chocolate raspberry imperial stout advice

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sha0056

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I am planning on using making a chocolate raspberry imperial stout based off the Northern Brewer imperial stout kit and have some questions.

The modifications I am thinking about are:

1. adding 1# flaked oats and 1# base malt mashed for 1 hr at 152 deg F
2. after fermentation, racking onto 6# raspberries (puree) and 4 oz cacao nibs
3. decreasing bittering hop (kit has 1.75 oz summit at 18 AA) to 1.5 oz due to addition of cacao and fruit which I expect to add bitterness

Questions are:

1. any suggestions re: the decrease in hops - I realize that the added bitterness will be offset somewhat by the added 2# of grains
2. thoughts on the amount of fruit / cacao - would like to have a bit of raspberry flavor come through with just a hint of chocolate to go with some of the stout character

I appreciate any thoughts. I have not ordered my supplies yet, but will probably be ordering next week and brewing April 9 (have a friend coming in from out of state who will be brewing with me)
 
another question:

I am expecting about a 10% abv from the fermentation before adding the raspberries - any thoughts on how much additional fermentation will take place from the fruit and suggestions on a dry yeast strain to use for bottling. I plan to ferment with Wyeast Scottish Ale with a 12% or so ABV tolerance using a large starter
 
Brewed this past weekend as above - OG of 1.110 fermenting at 65 deg F. Will rack into secondary after 2 weeks or so and add the bourbon/oak/coffee and the raspberry/ cacao nibs to the two separate batches
 
sha0056 said:
another question:

I am expecting about a 10% abv from the fermentation before adding the raspberries - any thoughts on how much additional fermentation will take place from the fruit and suggestions on a dry yeast strain to use for bottling. I plan to ferment with Wyeast Scottish Ale with a 12% or so ABV tolerance using a large starter

Using the information of how much sugar is in fresh raspberries - and all sources agree, so my info should be good - I'm kind of blown away because it looks like the raspberries would only add about 2.5 gravity points of fermentables. For 6 pounds of berries, I'd have expected more!
 
Using the information of how much sugar is in fresh raspberries - and all sources agree, so my info should be good - I'm kind of blown away because it looks like the raspberries would only add about 2.5 gravity points of fermentables. For 6 pounds of berries, I'd have expected more!

What is the points per pounds sugar/gallon you used? With about 14 cups of Pomegranate on my last batch, I was able to calculate 3/4 lbs sugar out of it. That gave me an increase in sugars in 5 gal of about 7 points. Calculated from 1.057 to 1.064. I feel like raspberries would have more of an effect than that, but I guess you never know!
 
AKnewbrews said:
What is the points per pounds sugar/gallon you used? With about 14 cups of Pomegranate on my last batch, I was able to calculate 3/4 lbs sugar out of it. That gave me an increase in sugars in 5 gal of about 7 points. Calculated from 1.057 to 1.064. I feel like raspberries would have more of an effect than that, but I guess you never know!

I calculated just over a quarter pound of sugar in 6 pounds of raspberries, and that part of the math is the simplest. So that makes me pretty much totally confident in my calculations, since about a third of the sugar results in roughly the same proportion of gravity points added.

Now, while I got the EXACT same data regarding the sugar content of raspberries from numerous, completely separate sources, anybody who's eaten raspberries on more than one occasion would probably agree that even just among the perfectly ripe fruit, raspberries can vary wildly, from super tart to super sweet, moreso than almost any other fruit. So think of it as merely an average, but also consider the fact that, for all functional purposes, you might as well treat any deviation from this average as negligible, due to the sheer minuteness of the the increase in gravity, as well as the fact that with so many individual raspberries in 6lbs of them, they should just sort of "even out" to a large degree.
 
I did a raspberry wheat last summer and it was quite tasty. I think I had 4lbs (I'm at work so I can't check my brewer's log) of frozen, thawed raspberries. It had a fruity flavor in the range of medium. In perspective of your beer, I think 6# sounds good. You have a high ABV and a dark beer, so more fruit will need to shine through that to get a good flavor.

The gravity was almost completely unchanged. I measured gravities all the way through that batch (since I planned on doing more fruit beers in the future). I think it may have raised 1 point.

Also, I have not had experience with nibs. I found a chocolate extract which worked pretty well. I berwed a youngs double choc stout clone, which had me adding cocoa powder in the boil and choc extract after fermentation in the primary, and then again for secondary. Had a light chocolate flavor, probably a little lighter than young's. It was really easy to use, though, so I recommend the extract.
 
I did a raspberry wheat last summer and it was quite tasty. I think I had 4lbs (I'm at work so I can't check my brewer's log) of frozen, thawed raspberries. It had a fruity flavor in the range of medium. In perspective of your beer, I think 6# sounds good. You have a high ABV and a dark beer, so more fruit will need to shine through that to get a good flavor.

Also, I have not had experience with nibs. I found a chocolate extract which worked pretty well. I berwed a youngs double choc stout clone, which had me adding cocoa powder in the boil and choc extract after fermentation in the primary, and then again for secondary. Had a light chocolate flavor, probably a little lighter than young's. It was really easy to use, though, so I recommend the extract.

the base beer has a good bit of chocolate character and I just want to have a touch more but hesitate to use extracts - at least with fruit I have heard it gives an artificial flavor. the berries and nibs will be added likely this weekend (and the bourbon / oak / coffee to the other batch) and I will give probably a month in secondary before bottling - will definitely be sure the gravity is stable in the secondary before bottling. FWIW, I did get some dry champagne yeast with my order that I will add at bottling just in case - don't mind if it takes a couple months to carbonate but just want to be sure it does
 
BTW, by 48 hours into fermentation, the gravity was already down to 1.040 (used about a 3 qt starter from a smack pack) with significant blowoff - airlocks are on now but still bubbling away!
 
the base beer has a good bit of chocolate character and I just want to have a touch more but hesitate to use extracts - at least with fruit I have heard it gives an artificial flavor. the berries and nibs will be added likely this weekend (and the bourbon / oak / coffee to the other batch) and I will give probably a month in secondary before bottling - will definitely be sure the gravity is stable in the secondary before bottling. FWIW, I did get some dry champagne yeast with my order that I will add at bottling just in case - don't mind if it takes a couple months to carbonate but just want to be sure it does

I hear you on the use of extracts. Here's the thing. Fruit extracts don't compare. The chocolate extract is amazing and is meant for cooking. They recommend it for people who cant or wont have chocolate to add it to things to make it taste just like chocolate. It does. Fruit extracts suck. lol
 
I hear you on the use of extracts. Here's the thing. Fruit extracts don't compare. The chocolate extract is amazing and is meant for cooking. They recommend it for people who cant or wont have chocolate to add it to things to make it taste just like chocolate. It does. Fruit extracts suck. lol

Thanks. I may try the chocolate extract next time depending on how this turns out
 
FG 1.034. just transferred to secondary over 6 pounds of raspberry puree and 4 oz cacao nibs - what an amazing smell! now just a waiting game
 
sounds like a heck of a beer ! So thiiiiirsty ...

The bourbon / oak / coffee variety I made about 6 months ago (without the oatmeal) is phenomenal - I preferred it to the Founder's Breakfast Stout I had back to back with it, and have friends that don't like many beers at all that really enjoy it.

I can only imagine that the oats will make it even better, and am really excited about the chocolate raspberry version!
 
I just realized that in my reading prior to brewing this I saw alot about amount of fruit, type of fruit (fresh, puree, extract), but not much at all about length of secondary on the fruit.

with the high gravity of the RIS base beer I was wanting at least 1-2 months in secondary prior to bottling, but not sure if leaving the beer on the fruit for that long will cause any problems. the only mention to time in secondary or racking into tertiary are with paler, smaller beers

anyone with experience leaving the beer on fruit for extended periods of time? I do plan to age for many additional months in the bottle but want to let the fruit ferment completely and let things settle before bottling
 
I left a quad on cherries for three months without issue. The high alcohol content plus the yeast working through the fruit should leave it just fine for a long time.
 
Carbonated well, full of raspberry aroma, and taste of dark chocolate with a touch of tartness from the raspberry! Expect the raspberry to mellow with time and flavors to meld making this an amazing dessert around Christmas!
 
in the future I may cut the raspberry back a bit (to 3 pounds) and/or add some lactose as the body is a bit light - likely due to the fermentation of the fruit. overall a very good tasting beer to be sipped on a cold night after a great dinner
 
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