Chocolate Cherry Chipotle Porter

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Lariatbob

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So I have this thought to try to brew a chocolate robust porter with cherry and chipotle tones.
I am not sure if I want to add cocoa powder for the chocolate or let the grains do the talking.
What I would like your ideas on is how and when to do the cherries and the chipotles.
I could add the peppers in the mash and let them leach into the grains, I could add them to the boil or I could put them in the fermenter.
Same with the cherries, would I be better off adding to the boil or to the fermenter?
I have never added to the fermenter, so what steps do I need to take to sanitize the adjuncts?
Please chime in with your suggestions as this will be a new tangent for my brewing.
Thanks!!
 
I have heard of soaking them in vodka overnight and then dumping them in. But wait for an expert to confirm this before you try it
 
donjonson said:
I have heard of soaking them in vodka overnight and then dumping them in. But wait for an expert to confirm this before you try it
Click to expand...

A 2-3 minute soak in Vodka should be sufficient for sanitization purposes, shouldn't it? I'd worry with an overnight soak that flavor would begin to leach into the vodka. Then I would suggest tossing the vodka in with the peppers.
 
I did a chocolate chili porter a few months back. I brought my dried chiptoles and anchos to a quick boil then let it cool down a bit. Then added the peppers and water I boiled them in, into the secondary. I think it may have affected the heat though by doing it this way. I got no heat what so ever from the peppers. however I had a great smoky flavor from the chipotles and a raiseny flavor from the anchos. It made the beer very complex and great to the taste. I only had it on top of the peppers and in the secondary for 5 days. I used 3 chipotles and 2 ancho peppers. I'm sure with more time or more peppers it would have brought out some heat, although I was very happy with the way it turned out. Even if I was originally going for a tad bit of heat.
 
HH60gunner said:
Even if I was originally going for a tad bit of heat.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
I am a big fan of the habanero and was thinking of some kind of habanero beer. Would kinda suck though, if you came home from work one day anticipating a cold beer but it was too hot to drink.....:mad:

So you got good results with just 3 chipotles.......
Anyone have thoughts as to how much crushed cherries to add? 1/2 pound?
 
For both peppers and fruit, just throw them in on top of the primary after its had 10 days to get through primary fermentation. This is ok as long as you don't plan on re-using or washing that yeast. Or, you can add the fruit to a secondary and rack on top. If you used canned fruit, just open the can with a sanitized can opener and dump into the fermenter. For peppers, boil water, throw them in, kill the heat and let sit for five minutes before cooling to ferment temps, and add to the fermenter. I think two to three dried chipotles is good for 5 gallons for 5-7 days depending on the heat level you prefer.

Don't add either to the mash as the boil and ferment will drive off the flavors you're looking for. Always add these types of flavoring items to your secondary / after primary fermentation is complete.
 
KAMMEE said:
For both peppers and fruit, just throw them in on top of the primary after its had 10 days to get through primary fermentation. This is ok as long as you don't plan on re-using or washing that yeast. Or, you can add the fruit to a secondary and rack on top. If you used canned fruit, just open the can with a sanitized can opener and dump into the fermenter. For peppers, boil water, throw them in, kill the heat and let sit for five minutes before cooling to ferment temps, and add to the fermenter. I think two to three dried chipotles is good for 5 gallons for 5-7 days depending on the heat level you prefer.

Don't add either to the mash as the boil and ferment will drive off the flavors you're looking for. Always add these types of flavoring items to your secondary / after primary fermentation is complete.
Click to expand...
Great advice. I didn't even think of using canned cherries. Much less possible problems. I will do this all to the secondary as suggested, makes sense. Thanks very much. :mug:
 
Lariatbob said:
Yep, that will help a lot. Looks like a great recipe, I will have to try yours next time. What was the effect of the lactose?

Thanks for your input. :mug:
Click to expand...

The lactose adds unfermentable sugars that contribute sweetness and body, helps give a chocolaty feel.
 
Well, 1 week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary with the cherries, chipotle and chocolate powder. Transferred to a third carboy to clear whatever trub I got from the second. Ready to keg. This tastes AWESOME! Can't wait to carbonate and age a bit in the keg. I am sure I will want to tweak my recipe a bit but am really stoked from this one.
Thanks to all your help and suggestions. You guys are great.
 
what recipe did you end up using? How much of the peppers, cherries and cocoa powder did you end up using?
 
I used Shinglejohn's Cocoa Cayenne Porter recipe for the base
(An excellent start, thank you ShingleJohn)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/cocoa-cayenne-porter-173496/ Omitting the cayenne and vanilla.
And added .5tbs of Chipotle powder, 1.5 tbs cocoa powder and 20 oz of cherries.
I can detect very subtle cherry and cocoa tones. The chipotle smoke flavor is very subtle, a little heat in the finish.
Next time I am going to double all of the adjuncts. Definately erred on the conservative side (just the way I am) but am very happy with the initial result.
Thanks again to ShingleJohn for the excellent Porter recipe.:mug:
 

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