adding chocolate to beer

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shanek17

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iv been interested in adding chocolate to my beer ever since iv heard of it being done. but im still unsure of how ppl are doing it, so what is the best way to infuse chocolate in beer?

Can i just add powdered dark chocolate at bottling time when im carbonating?
 
I am considering this too. What I am going to do is add cocoa powder at 15mins and maybe some dark bakers chocolate too.
 
I've used cacao nibs, dark baker's chocolate, and chocolate powder. Here are my experiences:
-Chocolate Powder: Came in a Ghirardelli canister. Added 1/3 pound at flameout in a porter. Fermenter looked really "gunky" and murky, but the final flavor was pretty decent...not great, but decent
-Baker's Chocolate: Added a medium sized bar (chopped) at the end of boil. Pretty much the same experience as the powder, but the flavor was a little more true chocolate flavor.
-Cacao Nibs: Added 4oz. like a dry hop and left in for 7 days. Really nice aroma and very dark chocolate taste. This is my favorite way to impart chocolate flavor and aroma. I think a combo of this and baker's chocolate at flameout would be really nice.

Cheers!
 
See this web page:
http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/formulating-and-brewing-winning-chocolate-porter

I'm not vouching for the advice, but it mostly seems reasonable. I recently tried chocolate for the first time and chose to dissolve cocoa in some hot water then add to primary (I would have added at flame out, except that I separate out the trub and figured I'd lose all the cocoa power with it). Results aren't in yet.

Not sure how adding cocoa powder at bottling would work. You'd have to dissolve it in some hot water or vodka first, else it would probably just float in your beer. Regardless, I personally wouldn't want it in my bottles.
 
Don't put it in the bottles! As stated before, powder in the boil or dry hop with nibs. I just saw that MoreBeer has a chocolate belgian candy syrup out now. I want to try that.
 
I recently bought some of this http://capellaflavordrops.com/grahamcracker.aspx after reading the long Pumking clone thread. It is still in primary, so haven't added it yet, but people talked highly of it in the thread.

The company has a sale going, 5 for $20, so I also grabbed a double chocolate, Peanut Butter, Espresso, and another Graham Cracker. I was thinking about trying to make something like Southern Tier Choklat with the double chocolate, their Java with the Espresso, then blend some of it together for some Mocha. Not sure about the peanut butter, but maybe a porter.

If they work well, i may have to find something to do with the bacon flavoring.
 
skeezerpleezer said:
I recently bought some of this http://capellaflavordrops.com/grahamcracker.aspx after reading the long Pumking clone thread. It is still in primary, so haven't added it yet, but people talked highly of it in the thread.

The company has a sale going, 5 for $20, so I also grabbed a double chocolate, Peanut Butter, Espresso, and another Graham Cracker. I was thinking about trying to make something like Southern Tier Choklat with the double chocolate, their Java with the Espresso, then blend some of it together for some Mocha. Not sure about the peanut butter, but maybe a porter.

If they work well, i may have to find something to do with the bacon flavoring.

i cheched out the website those falvour look awesome! i love experimenting, hopefully the shippins isnt too bad. so how do you add it? im a newbie so im making pre hopped extract beers, basically its a can of wort extract you add it to boiling water with DME. when is the best to add it?
 
Question, the link about the nibs in the porter says cacao nibs can inhibit fermentation. Is this also true in secondary or will the alcohol already produced stop this from happening? I would hate to bottle a beer to find out 6 weeks later that it failed to carb because of it.
 
skeezerpleezer said:
The company has a sale going, 5 for $20, so I also grabbed a double chocolate, Peanut Butter, Espresso, and another Graham Cracker. I was thinking about trying to make something like Southern Tier Choklat with the double chocolate, their Java with the Espresso, then blend some of it together for some Mocha. Not sure about the peanut butter, but maybe a porter.

doing a Reeses stout with peanut butter and double chocolate, pumpkin pie and graham cracker going into this years pumpkin beer.

Sorry to hijack.
 
Question, the link about the nibs in the porter says cacao nibs can inhibit fermentation. Is this also true in secondary or will the alcohol already produced stop this from happening? I would hate to bottle a beer to find out 6 weeks later that it failed to carb because of it.

I have used Cacao Nibs quite a few times and have never had a problem with bottle conditioning. I usually add them on day 7 of fermentation and let them rest for 7 days at a ratio of 1 oz. per 1.5 gallons.
 
gwdraper4 said:
I have used Cacao Nibs quite a few times and have never had a problem with bottle conditioning. I usually add them on day 7 of fermentation and let them rest for 7 days at a ratio of 1 oz. per 1.5 gallons.

interesting. so how do you get the cacao nibs out? or do you just rack into bottle bucket after the 7 days and leave the nibs with the gunk from the primary bucket. iv been trying to give my ale beers 3 weeks in primary before bottling. but it sounds like you just do 2 weeks? rite?
 
The first time I used chocolate was one of my first beers - an extract stout. I wanted a little subtle chocolate without being too sweet or powerful like Young's or something. I didn't know what to do, so I just bought a bar of bakers chocolate, broke it up, and chucked it into the BK near the end of the boil. The result was exactly what I wanted. You could sense the chocolate, without being too heavy. There were no issues whatsoever with fermentation or carbonation. Next time I brew with chocolate, I'll do the same thing. Don't want to overthink it.
 
The problem I've encountered with actual chocolate bars (I used about 1oz/gallon Lindt's 95% & 99% in a porter some time ago,) are the milkfats that seem impossible to completely skim out. I still get some up around the neck of the bottle even after months of conditioning. I added the chocolate in the last 5 minutes of the boil. Doesn't really affect the finished product because the chocolate is very apparent in the beer, giving it a nice flavor & mouthfeel. Next time I'll go with the nibs, or a fat-free powdered version.
 
I recently brewed a Chocolate Stout for my wife. I boiled 8 ounces of cocoa powder (1 regular sized can) in the last 10-15 minutes. I plan on adding nibs and vodka in secondary.

However, I've heard a lot of people say chocolate extract is the easiest way to get a pronounced chocolate flavor in the beer. I may try that if this method doesn't work. My wife is looking for a strong chocolate flavor, and less roast/bitter flavor. I also added lactose to help boost the sweetness a bit.

There was a LOT of gooey gunk in the bottom of the boil kettle when I racked into the fermenter. I used a copper scrubby pad as a prefilter to the dip tube and it did a great job of keeping the hops and cocoa powder out of the fermenter. If I had known this I would not have used the scrubby. But it's bubbling away, so we will see what the flavor is like in a few more days.
 
I'll see if I can find it again, but I read an article that suggested just adding straight ground cocoa to the mash. The flavor it produces, the article says, wouldn't be readily identified as what we've come to expect chocolate to taste like, but rather a roasty bitterness that is very much unlike hop bitterness. Seems like it would be interesting to try.

EDIT: Ah! Here is the article I mentioned
 
I've had great success adding in 8oz of hershey's unsweetened dark chocolate powder and a handful of cacao nibs in the last 15 minutes of the boil
 
this turned into a great chocolate discussion. ! its great to see all your ways of doing things. iv been recently loving bentonite and have been using it in my wine and now my beer too. i dont use it in beer for clarity but more so for the heat stabilization, so my beer doesnt turn into a volcano fermentation lol.

anyways i found it interesting how bentonite works efficiently in primary and im wondering if other additives like chocolate can be the same. basically when you add bentonite in at primary the ferment acitivity constantly pushes bentonite up and then it starts falling down to bottom and gets pushed back up. it does this cycle until ferment is over and by then its swelled up in size and settled to the bottom. so im wondering if its a good idea to add my finely ground cocoa powder at primary so it can cycle through the fermentation, as opposed to adding chocolate that's too bit an heavy and then it just settles to the bottom. this is why i thought the finely ground powder would work well.
 
Any experience on the chocolate extract from grocery store?

I think it's an imitation flavoring, but would be easier to adjust the flavor right before bottling.
 
I "dry hopped" with 1/2 lb of a nib-husk mix (ground like grains) for 2 weeks for a RIS and it was great. Then did the same thing with for a robust porter with 1/4 ld for 1 week. Ris had a great chocolate backbone. Porter had just the right hint. Good luck.
 
my chocolate stout is now 6 days into primary. I added 80gr of dutch cocoa powder to the boil @ 15. It is bloody great! I will do this again without doubt!
 
badlee said:
my chocolate stout is now 6 days into primary. I added 80gr of dutch cocoa powder to the boil @ 15. It is bloody great! I will do this again without doubt!

Cool! We used the same stuff. i had this organic dutch process cocoa powder sitting in my cupboard forever so it was the easiest to reach for. Dutch process is technically processed but IMHO its the least processed types of chocolate out there.

I actually added the chocolate to a small test batch aafter a couple days of fermentation, just incase i don't like it. i added 1.70 oz to 4.5 liters or 1 imp gallon. ill find out in a month or so if its any good.
 
I cant wait to get a pint of mine! I promised myself and my inlaws I would crack out the stout over xmas and new year. Hmmmmm,will it make it?
 
just my 2 cents, on a boulevard chocolate ale clone, I added 1 oz belgian cocoa pwdr at 5min, then bottled after a month of primary. I used 5 oz corn sugar to prime and added an 1/8 oz nibs to 6 of the bottles (15 oz). Didn't try for almost a month but, both bottles, (with and w/o nibs carbonated well). This was a trial and error go, just wanted to see off i could come close, and afterwards wished i had added the nibs to all the bottles.
 
My buddy did a white chocolate stout and melted about 1lb of white chocolate in a pan, and then poured that into his carboy. he then quickly swirled the chocolate around in the carboy creating a nice thin layer on the bottom and almost 1/4 way up the carboy. he then transferred his wort into that carboy for primary fermentation. The final product had lil pieces of white chocolate particulate suspended in the beer. Very tasty!!
 
My buddy did a white chocolate stout and melted about 1lb of white chocolate in a pan, and then poured that into his carboy. he then quickly swirled the chocolate around in the carboy creating a nice thin layer on the bottom and almost 1/4 way up the carboy. he then transferred his wort into that carboy for primary fermentation. The final product had lil pieces of white chocolate particulate suspended in the beer. Very tasty!!

Yikes! That's quite a bit of fat in the beer, no? I would have been quick to taste it...
 
My buddy did a white chocolate stout and melted about 1lb of white chocolate in a pan, and then poured that into his carboy. he then quickly swirled the chocolate around in the carboy creating a nice thin layer on the bottom and almost 1/4 way up the carboy. he then transferred his wort into that carboy for primary fermentation. The final product had lil pieces of white chocolate particulate suspended in the beer. Very tasty!!

white chocolate... weird never heard of such a brew! I can still remember being a kid on easter morning and chowing down on a white chocolate easter bunny :cross: Probably not something I would put in my brew lol

I was reading a health website about chocolate and they mentioned about white chocolate not even being real chocolate at all.
 
Well i got to say it was a very tasty brew the white chocolate bits complimented the stout's flavor profile and balanced out the hoppy bitterness. it was like a sweet stout really. The mouth feel was great and the white chocolate bits seemed to melt quickly in your mouth so the flavor was throughout the sip and a particularly great after taste.
 
I was reading a health website about chocolate and they mentioned about white chocolate not even being real chocolate at all.

You are right...white chocolate is actually cacao butter, sugar, milk solids, and salt where the sugar actually makes up about 50% of the weight. My guess is that during fermentation the sugar fermented out leaving some of the milk solids and cacao butter, which would remain slightly chunky throughout the process. Very interesting experiment.
 
I've used cacao nibs, dark baker's chocolate, and chocolate powder. Here are my experiences:
-Chocolate Powder: Came in a Ghirardelli canister. Added 1/3 pound at flameout in a porter. Fermenter looked really "gunky" and murky, but the final flavor was pretty decent...not great, but decent
-Baker's Chocolate: Added a medium sized bar (chopped) at the end of boil. Pretty much the same experience as the powder, but the flavor was a little more true chocolate flavor.
-Cacao Nibs: Added 4oz. like a dry hop and left in for 7 days. Really nice aroma and very dark chocolate taste. This is my favorite way to impart chocolate flavor and aroma. I think a combo of this and baker's chocolate at flameout would be really nice.

Cheers!

Thank you for posting this. I have a stout going that I'm going to add chocolate into in the secondary. I'm planning to dissolve a 4 ounce bakers bar [100% cocoa] into either one cup of dark rum or 1 cup of bourbon, and age that with 2 vanilla beans to be added to the secondary with 1 cup of cold pressed coffee. Then at bottling, I am going to add about .60-.75 oz. of chocolate extract. I will incorporate nibs after reading your post, probably 2-4 oz. for dry hopping, depending on the flavor of my homemade extract after its mixed in the wort for a week or so.

*I have a dry stout, about 7% alcohol, with 1 pound of chocolate malt in the grain bill.

Do you know how big your medium sized bar was?

also, do you remember the brands of either the baker's bar or the nibs? I found a Ghiradelli cocoa bar that seems like it would work well.
 
Does anyone know how much adding chocolate to the boil will raise the abv by? My recipe making program doesn't have chocolate as an option, or I can't find it.
 
meltroha said:
Does anyone know how much adding chocolate to the boil will raise the abv by? My recipe making program doesn't have chocolate as an option, or I can't find it.

Did you ask this question recently. I remember reading this exact question not too long ago somewhere. If there is no sugar being added(I.E.nibs or powder) then it won't change the ABV. No sugar to ferment.
 
I'm getting ready to make a milk chocolate stout and have 4 oz of nibs. I've seen some people make a tincture witch vodka and others just dump them into secondary. Is there a big difference between these two methods?
 
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