Fruit Beer DC Raspberry Stout

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Pelikan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
901
Reaction score
15
Location
Q Continuum
Recipe Type
Extract
Yeast
Whitbread
Yeast Starter
2 liter
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
N/A
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.25
Original Gravity
1.61
Final Gravity
1.019
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
24
Color
~37 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
30 days @ Approx 66-68*F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7 days @ Approx 66-68*F
Additional Fermentation
N/A
Tasting Notes
Heaven in a bottle.
DCR.jpg


DC Raspberry Stout (Double Chocolate)


For a full review of the finished product, click here.


This recipe was over a month in the making. During that time, I read just about every article, write-up, technique, and formula concerning chocolate stouts and raspberry stouts. I even held correspondence with the brewers at Young's in an effort to get my grain bill down (they were very forthcoming and helpful; my thanks to them).

The fundamental philosophy behind this one was to create a high quality, complex stout that anyone can brew with just the basic equipment.

__

5 lbs Briess Light DME
32 oz. Belgian D2 Syrup

5 oz. British Chocolate
5 oz. Roasted Barley
12 oz. Flaked Oats

1.5 oz. Williamette (whole/leaf 6.4% AA, 60 min)
.5 oz. Williamette (whole/leaf 6.4% AA, 15 min)

__

Additional:

1 Whirlfloc tablet (last 10 minutes/boil)
12 oz. Lactose (last 10 minutes/boil)
5 oz. Malto Dextrine (last 10 minutes/boil)
1/2 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient (last 10 minutes/boil)
3 lb, 1 oz. can Oregon Fruit Pureé, Raspberry (last 2 weeks/primary)
2 Vanilla Beans (Secondary)
2 oz. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Secondary)

Boil Size: 3 gallons
Final Size: 5.25 gallons (before trub/transfer loss)

**For information regarding proper preparation of the vanilla & chocolate solutions, see the "notes" section at the bottom of this post.

***It indicates 24 IBU up top, but as brewed it works out to 30-35. This is because I added only 3 pounds of DME at the start of the boil, then added the remaining DME and D2 syrup in the last 15 minutes. I recommended you proceed in this fashion as well. It prevents the excess DME, etc, from being overcooked, and also increased your hop utilization.

After your cooled wort is in the primary, inoculate and leave it alone for two weeks. No need to obsess over SG readings or any of that. The more hands-off, the better.

After two weeks, add the 49 oz. can of raspberry pureé to the primary. Don't add it any sooner than this, as you want to make sure primary fermentation is complete before adding the pureé. The pureé will kick the brew back into fermentation for a day or so.

Two weeks after the pureé is added, get out your vanilla solution and add it to the empty secondary, beans and all. Add your chocolate mix to the secondary at the same time. Rack your brew on top of the vanilla/chocolate.

Now then, leave it in the secondary for 1-2 weeks. The goal is two fold: clear out the refuse left over from the pureé (which takes about a week), and get the vanilla & chocolate flavor dissolved into the brew. Try to get as little of the pureé into the secondary as possible.

You'll get more sedimentation in the secondary than you're accustomed to. Again, when racking try to avoid siphoning up any of the refuse. It might cost you a beer or two of volume, but the refuse significantly increases haze and sediment in the bottles (so you're not actually gaining anything).

Bottle condition/age for a minimum of 4 weeks. Don't forget to include 1 week of cold-conditioning in the fridge before sampling. Above all, avoid judging this beer before it's had a proper conditioning period. The SG samples will not taste good. Crash-cooled brews that are less than 4 weeks old will taste okay, but the raspberry really needs time to round out. After that, be prepared for something wonderful.

Notes:

*Vanilla*

The vanilla beans you use should be of a very high quality. Check out the Vanilla Review to help you choose the right variety/vendor. There are so many choices, all of them good, that I don't want to impose my tastes upon your selection.

If online ordering isn't a practical option, beans can generally be found in gourmet cooking shops. Nielsen-Massey has a pretty solid lock on the retail market, so checking out NielsenMassey.com (and searching for local dealers) would be a good way to see if you have a bean peddler nearby. I've used N-M beans in the past, and they're quite good -- but the Internet vendors listed on the Vanilla Review page deal in the best of the best, and have some rather exotic offerings.

Now, onto solution preparation. Cut the beans with a sharp knife or razor blade longitudinally. You don't want to cut them in half, just expose the inside. Next, chop the beans into small sections, maybe 3/4" each, and place them into an appropriately-sized glass container or vial. Once you have your cut up beans in the container, add 2 ounces (1oz per bean) of quality, 80 proof vodka. Make sure the beans are fully submerged (if not, add more vodka and/or agitate the container), then set in a cool, dark place. The vodka soak is present for two reasons: one, to sterilize the beans, and two, to draw the flavors out. Every day or so, shake the bean container to agitate the solution. NOTE: Do not use vodka over 80 proof, as higher than 40% alcohol has a detrimental impact on the extraction process. I use Zyr vodka, as the nine filtrations and five distillations are particularly useful for this application. It also makes a fine drink.

Vanilla takes time to extract. In practice, most extracts are complete after about 5 weeks, especially for the purpose of beer (although the longer, the better -- up to 6 months before the beans are fully depleted). In general, if you get the solution started on or before brew day, it will have undergone the requisite amount of extraction by bottling time. The beans should have an absolute minimum of 4 weeks combined contact time (vodka soak [3-4 weeks] + secondary time [1-2 weeks]). Extend the 1-2 week secondary as you feel necessary, particularly if you had a short vodka soak.

*Chocolate*

There are a number of ways to add chocolate flavor and nose to a brew. My preferred method is dissolving 2 ounces (weight) of unsweetened baking cocoa into 8 ounces (volume) of quality vodka, and adding this to the secondary. Be sure to prepare this mix a few days in advance, so that the cocoa is sterilized and dissolves fully into solution. Use a glass or porcelain container with a tight-fitting lid.

*ABV & Vodka*

Because of the somewhat liberal use of vodka, your ABV will be affected. This is why I must emphasize, only use vodka that you'd gladly drink straight (ie: the good stuff). Otherwise, there's enough of it in there that bargain brands may [negatively] impact the taste. As mentioned, I think Zyr is the best for this, because it's about as pure as it gets (nine filtrations and five distillations). Mix this stuff into a good drink and you can't even detect it...it's eerily transparent. There are other good vodkas out there, of course. Even the regular fair like Stoli will do the trick; at the end of the day the vodka makes up less than 1.5% of the total volume in this recipe. Just don't go through all the trouble brewing it, then dump 10 ounces of vanilla/chocolate Banker's Club into the secondary.

In any case, my actual starting gravity on this brew was 1.066. This was due in large part to the fact that I entered the D2 into software by volume instead of weight, but either way the difference isn't huge.

Under normal circumstances this would result in an approximate 5.9% ABV when using Whitbread or similar. With the vodka, you're looking at about 6.5-6.6%. Add to that at least another half point from the fermented raspberry, and you're looking at 7%+ easily.

*Yeast*

I used a second-gen Whitbread for this one (Wyeast 1099). I inoculated a 1 liter starter from a sample of yeast cake. I put 2 liter down (up top) because that's more or less the required minimum for a standard, shaken starter. If you're using a stir-plate, a 1 liter will get the cell counts you require. For those that don't want to bother with a starter and/or liquid yeast, Safale S-04 is essentially the same thing as Wyeast Whitbread; properly reconstitute one 11 gram packet and pitch, simple as that.

*Hops*

Regarding hops, you can use anything you'd like, but ideally something with an English flair (Fuggles, Goldings, Willamette, etc). It says up top 24 IBU, but this one (as printed above) works out to 30 and change. I'd say go about 30-35 ibu max, and watch late additions, as they might overwhelm the raspberry.

*Full Boil*

With a brew this complex and dark, the merits of a full boil won't be as evident when compared to late extract additions, proper yeast cultures, etc etc etc. When I brewed this one, I didn't have the equipment for a full boil, but if you do, I'd suggest going that route (every little bit helps). You'll have to tweak the recipe a bit, particularly the hop additions.
 
Thanks for posting this recipe! I just picked up all of the brew-day ingredients, except the vanilla beans, which I need to get on NOW, and can't wait to get this one going. I just have one quick comment and question ...

You might want to warn people that the price tag on this one is pretty high. The Belgian D2 syrup was ~$17 at my LHBS and the puree appears to be ~$15+ via online searches. I'm not trying to be a cheap bastard, but this one was quite a step up from the extract kits I previously brewed. =P I'll help out and post a final cost once I get everything tallied up.

So your posting was ~4wks or so ago ... how is it coming along? I'd like to hear about your samplings and see if you'd do anything different after looking back at your experience.

Thanks again, and I look forward to trying this one out!
 
I'm transferring mine to the secondary within the next few days, so by all accounts it's coming along. Unfortunately, no samplings for another 6 weeks or so.

**Chocolate, Revisited**

The only thing I've really gone back and fourth about is the chocolate addition. There's two practical and efficient ways to add chocolate to a brew: either a cocoa/vodka mix in the secondary, or chocolate essence at bottling.

I had planned to go the cocoa route at the beginning, then thought chocolate essence would be easier, but am ultimately siding with the cocoa/vodka mix (as that's basically what chocolate essence is; making your own is somewhat less expensive, and it's easier to know/control exactly what you're putting in).

I've been debating the quantity of cocoa to add, but now that I've finally made up the cocoa/vodka mix and gauged its potency, I'm going to go with 2 ounces of cocoa dissolved in 8 ounces of vodka. 1 ounce cocoa in 3-4 ounces of vodka may do the trick, but I feel an addition that small would be overwhelmed by the raspberry. Although this is first and foremost a raspberry brew, the three flavors should form a synergy.

I've edited the original post with some elaboration on the chocolate mix, as well as adding a blurb on vodka choice and its impact on ABV.

**Cost**

When I was developing this one, I quickly realized it was becoming a spared-no-expense project. I never really added up the individual components, but for my own info I did a tally. The costs are approximate.

*Vodka = $12 worth
*DME = $20
*Belgian D2 = $16
*Hops = $5
*Lactose + Malto = $5
*Vanilla Beans = $5
*Oregon Pureé = $17
*Grains, Whirlfloc, etc = $5

So that's about $85. Add the costs of shipping/transportation, and you're flirting with $100 to brew this up. Quite expensive by any standard, but I designed this one to be the Rolls Royce of extract brews. Still less expensive though, when compared to buying an equal quantity of a comparable commercial offering.

Of course, no one can put a price tag on sheer brewing enjoyment. :D
 
Any reason you decided to add the fruit to the primary (after fermentation), as opposed to adding it along with the chocolate and vanilla? Is it so the second stage of fermentation doesn't blow off all the choco-nilla goodness?
 
Any reason you decided to add the fruit to the primary (after fermentation), as opposed to adding it along with the chocolate and vanilla? Is it so the second stage of fermentation doesn't blow off all the choco-nilla goodness?

The Oregon Fruit Pureé has an unbelievable amount of haze and refuse. You pretty much need two stages to clear it out, and even then it can assert itself if you're not careful with the transfers.
 
You guys will be the first to know. I'm putting a few bottles in the fridge this Friday (3 weeks since bottling), and will be sampling the first round on the 30th (4 weeks from bottling). I'll report in post haste.
 
The moment you've all been waiting for...

DC Raspberry, first taste:

Appearance: Opaque black with reddish brown highlights. Some haze present, but this is a very minor aesthetic concern for a brew of this nature. Two finger beige head quickly diminishes to one finger, then sticks around for a bit. Lacing is present.

4.5 out of 5

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Smell: Strong raspberry in the nose, complimented by roasted grain, chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of alcohol (in that order). Very well balanced -- the berry is pronounced, yet not cloying or off-putting.

5 out of 5

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Taste: Exactly what I as going for. The berry is right there on the tongue, followed swiftly by vanilla, chocolate and roastiness, then finishing off with raspberry in the nose. Some vinous notes from the fermented fruit. Not at all cloying, confectionary, or artificial -- if you're looking for these traits, this is not the recipe for you.

At this point (4 weeks in bottles), it could use a bit more time to round out, but that's really nit picking in the wake of what turned out to be a great brew.

4.5 of 5

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Mouth-feel: The mouth feel is right where it should be -- not too heavy, not too light. Carbonation is perfect (I used 4.5 ounces corn sugar).

5 of 5

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Drinkability: This beer isn't nearly as heavy as you'd think. Indeed, it's quite refreshing, and wouldn't be inappropriate as a summer indulgence. The alcohol content is up there, given the fermentable nature of raspberry, plus the vodka additions. It's hard to pin it down exactly, but from feel alone I'd say it's easily 7-8%...so you won't be having more than a couple in one sitting.

4 of 5

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Overall: A great brew. I was looking to make the Rolls Royce of extracts, and I think this comes about as close to the mark as one could hope to get. I can't help but thinking this would be even better all-grain, and indeed, I'm going to work it into the AG rotation somewhere down the line.

As it stands, this is some fine stuff, especially considering I brewed it up using only the most basic equipment. The only major shortcoming is cost, but there are certain corners the savvy brewer could cut and still arrive at something great.

23 out of 25 = 92%
 
Thanks for the thorough review. I bottle my batch this weekend. The waiting game is killing me. The sample I took while transfering to secondary had me thinking I found my new favorite dessert! I'll give a full report in another month.
 
Pelikan, I see you did a 3 gallon boil. What was your process for getting this to 5.25 gallons?
 
Adding the difference in pre-boiled water to get it back up to 5.25. In other words, you're going to be boiling about 3-3.5 gallons of straight, clear water, then cooling it. Add about 2 gallons of the cooled water to the primary, then add the cooled wort, then top off as needed to 5.25.

That said, if you have the ability, a full boil is always preferred.
 
Will the amounts you listed out be sufficient for a full 5 gallon boil? I'm just not sure how to adjust the amounts upward if what you did was only for a 3 gal boil.
 
Bear in mind that if you want your cooled wort to finish off at five gallons or thereabouts, you'll need to boil 6 gallons volume, as you'll lose at least a gallon to boil-off.

If you're going to do six gallons as a starting boil volume, you can subtract one half ounce of the Williamette for the 60 minute addition (ie: 1 oz at 60 as opposed to 1.5). Otherwise, keep everything else the same.

Also, one thing to note is that the Willamette hops I used were on the high end for the strain in terms of AA. Compare the actual AA of the hops you get to the recipe, and adjust as required for your boil volume.
 
For the British Chocolate, Roasted Barley and Flaked Oats did you just do a standard mash/sparge, or steep, or something else?
 
The grains were steeped according to general extract procedures. Put your grains in a muslin bag or similar, then put them in the pot along with 3 gallons/cold water. Bring the temp up to 150*-160*F using medium/high heat (a "candy" thermometer works well for monitoring this, available in any grocery store). It should take you roughly a half hour to hit 150*F.

Once there, start your timer for 30 minutes. Keep the heat going until you get somewhere slightly north of 155*F, then turn it down to low (or kill it all together). Make sure the temp stays above 150*F for the remainder of the steep.

Once your time is done, remove the grain bag and let it drip. "Sparge" with 1-2 quarts of warm-hot water (ideally at about 150-160, no higher). You can use tap on the highest heat setting, provided your tap water doesn't have massive amounts of chlorine or other funk.

And there you have it. This technique is broadly applicable to any extract recipe with special grains.
 
I'm going to give this a shot next week. I have two last questions for you regarding your recipe. You list all your late additions were at 10 min, but in your comments you had the additions at 15 min. Which one is it? And last, the D2 syrup - you added all that at 15 min - not split up like the DME? Thanks for the advice. I can't wait to give this one a shot.
 
I've edited the original post to make it a bit clearer. The whirlfloc, yeast nutrient, lactose, malto, etc, is all added with about 10 minutes remaining. The left-over DME and all of the D2 syrup is added at 15 minutes remaining.

In practice, this generally means adding the DME and stirring until it all dissolves, then adding the D2 and doing the same thing. By this time, there's only about ten minutes left anyhow, so the other stuff is then added.

The DME sometimes has a tendency to clump when its added...the extra few minutes ensures that all of the DME as been dissolved and sterilized. With the other stuff, you generally want it in the boil only as long as required to get a 100% sterilization; 10 minutes will do that just fine.

This recipe will serve you well. It's an extremely refreshing drink -- surprising in this regard given its a stout, but the D2 does a good job of lightening it up a bit so that it's not too thick. Wait as long as you can to sample it. At about 5 weeks in bottles it's still improving, and I imagine it will continue to do so for a while down the road.
 
Yes. I tried to be as objective as possible, and also take into account the feedback of the ten or so other people that I've given it to at this point. As mentioned in the introduction, I spent a lot of time researching and putting this together. It's not a loose amalgamation.

Ultimately, when people see a recipe, they want some tangible way of putting it in perspective, something more than a few sparse tasting notes. That's what I was going for with the rating. I suppose you can hash that any way you'd like, but I wouldn't waste someone's time with mediocrity.
 
Ok, maybe a bit premature, but a second opinion is finally here after 2wks and 5days in the bottle. Please forgive the plagiarism, my descriptive skills are severely limited ...

I used White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast, vanilla beans from Cost Plus (2 beans for $2.99; extract sat for 5wks), and went with the 2oz of cocoa powder for the chocolate essence. Used Smirnoff vodka.

---

Appearance: Ditto on Pelikan's description, except for amount of head, though this has been the best head I have gotten out of the 3 brews I have under my belt.
4.5 out of 5

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Smell: Ditto again.
4.5 out of 5

---

Taste: My 1wk and 2wk tastings match Pelikan's experience well. However, today's tasting revealed a more roasty flavor that puts it ahead of the raspberry and chocolate flavors, which were much more pronounced early on. I personally prefer the sweetness over roastiness, but it's a subtle enough difference that you'll get no complaints from me.
4.5 of 5

---

Mouth-feel: Heavy enough for a stout, but not even close to syrupy. A little chalkiness from the cocoa powder toward the bottom of the glass in my early tastings, which I got none of today. Carbonation was great using 4oz dextrose.
4 of 5

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Drinkability: Despite it's higher ABV, I could drink this stuff all night. Several friends of mine agree that it doesn't taste as strong as it really is. It's not so sweet that you lose sight of it being beer, and is not so beer-like that it puts off non-beer drinkers. Hell, my mother-in-law digs it!
5 of 5

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Overall: Props to Pelikan for hitting the nail on the head with this recipe. Noobs will be amazed at what they can pull off ... this is only my 3rd brew (I don't count Apfelwein). I'll keep my eyes peeled for the AG version once I can pull off an AG setup.

This beer was all that I hoped for, making the higher price tag well worth it. Everyone I have shared this beer with over the last week has stated that they'd look hard for it in a store if it was available for purchase. When I get my kegging gear, I'll have a corny dedicated full-time to this recipe.

I'd also like to nominate this one for the title of SWMBO Slayer. =D

22.5 out of 25 = 90%

I actually would have given more 5's, but I'm of the school of thought that there's always room for improvement. And if I can't do it, I'll go back and bump up my score.
 
Just curious, how much and which type of priming sugar did you use for bottling?
 
Pelikan, I brewed this up two weeks ago and just added the puree this morning. My original brewday had a little cluster involved where my OG wound up being 1.72 (I'll provide the ugly, and stupid, details if you care). A week ago I stirred up the yeast to push fermentation along so I wouldn't be too high. That said, my pre-puree gravity was 1.24.

Do you think I am in for an ugly tasting batch presuming I follow the rest of the steps to the letter? I just don't have a good feel for what the higher FG will do to the flavor.
 
Pelikan, I brewed this up two weeks ago and just added the puree this morning. My original brewday had a little cluster involved where my OG wound up being 1.72 (I'll provide the ugly, and stupid, details if you care). A week ago I stirred up the yeast to push fermentation along so I wouldn't be too high. That said, my pre-puree gravity was 1.24.

Do you think I am in for an ugly tasting batch presuming I follow the rest of the steps to the letter? I just don't have a good feel for what the higher FG will do to the flavor.

You should be just fine. A higher/slightly sweeter FG will probably not be a bad thing in a brew of this nature. No need to stir or anything like that -- it'll just introduce vectors for contamination/oxygenation and little else. Really, 1.072 isn't a huge leap over the normal SG (1.066 theoretical after I corrected for my own little goof)...in that case I would have recommended going with a higher attenuating yeast like 1335 British Ale II (Wyeast), but I don't think it's too late...

...one option you could investigate -- although I don't know how well this would work out -- is to repitch with a higher attenuating yeast, such as 1335, to bring the FG down. Maybe rack onto a smack-pack's worth of 1335 when transferring to the secondary. Leave it in there for a full 2-3 weeks. I've heard of multiple strains being used before, although never in circumstances such as this; def. "at your own risk" type of stuff.

Bear in mind, too, that the lactose/raspberry/vodka, etc, complicate the OG/FG, which is why I recommended an avoidance of specific grav fixations. If one follows the recipe to the letter and has everything in line, there really is no pressing need for specific gravity measurements in an extract brew -- my opinion, of course, which I'm sure many folks would be eager to debate. An undue focus upon SG, in my experience, always leads to unfavorable scenarios (ie: stirring the brewing beer, etc).
 
Any pictures of the final product? My mouth is watering reading this one.
 
Unfortunately, no. I was going to take some shots, but didn't feel the need. Just grab any premium, carbonated stout -- Sierra Nevada Stout, Young's Double Chocolate in the bottle, etc etc -- pour it, and that's what the DC Raspberry will look like. (Being serious, not snarky.) It's absolutely worth the time to brew, especially if you're an extract brewer.
 
I brewed this today as my New Year's brew. Tried to copy the recipe as closely as possible, but made a few changes.

Extract (no change):
3lb Light DME - 60min
2lb Light DME - 15min
2lb Belgian D2 Syrup

Grains:
8oz Chocolate
8oz Roasted Barley
8oz Carafoam - Substitute for Flaked Oats as I don't think those are suitable for steeping based on what I've read in this forum and elsewhere

Hops (used more due to low Alpha):
2oz Williamette 4.6% - 60min
1oz Williamette 4.6% - 15min

Used a different yeast nutrient from LHBS. Added 5 minutes to boil length after struggling to regain boil after extensive 15/10 minute additions. Otherwise, everything was exactly as specified in the recipe. Also, I started my vanilla extract today.

I'll report back in late December with the results. The D2 syrup seems a bit out of place here, but with cocoa, raspberry, and vanilla, what's a bit more sweet goodness?

OP - Why the recommendation for a tight sealing container for the cocoa mixture? Wouldn't a glass covered with foil or similar work?
 
The D2 adds to the dark complexity of the sweetness. It's not just another sugar, etc. I've been floating the idea of adding 120L and some more DME in place of the D2, but I haven't crossed that bridge yet.

Flaked Oats are there for consistency and flavor, not for conversion. In other words, you won't get much if any fermentable sugar from the oats, but you will get mouth feel, head retention, and flavor.

The sealed glass is so alcohol doesn't evaporate out, and insects don't get in.
 
Thanks Pelikan. Obviously, I can't critique the D2 as I haven't tasted this yet and won't for another several months. I've never seen it in a stout before, but it appears to fit the mix here well.

Carafoam should be a decent substitute for flaked oats if the mains goals are mouth feel and head retention.

Makes sense on the glass container, but then the same should apply to the vanilla extract... even more so since it is in there for 4 weeks. I may need to "transfer" my extract tonight to avoid evaporation problems.

Thanks for the fun recipe. Looking forward to it.


Some notes on my batch:
I found the wort a bit difficult to moderate the last 15 minutes. All the late additions make for a rather thick wort that either doesn't want to boil or wants to boil violently. Fermentation started very quickly. I put this in an "Ale Pail" bucket for ease of adding the raspberry puree. I almost never use a blowoff with a bucket as its usually not needed. However, this batch blew up through the airlock in under 24 hours and is bubbling intensely. Everything else is pretty standard, in my experience.
 
I just had to sign up to this site after reading this recipe. Can't wait to try this one!

After 2 weeks in I added my Raspberry yesterday. Kicked back fermentation in just a few hours.

I followed your recipe exactly. Although I did adjust my hops due to lower AA%. No run-ins on brew day for this. Just made sure to really crank the heat up for all the late additions. Boil stayed smooth.

I prepared my vanilla beans a week ahead of brew day, and the cocoa will be prepared 3 days before racking to the secondary.

I'm not sure if I want to keg this one or not. I typically keg all my beers, but this one seems extra special to me. Maybe I bottle it in some 22's and put some nice labels on it. Or this might give me a reason for that nitro setup I always wanted. :mug::D

Thanks for the recipe.
 
DBD - We will need to compare notes around New Year as both our batches should be ready around then.

I usually keg, but I plan to bottle this one too.
 
Hey everybody,
I'm a new brewer from the north (Canada) and would really like to try this recipe. Getting supplies here is really a pain. I need Belgian D2 syrup but can't get it here. Any suggestions? Maybe just increasing my dme?

Thanks!!
 
Hey everybody,
I'm a new brewer from the north (Canada) and would really like to try this recipe. Getting supplies here is really a pain. I need Belgian D2 syrup but can't get it here. Any suggestions? Maybe just increasing my dme?

Thanks!!

Definitely mail order. I got mine from Northern Brewer. Needed some for another recipe as well. From what I hear, there really is no substitute for this stuff.

Add my raspberries two weeks ago, and had a surprisingly strong second fermentation. Prepared choco-vodka last weekend. This weekend is the rack to secondary on top of vanilla and chocolate. This beer is definitely a "process", but a fun one.
 
I found the syrup at Brewmasters warehouse. I got 4 so I can do another batch right away. Did my beans today. Probably wont brew it for 3-6 weeks though. Seems like a lot of Vodka
 
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