Please critique choco stout extract recipe

Hi everyone!
I am going to brew this beer to give to family/friends for xmas (I also posted this in the Recipes thread but realized afterwards this is probably a better place to get feedback at). I am trying to make a chocolate heavy/sweet beer that even non beer loves would like. I took the recipe from a book we have and then tweaked it quite a bit. I'm also trying to decide about the chocolate addition. Right now I want to do 8oz of unsweetened cocoa powder to flameout. I am planning on tasting the beer after a week and seeing if I should add any more chocolate. Either way I'll add one or two cracked vanilla beans to primary after a week.

I have been playing around the with the grain bill: chocolate malt, roasted barley, and black patent amounts. Let me know if you think there's too much or too little of them. Also any feedback/experience with chocolate types would be helpful. I've done quite a bit of research on the topic and can't seem to find a definitive answer to whether it's better to use unsweetened cocoa powder, semisweet chocolate, or cocoa nibs. The main thing I'm worried about is the cocoa powder causing bitterness. I am going to brew this soon to give some time for the beer to age/mellow out.

6.5 lb dark malt extract
2 lb dark dry malt extract
1 lb crystal malt 60L
1/2 lb roasted barley
1/2 lb chocolate malt
1/8 lb OR 1/4 lb black patent malt (not decided yet)
1/2 lb rolled oats (for mouthfeel)
1 1/2 oz cascade hops (bittering at 60)
1/2 oz hallertau hops (aroma at 5)
8 oz unsweetened cocoa (flameout) OR cocoa nibs in secondary
2 tsp gypsum
irish ale yeast
1-2 cracked vanilla bean

Thanks in advance!
Tina

steep or mini mash on those grains?

if mashed your OG will be 1.077. if you are steeping 1.073. either way its a big beer and your abv is going to be over 7. you will have to double pitch or make a starter for your yeast.

i used 8 oz of unsweetened bakers chocolate in the last 10 minutes of my boil and soaked the vanilla beans in whiskey to sanitize. you can use vodka as well.

akimbo78 said:

if mashed your OG will be 1.077. if you are steeping 1.073. either way its a big beer and your abv is going to be over 7. you will have to double pitch or make a starter for your yeast.

i used 8 oz of unsweetened bakers chocolate in the last 10 minutes of my boil and soaked the vanilla beans in whiskey to sanitize. you can use vodka as well.

Click to expand...

This is extract so I'll be steeping the grains. I am going for a big beer and am planning using a yeast starter.

How did your beer with unsweetened bakers chocolate come out? I think that's one of my main questions besides the grain bill, what type of chocolate to use!

it came out ok. not a huge chocolate flavor but its there. chocolate will bitter the beer up. people don't like using it because it is messy and the fats will come out on top of your beer. i did a secondary to clean that up. i should have left it in the primary for a longer period, but i was too impatient.