me right now while i'm typing this. The original recipe is quite good, so no harm/no foul there. I decided to do a specialty grain tea by muslin bagging all of the roasted grains and soaking them in 3 quarts of distilled water for 48 hours instead of the traditional method of a hot steep. It worked very well for extracting the color and sweet roasty flavor from the specialty grains while limiting the astringency problem. I figured, the cocoa powder is going to provide a lot of bitterness so why compound it with the roasted malts.

The result is, I have a really really smooth tasting chocolate roasty stout with coffee, mint and i'd swear coconut flavor coming across on my palate. The peppermint extract blends perfectly, doesn't dominate and enhances the aroma.

This is a good fecking beer mang. Thanks for the recipe!

i brewed this with s-04 and my gravity right now is at 1.022. its a bit cold at 62 degrees, so i hooked up a brew belt to it to see if it would attenuate a little more. kind of wishing i wouldnt have used s-04 now

Wow good luck! The WLP004 has been pretty resilient for me. I had the carboy outside in my temp controlled chest freezer and when the ambient temp dropped to about 50 degrees here in FL, the carboy dropped to about 57 . I brought it inside and the gravity read 1.020. The next day the yeasties were back to work as I could see them moving around.

And of course the sample was absolutely delicious!

WLP004 and S-04 are separate critters entirely (for the record, I LOVE WLP004, and will not use S-04 for love nor money.....)

501irishred said:

WLP004 and S-04 are separate critters entirely (for the record, I LOVE WLP004, and will not use S-04 for love nor money.....)

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This. S-04 will give you a very different beer.

Going on 5 weeks of bottle carbonation and still only slight carbonation. It's been around room temp the whole time. Any thoughts?

What was your FG? Did you secondary?

FG was around 1.018 and I didn't secondary, 2 weeks primary, straight to bottle carbonation.

That doesn't make any sense to me. How well was your priming sugar mixed? Is there a chance you didn't get enough in the bottles?

Trying to decide if I want to brew this now since it won't be ready until mid-April but this may be nice on a cold spring night.

It sounds amazingly delicious though - might just do it for practice anyway.

Stigy said:

Trying to decide if I want to brew this now since it won't be ready until mid-April but this may be nice on a cold spring night.

It sounds amazingly delicious though - might just do it for practice anyway.

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For me it has always been more of a winter beer, but if you just eliminate the mint you would still have a very tasty chocolate stout.

modernlifeisANDY said:

For me it has always been more of a winter beer, but if you just eliminate the mint you would still have a very tasty chocolate stout.

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This is true - I could definitely do that as well. I have my grain bill - might leave out the mint, never thought of that.

One quick question for you since you have responded here. I was talking to a homebrewer friend and they saw the recipe and recommended I added lactose to the beer to balance out the bitterness of the unsweetened cocoa powder. Did you add this and if not, was there a reason behind it?

I am still relatively new to the All Grain process of brewing so adding these extra ingredients is new to me.

Thanks in advance.

I did not. I actually enjoy the cocoa bitterness, but that is certainly something you could do. Maybe someone else here has made that modification to this beer?