christmas beer question

Thinking of making this for christmas
14 lbs of 2 row
1 lb chocolate malt
1.6 lb flaked oats
12 oz roasted barly
7 oz caramel
1 lb milk sugar
1 oz dried orange (sweet) 15 min
2 oz cocoa nibs 15 min
4 oz dark cocoa powder 15 min
4 oz cocoa nibs secondary
.5 oz nugget 60 min
.5 oz mt hood 30 min
.5 oz mt hood flameout
Not 100% sold on the idea yet
Any thoughts?
Not sure about using 04 yeast and am unsure if more hops are needed (18 IBU's seems low) or if that's too much cocoa or if a chocolate orange stout is really a good beer for the holidays. Feedback is appreciated Thanks

What sized batch? That's a bunch of fermentables for a 5G batch, so I'd shoot for more in the mid 20's to mid 30's in IBUs.

christopherrburns said:

Thinking of making this for christmas
14 lbs of 2 row
1 lb chocolate malt
1.6 lb flaked oats
12 oz roasted barly
7 oz caramel
1 lb milk sugar
1 oz dried orange (sweet) 15 min
2 oz cocoa nibs 15 min
4 oz dark cocoa powder 15 min
4 oz cocoa nibs secondary
.5 oz nugget 60 min
.5 oz mt hood 30 min
.5 oz mt hood flameout
Not 100% sold on the idea yet
Any thoughts?
Not sure about using 04 yeast and am unsure if more hops are needed (18 IBU's seems low) or if that's too much cocoa or if a chocolate orange stout is really a good beer for the holidays. Feedback is appreciated Thanks

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I agree with JayB, there are a lot of un-fermentable items in that list like the caramel, 1lb of chocolate and 1lb of lactose. In addition, you have a lot of chocolate going on between the malt, powder and the nibs. I too agree that IBU's in the high 20's-low 30's would be better.

I'm still a not so accomplished recipe creator and always look for input as well but I would cut back on chocolate malt and flaked oats. I would also re-evaluate the amount of chocolate flavorings you are planning. I would add the powder during the boil and then use the nips in secondary sparingly for taste only. You may get more out of the orange in secondary as well.

Recipes like this take a lot of trial and error so you may have to brew it and see how it turns out and tweak. It's taken me several batches to get my Holiday Ale going where I want it and it's still not quite there yet

sorry 5 gal batch. shooting for a 10%abv thats why so many fermentables

christopherrburns said:

sorry 5 gal batch. shooting for a 10%abv thats why so many fermentables

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It's actually un-fermentables which means the ABV would be lower and the beer will have a lot more body and sweeter.

Christmas of which year. At 10% alcohol it won't be ready by this Christmas. It takes time for a dark beer to mature and the higher the alcohol the longer it takes. I'd be thinking of sampling a bottle about next Easter and maybe a second bottle at Memorial day.

duboman said:

It's actually un-fermentables which means the ABV would be lower and the beer will have a lot more body and sweeter.

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Yes this. I meant to say unfermentables. Maybe replace some of those with base grain which are fermentables, and still up the IBUs to the 25-35 range.

Just a suggestion. I'm more of a recipe "tweaker" then a "build it from scratch" kinda brewer though...

Me too, can't remember where i found the recipe, usually modify most i find. Perhaps I should change it to a chocolate orange porter.

M A L T

More Alcohol Less Temperature

IE: Mash in at lower temps- 150 for example- for a higher Alc content. I agree- what style of beer is that? I always had a winter ale in mind - with nutmeg and perhaps some cin -

stout sorry forgot to mention