Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Her-She's Triple Choco Stout

Ok this one is a real SWMBO slayer here. The wife absolutely loves it but it requires some patience... It's a super sweet, chocolaty beer- I wouldn't even attempt to taste it until at least 2 months in the bottle.

Hershey's should give me some kind of bonus for using all of their stuff too.

Beersmith Calculations (unfortunately I had to do this and run out of town so I never took my own readings... I know, I know...)
Est. Eff: 70%
Est. OG: 1.092
Est. FG: 1.023
Est. ABV: 9%

Grain Bill:
9# US 2-Row (I use Auzzy, what I've got available) /52%
1.25# Flaked Oats /7%
1# Black Roasted Barley (500L) /6%
1# Chocolate Malt (350L) /6%
1# Caramel/Crystal 20L* /6%
1# Caramel/Crystal 60L* /6%
1# Caramel/Crystal 80L* /6%
.5# Caramel/ Crystal 120L* /3%

*All crystal malts are home-roasted so this is really an approximation

Extrasss:
3# Bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup /10% (@ 10 min)
5 Tbsp Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Vanilla bean- cut, scraped, and soaked in Vodka for 1 week (if you don't have access to this I'd guess/recommend a tablespoon of real vanilla extract at bottling)
7/8 cup Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (Priming)

Hops:
2oz EKG @ 75min

Yeast:
1 pck Safale US-05

-Mash grains at 152 for 60 min, 1.33 qt/lb.

-75 min boil with 2 oz EKG, at 10 minutes before flamout add 3 pound bottle of Hershey's syrup.

-After 2 weeks in primary, rack into secondary over vanilla bean/vodka concoction and 5 tablespoons Hershey's cocoa powder. Let chill for another 2 weeks. COLD CRASH.

-At bottling, use a little less than 1 cup of Hershey's syrup as your priming sugar. Let chill for A WHILE before even attempting to drink it, unless you are in the mood for chocolate liqueur.

As mentioned earlier, this is a really sweet stout and perfect for those lactose-intolerant significant others...

Edit: I forgot to say to expect little to no head on this beer from the oils in the syrup. Also, if you don't know how old your yeast is, use a starter...

Wow. 3# of chocolate syrup? lol that's awesome. Bookmarked

Is there any way to avoid the syrup and keep the head retention? Would cocoa powder or a ton of nibs accomplish the same flavor and keep the head?

jjz said:

Is there any way to avoid the syrup and keep the head retention? Would cocoa powder or a ton of nibs accomplish the same flavor and keep the head?

Click to expand...

Yes there definitely is. I would actually suggest it over using the syrup- I really just made this recipe for those of us who don't have access to a LHBS or supermarket/specialty store (live in China). There's a lot of good recipes out there if you have access to those things!

Sweet! I've been looking for something that's practically a chocolate milkshake. This should be a good start. Thanks for sharing!