Help me out with a simple extract holiday sweet stout.

I've got the Sweet Stout kit coming from northern brewer:
Sweet Stout Extract Kit -- Kit Inventory Sheet

And I have been considering adding a bit to it to make a "holiday chocolate stout" or something along those lines. The ingredients of the standard kit are:
* 0.5 lbs. Dingemans Debitter Black
* 0.5 lbs. Simpson's Chocolate
* 6 lbs. Amber Malt Syrup
* 1 lbs. Lactose
*1 oz. Willamette (60 min)
*Nottingham

I was thinking of adding a bit of cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, maybe allspice? No idea on the amounts though. I've looked at a few holiday ales and they really seem to vary in spicing. I'd like something with a fairly strong spice flavor, but I don't want to overdo it.

At this point my plan is to add:
8oz cocoa powder
dash/spoonful of cinnamon
dash/spoonful of nutmeg
1lb corn sugar (Give it a bit more "warmth")

Anyone have some suggestions?

This sounds like a good idea.... have youthought about using pumkin pie spices?

mnadamn said:

This sounds like a good idea.... have youthought about using pumkin pie spices?

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I didn't really know how that would turn out, I saw it a lot in pumpkin ales but no so much in the "holiday" ones. The idea of mixing it with the chocolate kind of turned me off.

I would imagine it would taste good with the cinnamon/nutmeg, but chocolate? I'll venture into the spice rack tonight just to get an idea what they smell like together, maybe it would work...

Any suggestion on amounts?

The spices that you listed are some of the ones in pumpkin pie spice. Maybe there is some cloves as well.

Have you considered putting some hazelnut in there, in the form of hazelnut syrup (like for coffee) or I guess you can buy some special brewing hazelnut extract at the homebrew store.
I think it tastes great, but I have a thing for hazelnut.
Make sure yor dry spices are fairly fresh. I'd use 1 tbsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of nutmeg ...oh, and coriander (1 tsp) is great too, especially with cinnamon.

Hadn't thought about the hazelnut, I do like that flavor. Have you used 1tbsp of those before in a 5gallon batch? I'd rather under-do it than over-do it, as I can add more spices when I bottle.

I'd recommend 6 inches of cinnamon stick added either in the boil or primary. I used 3 inches in a sweet stout last winter and it was barely noticeable. I added it during the boil and didn't leave it in the primary.

i think chocolate and the pumpkin srpces sound great. i've never put together a recipe before, but i just think about those chocolate chip pumpkin muffins mom used to make. sounds great to me

bbrim said:

I'd recommend 6 inches of cinnamon stick added either in the boil or primary. I used 3 inches in a sweet stout last winter and it was barely noticeable. I added it during the boil and didn't leave it in the primary.

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6 inches sounds about right, I used about 2-3 in joe's ancient orange mead so I can't imagine it'll be too overpowering here.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll probably do something like 2-3 cinnamon sticks, few dashes of pumpkin spice and 8oz of cocoa. All of it either at the end of the boil or in primary, should be able to adjust as needed when I go secondary or bottle.

Thoughts on maybe vanilla or hazelnut extract? (1tsp)?

i think the vanilla would be a bit much, but i dont know to much about it

jonp9576 said:

i think the vanilla would be a bit much, but i dont know to much about it

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That was my concern, maybe I'll hold off and throw a bit in a few bottle later to see.

I have made a winter warmer with 3 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 1 tbps of cinnamon, and 1 tsp of coriander and it came out very delicous. Behind the thickness of the malt flavor there was a subtle tone of the spices and a slight aroma from them.
If you were to use the hazelnut extract I think you should go with 1 oz., but then lessen the other spices, you don't want it to be too crowded with flavors.