Irish chocolate stout tips

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IdiotSlayer

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I started a Cooper's Irish Stout kit. It's a 23 litre batch all told. I boiled a couple cups of ground-up chocolate hops in two litres of water and added that to primary fermenting. Any other tips for how I can bring out the flavour or make the whole thing a bit richer during secondary fermentation?
 
Hmm... okay, what kind of chocolate chips (I assume when you said "hops" you meant "chips" were they? You might end up having an oil issue with the amount you put in unless they were baking/cacao chips.

And with the amount you added I'm sure it'll be chocolatey enough. Taste it before racking to secondary and decide from there if you want it to taste more like chocolate. However, in my humble opinion, a secondary isn't necessary for this style even with the chocolate.
 
Reno_eNVy said:
Hmm... okay, what kind of chocolate chips (I assume when you said "hops" you meant "chips" were they? You might end up having an oil issue with the amount you put in unless they were baking/cacao chips.

And with the amount you added I'm sure it'll be chocolatey enough. Taste it before racking to secondary and decide from there if you want it to taste more like chocolate. However, in my humble opinion, a secondary isn't necessary for this style even with the chocolate.
Click to expand...

No they were hops, they were labelled as "chocolate hops" at the brewing supply place I go to. I steeped them in hot but not boiling water, strained it and added it to the remaining batch. It wasn't actual chocolate if that's what you're asking, just a type of hop that gives off a bit of extra bitterness and aromas of chocolate and coffee.

Would you recommend I add some actual chocolate to it at one point?
 
To be honest, I've never heard of hops that taste like chocolate and a quick google search yields nothing for me. Did the tea smell/taste like chocolate to you?

If it tastes chocolatey enough then you're fine. If not then add some actual bakers chocolate. It's all up to your tastes and what you really want.
 
Reno_eNVy said:
To be honest, I've never heard of hops that taste like chocolate and a quick google search yields nothing for me. Did the tea smell/taste like chocolate to you?

If it tastes chocolatey enough then you're fine. If not then add some actual bakers chocolate. It's all up to your tastes and what you really want.
Click to expand...

It smelled like hops with sort of a chocolate / coffee aroma. It's more to enhance the original kit I think than to actually change the flavour. Would I actually just add bits of actual chocolate to the secondary fermenter if I wanted to enhance the flavour more? And how much?
 

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