White Chocolate Ale

Sorry if anyone has covered this before, I didn't see anything when I searched.

We have a craft brewery here in AZ that has a White Chocolate Ale that is fantastic. They say it's a wheat beer. I would love to try and brew something like that up but have never used white chocolate before.

Any thoughts, suggestions or recipes?

i love this white chocolate beer by sonoran brewing co. i am concocting a wheat extract recipe and intend to use white chocolate flavor/extract at bottling. as al alternative i may use vanilla extract and lactose. right now i am struggling with what hops to use. sonoran posts ibu to be 16.5 so far here's what i've got
fermentables (going for 4.7%)
(NOTE 5.5 gallon batch)

2.5 light liquid malt extract
4.75 wheat extract
steeping grains
.25 biscuit
.5 carapils
.5 crystal 20 or 40
hop schedule
1 oz tettnanger (60min boil)
.5 oz tett. (30)
.5 oz willamette (10) (probably dont need this and might skip it)
yeast wlp001
honey or corn sugar for bottle prime
white choc. flavor/extract at bottle time to taste

Been thinking about a recipe like this as well- might go for a raspberry wheat and then add white chocolate liquor or creme to white cocoa at bottling. I found a clear liquor so oils don't mess with carbonation (hopefully)- trying to figure out how much corn sugar I need to add now...

hint, from sonoran brewing co, ABV for wheat ale with white chocolate is 4.7%. why corn sugar?

For fermentation... If I'm adding the liquor, I don't think I'll need as much to get it to ferment since it already has sugar in it!

ah, i usually use it to adjust OG in the end if I'm a bit off target or use it to up fermentables in a higher alcohol beer.

This might help... http://***********/component/resource/article/Indices/38-Ingredients/316-brewing-with-chocolate

Its article from BYO about using chocolate and different ways to do it.

thanks key west, but this does not cover white choocolate...here is my valuable two sense. i am a brewer and a chocolatier.
true white chocolate is rare and expensive and is made with cocoa butter which imparts little taste but adds mouthfeel and is slightly waxy. it is purely cocoa butter without cacao solids, sugar, milk, vanilla and some soy lecithin to hold it all together. it is highly unstable and very grumpy in certain temp. ranges: it clumps and separates and cant be put back together again. i know because i have struggled to make pure white chocolate. most commercial white chocolate is made with a homogenized oil for stability. what you are really tasting when you eat white chocolate is cream sugar and vanilla.
in my opinion, to get a great white chocolate flavor and feeling out of a beer is brew one that is light color, medium body, with some residual sweetness but still somewhat dry in finish. it must have vanilla aroma and flavor because that is all you get out of white chocolate besides a stomach ache.
i like vanilla best at bottling (so i can leave some bottles without it) but for brew inspired by white chocolate i would opt for a scraped vanilla bean at flameout or secondary to round out the vanilla flavor.

I was just going off of this.....

"Baker's chocolate is the same as ground cocoa, except that oils have been added - or, in some cases, not removed - to make a solid "cake" of unsweetened bitter chocolate. These oils, whether added or natural, cause a minor inconvenience for the brewer. Any beer made with these and other types of oil-containing chocolate must include a long and vigorous boil time to volatilize the oils, otherwise the beer will suffer from poor head retention. Most baker's chocolate is unsweetened or bittersweet, but it is now also possible to find milk chocolate and white chocolate in the same basic format - they will act the same, but will obviously be sweeter. All of these should be broken or chopped into small pieces and added to the boil with any syrup or dry malt extracts. Care should be taken to stir well, making sure the chocolate is not burning onto the bottom of the kettle.

A slight further refinement is the chocolate chip - sweetened, high-quality chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk chocolate or white chocolate) are still more cocoa than additives. They should be used in the same way as the chopped baker's chocolate, above."

relaxnrelapsen said:

i love this white chocolate beer by sonoran brewing co. i am concocting a wheat extract recipe and intend to use white chocolate flavor/extract at bottling. as al alternative i may use vanilla extract and lactose. right now i am struggling with what hops to use. sonoran posts ibu to be 16.5 so far here's what i've got
fermentables (going for 4.7%)
(NOTE 5.5 gallon batch)

2.5 light liquid malt extract
4.75 wheat extract
steeping grains
.25 biscuit
.5 carapils
.5 crystal 20 or 40
hop schedule
1 oz tettnanger (60min boil)
.5 oz tett. (30)
.5 oz willamette (10) (probably dont need this and might skip it)
yeast wlp001
honey or corn sugar for bottle prime
white choc. flavor/extract at bottle time to taste

Click to expand...

I plugged this into my beersmith and your lookin at 5.5 ABV with that grain bill. Also using just the 1oz of Tettnang @ 60 min will give you 15.5 IBU.

OG 1.052
FG 1.010

i used brewers friend and got 4.9% ABV with OG @ 1.049 and fg 1.011. also got 16.88 ibu with that hop schedule. first time i used this program, although i'm not going for clone recipe, I'm curious about the differences in the calculators.

relaxnrelapsen said:

i used brewers friend and got 4.9% ABV with OG @ 1.049 and fg 1.011. also got 16.88 ibu with that hop schedule. first time i used this program, although i'm not going for clone recipe, I'm curious about the differences in the calculators.

Click to expand...

I used pale malt extract when I put it in so I do t know if that's the reason they're different. But the IBUs should be right. I also do AG so I may be formulating the recipe the wrong way somehow, though I think I got it right. Either way I was just puttin the info out there to try and be helpful. The idea of a difference in calculators is interesting though.

ah, i do extract with 3 gallon boil which lowers the hop utilization. i have that parameter set in the calculator. wheat extract and pale malt extract doesn't change the calculation. the calculation difference probably has to do with the steeping grains. I'll post my OG when i brew this in the next week or 2.

Thank you all. Some great information. I'm going to work on putting something together. I'll let you know what I come up with

xfevv...please do post!
i plant to brew in the next 2 weeks as soon my fermentor is cleared of my solstice stout. i decided on using 7.25lbs wheat extract (its 70% wheat and 30% barley), with steeped grains: 1/4# biscuit, 1/2# caramel 10L, and 1/2# carapils. 1-2 scraped vanilla beans at flameout. adding a 10 minute hop addition is still up for debate and will decide while brewing. i will update as i go, but i know i will probably split the batch and do 1/2 with white chocolate flavor and 1/2 with more vanilla and lactose. that's just how i am.
some brew notes to add. i will likely add 1/2 of the extract towards the end of boil to keep the color light. this will increase hop utilization and thus i may decrease hop quantity. still need to calculate... I also switched to caramel 10L due to its smell, (qualities closer to white chocolate) and most of all, lighter color.

relaxnrelapsen said:

xfevv...please do post!
i plant to brew in the next 2 weeks as soon my fermentor is cleared of my solstice stout. i decided on using 7.25lbs wheat extract (its 70% wheat and 30% barley), with steeped grains: 1/4# biscuit, 1/2# caramel 10L, and 1/2# carapils. 1-2 scraped vanilla beans at flameout. adding a 10 minute hop addition is still up for debate and will decide while brewing. i will update as i go, but i know i will probably split the batch and do 1/2 with white chocolate flavor and 1/2 with more vanilla and lactose. that's just how i am.
some brew notes to add. i will likely add 1/2 of the extract towards the end of boil to keep the color light. this will increase hop utilization and thus i may decrease hop quantity. still need to calculate... I also switched to caramel 10L due to its smell, (qualities closer to white chocolate) and most of all, lighter color.

Click to expand...

I think CaraPils and Crystal 10 are pretty much the same thing if I remember correctly.

re: carapils and caramel 10...they definitely dont smell or look the same! also, not so sure i trust calcs on brewers friend, it is calculating lactose as a fermentable.

So I decided to take it easy this first time around. Went to the lhbs and picked up a basic wheat extract kit:

6lbs Wheat Malt Extract
1 oz Hallertau
1 pk brewers yeast

I'll add 8oz of chopped white bakers chocolate to the beginning of the boil and see what happens.

Figured this will give me a good starting point for future brews.

Definitely post back with results!!!

Just brewed it up today. Bumped the chocolate up to 12oz. 8oz didn't quite seem to be enough. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Update,

Racked to secondary this weekend. Beer tastes great but little to no white chocolate flavor/aroma. Thinking about getting some white chocolate extract and adding at bottling.

xfevv said:

Update,

Racked to secondary this weekend. Beer tastes great but little to no white chocolate flavor/aroma. Thinking about getting some white chocolate extract and adding at bottling.

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting back. I'm hoping you find a way to make it work!!

I am glad I found this. Last year I was able to get the white chocolate extract from my lhbs that was actually produced by Sonoran. I used it for a white choc espresso stout that was pretty tasty. I just gathered my supplies for a planned white choc rasberry stout and come to find out that they have not been able to get the extract from Sonoran for 9 months!! I wish I would have stocked up on it. I look forward to hearing your results.

i just ordered one from natures flavors. it wasn't cheap! but i live in hawaii so nothing is.
http://www.naturesflavors.com/white-chocolate-flavor-extract.html

just racked the beer last night after 9 days in primary. gravity reading at 1.012. vanilla taste is very subtle. here's what i did:

scaled recipe to 5 gallons:
made 1 liter starter of wlp001
3 gallon boil, steeping grains 30 min 150-160F
.25 biscuit
.5 carapils
.5 crystal 20 or 40
remove grains
BOIL
3.5 lbs wheat extract at 60 min
3.5 lbs wheat extract at 30
HOP SCHEDULE
1 oz tettnanger (60 min)
.5 oz tett. (30)
FLAMEOUT
boiled 1/2 cup water with 3 spit/scraped vanilla beans
Topped to 5 gal with cooled sterilized water
pitched yeast at 75F
fermentation temp 75F
THE PLAN: let sit in secondary for 10-14 days,
3 gallons: bottle to taste with white chocolate flavor extract
1 gallon: add <1/4 lb lactose and additional vanilla extract if needed
1 gallon: leave as is. this recipe may be a great base for a lemongrass wheat or something else experimental.

will update at bottling or when drinkable.

Bottled on Thursday. Had to add some extract to bring out the white chocolate aroma/flavor. There was still quite a bit of oils in the secondary so head retention may be shot. Pop one open in a couple weeks and report back.

I think if you can get a noticeable white chocolate flavor its more than worth the lack of head retention. Looking forward to hearing the results.

going to bottle this in a few days, and I'd like some feedback on priming sugar. I've never done a wheat and I assume the style I made is an american wheat. I measure priming sugar by weight and calculate how much to use by volume of beer and co2 volume per style. i see that german wheats call for 3.3-4.5 volumes of CO2, and some american wheat ales call for just 2.3-2.6. any ideas or suggestions on what co2 volume to calculate my priming sugar?

relaxnrelapsen said:

going to bottle this in a few days, and I'd like some feedback on priming sugar. I've never done a wheat and I assume the style I made is an american wheat. I measure priming sugar by weight and calculate how much to use by volume of beer and co2 volume per style. i see that german wheats call for 3.3-4.5 volumes of CO2, and some american wheat ales call for just 2.3-2.6. any ideas or suggestions on what co2 volume to calculate my priming sugar?

Click to expand...

I've never made a wheat beer but I do know 2.5 volumes is a pretty good amount of carbonation as that's what I generally carb my beers to. Not to say you couldn't go higher of course.

thanks keywest, i'm going with 2.5, the higher volumes are for true german wheats which is not at all what i made. i'll be bottling this weekend and i will post results in a few weeks! thanks for all the input. one thing i would say about this beer so far is the color is quite darker than i'd hoped. something about a cloudy amber beer doesn;t say white chocolate! i could've done a late addition of most of my lme or cut back on the steeping grains in hindsight, but for now this isnt as important to me as capturing the right flavor. something about an amber beer doesn;t say white chocolate! i'm now tempted to take a gallon of this and add a chestnut extract or liquer for all my sweeties who dont like beer.

relaxnrelapsen said:

thanks keywest, i'm going with 2.5, the higher volumes are for true german wheats which is not at all what i made. i'll be bottling this weekend and i will post results in a few weeks! thanks for all the input. one thing i would say about this beer so far is the color is quite darker than i'd hoped. something about a cloudy amber beer doesn;t say white chocolate! i could've done a late addition of most of my lme or cut back on the steeping grains in hindsight, but for now this isnt as important to me as capturing the right flavor. something about an amber beer doesn;t say white chocolate! i'm now tempted to take a gallon of this and add a chestnut extract or liquer for all my sweeties who dont like beer.

Click to expand...

Keep us posted

back in the summer of 2010 i had an epiphany. WHITE BEER! i wanted to make a white chocolate beer glow white like a stout is solid black. consensus was that it was impossible. it was light in color like you're going for, it had the white chocolate flavor, but ended up way overcarbonated with too much alcohol bite. I never did try again... Here's the link from my attempt:
a white, white chocolate beer

i used a whole can (~3 lbs) Ghirardelli Sweet Ground White Chocolate and vanilla beans in primary, then used vanilla sugar and creme de cacao for flavor during bottling. OG 1.082 FG 1.003!

jessup said:

i used a whole can (~3 lbs) Ghirardelli Sweet Ground White Chocolate and vanilla beans in primary, then used vanilla sugar and creme de cacao for flavor during bottling. OG 1.082 FG 1.003!

Click to expand...

heres whats in that white chocolate powder:
INGREDIENTS: sugar, nonfat milk powder, partially hydrogenated coconut oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), cellulose gum, xanthan gum, maltodextrin, carrageenan, dipotassium phosphate, propylene glycol esters of fatty acids, mono- and diglycerides, sodium silicoaluminate, salt, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), calcium, carrageenan, natural and artificial flavors, artificial color

Cracked one open tonight. Pretty good. Real subtle white chocolate aroma/taste. Not overpowering at all. Only issue, which I figured would happen, is I have zero head retention, but who cares it tastes good

xfevv said:

Cracked one open tonight. Pretty good. Real subtle white chocolate aroma/taste. Not overpowering at all. Only issue, which I figured would happen, is I have zero head retention, but who cares it tastes good

Click to expand...

If you didn't know the beer had white chocolate in it would you be able to spot it out? Or do you think you notice because you know it's there and are looking for it?

KeyWestBrewing said:

If you didn't know the beer had white chocolate in it would you be able to spot it out? Or do you think you notice because you know it's there and are looking for it?

Click to expand...

You would pick it up for sure.

I finally cracked a few of these after bottle conditioning for 20 days at 72F and letting them sit in the fridge for 3 days. During bottling i did several different things as follows:
some got bottled as is with no additions
some got 2 drops of "natures flavors" white chocolate extract
some got 2 drops of that with a drop of lactose disolved in boiled water
some got a few drops of chestnut extract from natures flavors

prior to bottling i cold crashed the beer with gelatin.

the plain wheat has a lovely foamy head, good retention but is a bit sweet on its own. the vanilla undertones are present but not that obvious. i would brew this again with more bittering hops or leave out the crystal or both. this beer would be perhaps a nice backbone for a ginger wheat, given that the ginger would bitter and be a bit spicy.

as for the white chocolate extract: this is an extract in ethanol solution and it is seriously potent. thats why i did 2 tiny drops per 12oz bottle. i wouldn't use this extract again in this brew, it is more floral than white chocolate too me. it has an astringent bite that seems to come from the alcohol base. but it is pleasant, aromatic and bubbly. 2.5units of CO2 was perfect. head retention is great and it is drinkable, just not the white chocolaty taste i would have liked. i am going to let this condition longer and drink them in the summer on a hot afternoon.

the bottles with lactose are subtly sweeter and it doesn't help the artificial quality of the extract, and i prefer lactose in stouts.

the brews with the chestnut are tasty but lacking the right malt backbone. the chestnut brew i plan to make in the future wil be a blond ale with real chestnuts pureed in the mash and roasted chestnuts in the secondary. the extract i used is also from natures flavors but it is a flavor concentrate and best used sparingly too.

conclusion: i will again try the wheat recipe in time for summer but increase the bittering hops, and either do a smaller batch with lemongrass in the boil and ginger in the secondary. an alternative would be drop the crystal and dryhop with elderflower. as for white chocolate, i may have to make my own extract or buy a white chocolate liquer to add at bottling some day.

Sorry it didn't turn out as hopes for. But thanks for the detailed summary of it all.

thanks, key west. i will report back in summer about how the beer conditioned. right now its tucked away and this recipe is probably going to not evolve, as i've switched to all grain...

Thought I should chip in here since i make chocolate for a living.
White chocolate does not work the same way dark chocolate dose in beer.
Since there are is cocoa mass ( the dark part ) there is minimal flavour. not the mention that most commercial cocoa butter is deodorized.
deodorized cocoa butter has 0 cocoa flavour. most of the flavour of white chocolate comes the milk and and sugar, I what I would recommend is to get hold of some non deodorized cocoa butter, use lactose to give sweetness and body then a dash of vanilla.

I think that will give more of the flavour you are looking for.
M biggest concern is how much flavour can you get from the cocoa butter? since it is a fat the only thing you get in your beer is some traces of cocoa and alot of residue.