Imperial Stout Sweet Chocolate Milk Stout

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MetalMatt

Active Member
Joined
May 13, 2012
Messages
42
Reaction score
9
Location
Bartow
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
SafBrew Ale S-33
Yeast Starter
no
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
no
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.090
Final Gravity
1.028
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
50.3
Color
38.9
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21
Tasting Notes
Initial sweetnes from the lactose, but finishes of with a crisp hoppy flavor
Recipe: Gary's Chocolate Milk Stout
Brewer: Matt
Style: Sweet Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (45 out of 50)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.37 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.091 SG
Estimated Color: 37.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 51.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 87.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.7 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.7 %
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.9 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5 5.7 %
1 cup Unsweetened Coco Powder
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 38.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 7 12.8 IBUs
2.0 pkg SafBrew Ale (DCL Yeast #S-33) [25.14 ml] Yeast 8 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 23.82 qt of water at 166.6 F 156.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.11gal, 4.09gal) of 168.0 F water

Notes: Lactose and Coco powder was added in at 45 minutes.

With this brew, it was accidentally mashed at 157, but it turned out for the better. It added a bit more sweetness, but not overpowering. Expect to use a blow-off tube with this brew/yeast if unless your fermenting vessel is over-sized. I have alot of friends that hate stouts and porters, but cant get enough of this stout. So far it is my #1 brew with all of my friends and family. It was put together with the help from Gary, at my LHBS, thus it was named after him. Enjoy :mug:

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I love dark/rich/heavy stouts and I gotta say this one caught my eye and that pic you put up makes it look AWESOME. Is there any lengthy ageing needed for this, except for the primary, secondary and carbonation? Usually with the RIS and so on you have to let it sit for 6-8 months before its in its prime. How long do you usually wait before you dig in?

Thanks
 
So I brewed this today, but when I put the ingredients list into iBrewmaster it it showed the potential OG was going to be 1.079. I hit my numbers almost dead on according to iBrewmaster. My OG was 1.080. How were you able to get 1.090 with 72% eff with this? What did I do wrong lol pics below :) It was a smooth brew day! Now, I wait... Lol

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This may sound like a really dumb question, but this will be my first stout. I REALLY want to make this my first stout, but one thing I noticed, and I've noticed across all stout recipes I came across, that there seems to be a lot of missing volume

Boil Size: 7.37 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.25 gal

why is only 5 gallons transferred to fermenter? And why is bottling volume only 4.25 gallons? What's going on between end of boil and fermenter, and while in the fermenter to lose all that volume? I'm sorry if this is something I should know about stouts. I've been searching the site and google about this but I can't find anything. Thanks, can't wait to try this!
 
Trub loss

Oh wow, I didn't think you would lose 1.24 gallons between post boil and into the fermenter. Must be a stout thing lol. Thanks!

Also, what would be a good white labs yeast to use for this? The equivilant to s-33 looks to be WLP006, but no one carries that that i can find.
 
I just tasted a sample of this after almost 3 weeks, and it is awesome already. The chocolate is really standing out now. Last week I couldn't even notice it.

I'm not sure what the equivalent would be to s-33, but the s-33 made this delicious. My only problem is that my fermentation got stuck at 1.036. I had to make a starter of some Wyeast London ESB I had laying around to kick start it again.
 
I just brewed this and everything was great until I ran the wort through my plate chiller....looks like a lot of sediment (prob from cocoa and lactose). It was clogging my strainer inside my boil kettle. I had to use a wooden spoon to scrape it away. It took forever to get it into my primary. Once in there I noticed a LOT of the sediment in the bottom of the primary. I don't think that is normal when I hadn't even added the yeast yet but this is my first milk stout. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? I was tempted to siphon it into my other carboy before starting the primary fermentation period. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
Made this beer last month and it turned out really well! I didnt let it sit in the primary fermentor for 3 weeks, I moved it after 2 weeks, fermentation finished basically in 2 days and it was explosive. blocked my air locks multiple times and I had to baby sit them for a day until the aggressive fermentation settled to something my airlocks could manage. Yes recommend running a blowoff tube.

I enjoy the flavor, it is a heavy strong beer. My OG was 1.080 and the FG was about 1.030. ~ 7.5% abv. I made a 10 gal batch and I have to break up the mash into two separate mashes, I only had 10 gal mashtun and the amount of grains this thing took was more than the mashtun could handle *o*.

Pics of the life of this beer posted. Enjoy.

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I brewed this recipe yesterday and I smells wonderful. But when he said to use a blow off tube, he wasn't kidding!! I woke up today to a LOUD bubbling/rumbling sound. This is the most active fermentation ive ever had. I used a blow off tube into a growler and that wasn't even enough. Beer everywhere.

Moral of the story, use a giant bucket for blow off.
 
brewed last night BiAB, found out that my 7 gal kettle wasnt big enough for a 5 gal batch, so I had to leave 1 gal of water out of the mash recommended on my calculator. I expected a slightly lower OG due to this, hit 1.071 which was also prob partly to not having a colander strong enough to sit over the kettle to let the grain bill drain into. Airlock was going nuts this morning already, I used WLP002(after about 30 minutes or research to find the best liquid choice...I have been disappointed with dry yeast so I am stopping usage of it) and made a 1.6l starter. I do not like porters or stouts at all(the slight coffee taste of even sweet stouts gets me...i hate coffee) however I made it to give as a gift to both my father and SWMBO father, as they both enjoy the beers I have made but love stouts(which this is my first attempt). So dont think I will be able to add much to the tasting notes. Thanks for the awesome recipe though, trusting it will be amazing.
 
This is easily the best stout, and nearly the best beer overall i have made. Fantastic recipe! I ended up using wlp023 for this one, which i love this yeast. Very creamy and smooth from the lactose. I absolutely love the chocolate after taste to this brew. I only have about 1.5 gal left and already cant wait to brew it again for next winter!
 
I brewed this on Sunday and ended up with 1.080. Smells and looks great!

I've never used S-33 before, MAN does it ferment quickly and vigorously. Within 2 hours of pitching the two packets I saw slow bubbles from the blowoff tube. The next morning, the blowoff container looked like a boiling cauldron and the wort was swirling like crazy. At lunchtime on Monday, I noticed that the temperature was reading about 77 degrees, so I wrapped the carboy with a wet towel to cool it down. Strangely, by nighttime on Monday the activity had slowed wayyyy down and the blowoff was back to bubbling once every couple seconds.

Did anyone else have this super-quick fermentation experience? I'm hoping the heating/cooling did not negatively affect the yeast. As of last night the beer was at 1.040.

Ted
 
I brewed this on Sunday and ended up with 1.080. Smells and looks great!

I've never used S-33 before, MAN does it ferment quickly and vigorously. Within 2 hours of pitching the two packets I saw slow bubbles from the blowoff tube. The next morning, the blowoff container looked like a boiling cauldron and the wort was swirling like crazy. At lunchtime on Monday, I noticed that the temperature was reading about 77 degrees, so I wrapped the carboy with a wet towel to cool it down. Strangely, by nighttime on Monday the activity had slowed wayyyy down and the blowoff was back to bubbling once every couple seconds.

Did anyone else have this super-quick fermentation experience? I'm hoping the heating/cooling did not negatively affect the yeast. As of last night the beer was at 1.040.

Ted

Why on Earth are you taking samples of your beer that early? That is just begging for an infection and/or oxidation. Its not going to be done at 3 days and you know its fermenting from the blowoff activity. Why would you take a reading? Keep the lid/stopper on your fermentor and step away from it. Stop messing with it and let the yeast do their thing

77 degrees is way too hot for any non-belgian ale yeast. It will likely produce hot fusel off flavors. The temperature swings are also not conducive to making a beer thats drinkable. The only beer ive made to date that tasted like liquid band-aids experienced 6-8 degree swings every day due to sunlight heating the area where it sat
 
Why on Earth are you taking samples of your beer that early? That is just begging for an infection and/or oxidation. Its not going to be done at 3 days and you know its fermenting from the blowoff activity. Why would you take a reading? Keep the lid/stopper on your fermentor and step away from it. Stop messing with it and let the yeast do their thing

77 degrees is way too hot for any non-belgian ale yeast. It will likely produce hot fusel off flavors. The temperature swings are also not conducive to making a beer thats drinkable. The only beer ive made to date that tasted like liquid band-aids experienced 6-8 degree swings every day due to sunlight heating the area where it sat

I believe there is a sufficient blanket and continuous production of CO2 at this point that taking one reading via wine thief from my narrow-necked glass carboy is not going to oxidize my beer. Risk of infection is a non-issue as I am overly thorough with sanitation and have never had an infected batch.

While I agree that taking a sample so early is not usually worthwhile, I was worried that the fermentation had stalled due to how rapidly the activity declined. I wanted to ensure that it wasn't stuck at some crazy high gravity.

Edit: Also, I understand the merit in temperature control, I have two fermentation chambers (one is actually a keezer) but both were in use for lagering/kegging so it would not be conducive to ale fermentation temps. The wort started at 68 degrees and almost immediately spiked to 76 degrees, a speed I wasn't anticipating. After being cooled with the towel, it's been back down to a steady 68 degrees.

Another Edit: A week later, the beer is still at 1.040. I think I know what my mistake was. I mashed at too high of a temperature and produced too many unfermentable sugars. I figured out at the end of the mash that my mash tun thermometer was not properly calibrated. While it read about 155 at the beginning of the mash, I checked the temperature with a digital thermometer at the very end of the 60 minutes and it was at 157. Lesson learned...time to recalibrate my mash tun thermometer.
 
I brewed this beer just recently and have a video of it below. MetalMatt, I did give you a "shout out" for this recipe. I am waiting to bottle it as I'm getting a gravity reading of around 1.028 right now after 3 weeks in fermentation. My OG ended up being around 1.073 so kudos to you for that incredible efficiency if you were getting it up to 1.091! Video link is below. Cheers!
https://youtu.be/sNSbqJp5aWw
 
I brewed this on Sunday and ended up with 1.080. Smells and looks great!

I've never used S-33 before, MAN does it ferment quickly and vigorously. Within 2 hours of pitching the two packets I saw slow bubbles from the blowoff tube. The next morning, the blowoff container looked like a boiling cauldron and the wort was swirling like crazy. At lunchtime on Monday, I noticed that the temperature was reading about 77 degrees, so I wrapped the carboy with a wet towel to cool it down. Strangely, by nighttime on Monday the activity had slowed wayyyy down and the blowoff was back to bubbling once every couple seconds.

Did anyone else have this super-quick fermentation experience? I'm hoping the heating/cooling did not negatively affect the yeast. As of last night the beer was at 1.040.

Ted
I had the exact same thing happen. I had put together a yeast starter for it and it was fermenting like mad in just a few hours. It was done going crazy by day 3. I did have to give my secondary a swirl to get it going again. I'm hoping it comes out good as I noticed a little bit of esters in my fermenter closet. Cheers!
 
Brewed this past weekend along with smoked some pork shoulder for 12hrs

FG 1.084
Made 1.8L starter

Pitched it at 65F.

NOW...for the change. I am adding bourbon to this. So I am soaking Dark Roasted Oak chips in Jack Daniels. After I get move it over to secondary, I will add the wood and just let it sit for a few weeks. Going to try my best and let it sit in secondary for 4-5 weeks.

We will see if that happens.

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interesting use of a blow off tube with your starter. Even with the stir plate how will your starter get oxygen?
 
I forgot to take an OG reading prior to the carboy, but I know it stalled out around 1.04... added amylase and it's down to 1.023... needless to say, it's getting kegged. There were still bubbles coming every 10 seconds give or take from the blow off tube. Sample prior to the enzyme addition was mighty tasty although I figured the ABV was too low to rack. Sample now is pretty dry, similar to Guinness. Will be interesting to see how it shapes up in the keg at 11psi.

Thanks for the recipe.
 
After spending an hour reading on the difference between cocoa (unsweetened powder) and cacao (generally nibs) - has everyone who had made this strictly used the powder in the boil? Would anyone use nibs instead (in boil or fermenter) ? Everyone who has made this seems to like it so I don't want to screw mine up... :)
 
I made this recpie 8 weeks ago, I doubled it and made a 10 gallon batch and it turned out fantastic, it's been in a keg for 3 weeks now. I will make it again, the only issue is alot of the coco powder settles out in the bottom of the carboy and reduces your yield.
 
I made this recpie 8 weeks ago, I doubled it and made a 10 gallon batch and it turned out fantastic, it's been in a keg for 3 weeks now. I will make it again, the only issue is alot of the coco powder settles out in the bottom of the carboy and reduces your yield.

Would a hop sock or muslin bag work for the cocoa powder?
 
Just made this -- hit 1.090.

Plan is to throw vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and honey in the secondary.

Then throwing it in a fresh apple brandy barrel.

It's gonna get weird.
 
Mine is still sitting in secondary after almost 3 months. Sg is only 1.032.. And now it's starting to taste off, I'm guessing from the multiple yeast starters and probably some oxidation.

If I did this again I would definitely stay away from the s-33.
 
Would a hop sock or muslin bag work for the cocoa powder?



I used one and if anyone else was wondering - I dont think I got nearly the chocolate taste and aroma some of you folks are describing.
 
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