Add creamy sweetness and chocolate flavor

I would like to find a way to add some type of creamy sweetness and a little chocolate flavor.


I might have hosed my beer by not doing enough research. It is currently at 11.1% ABV after 5 days in the primary. (1.114 og to 1.040)

it tastes like cold black coffee --- not too bitter to be unworkable. but too bitter to drink as it is.

Does anyone have some tips on how to fix this in the secondary? or maybe add something soon and add something to the primary fermentor?


i plan on leaving it in the primary for at least another 2 weeks. please let me know if i need to add in more information

here is the link to my recipe ----- *note* on the first post i left out the 13.2 pounds of LME

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=47713

Shaggy, my opinion would be to wait until your beer has finished the ferment, and after you have transferred to the secondary let it hang out there until say a month. Then taste again. With that big of a beer (most beers behave like this but even more with a big beer) you need to give it a good amount of time to really be able to judge where it is going.

If after that you still have a problem, you can sweeten with lactose. As for the chocolate flavor, when the beer has conditioned enough I am willing to bet you are going to have a hefty chocolate flavor from the chocolate malt. It just isn't coming through yet is my suspicion.

ok. Thanks for the response.

Maybe i am a little worried about it. I'll "try" not to obsess over it.

shaggynuts24 said:

ok. Thanks for the response.

Maybe i am a little worried about it. I'll "try" not to obsess over it.

Click to expand...

It's easier said than done, especially early on in the hobby. My feeling in general is that many brewers don't give their beers half a chance to come into their own. Regardless of how much chocolate you have added you really want to wait to see what needs to be done. Prematurely trying to correct any beer can lead to unexpected results.

Lactose is going to give you creaminess and sweeten it up. Normally, I use 6 to 8 ounces but I've used up to a 16 ounces for a really bitter batch that had a lot of cocoa in it. You can boil some up in water and add to secondary when you rack. One thing to note is that the brew is going to mellow as it ages so the lactose will come out a little more after proper aging.

Nurmey said:

Lactose is going to give you creaminess and sweeten it up. Normally, I use 6 to 8 ounces but I've used up to a 16 ounces for a really bitter batch that had a lot of cocoa in it. You can boil some up in water and add to secondary when you rack. One thing to note is that the brew is going to mellow as it ages so the lactose will come out a little more after proper aging.

Click to expand...

kk --- 6 ounces of Lactose ---- boiled in how much water? maybe 6 ounces of water?

I don't think I've every measured but 1 to 2 cups is probably about what I use. You want to have enough to dissolve the lactose.

I always recommend new brewers make something in the 1.040 range, so it will be drinkable before they go insane worrying about the brew.

personally, I use chocolate malt to get a chocolate flavor. i see too many people using cocoa or other forms of chocolate, with gross results.

malkore said:

personally, I use chocolate malt to get a chocolate flavor. i see too many people using cocoa or other forms of chocolate, with gross results.

Click to expand...

I think he has plenty of chocolate malt (6 lbs) in this brew already.

For a creamy feel I like using a lot of flaked barley. It's great in a stout.

EDIT: It has to be mashed.

malkore said:

personally, I use chocolate malt to get a chocolate flavor. i see too many people using cocoa or other forms of chocolate, with gross results.

Click to expand...

I never notice much chocolate from chocolate malt. Nuttiness? Yes. Chocolate? No. The only thing that gives me much chocolate is roasted barley, which of course imparts coffee along with the chocolate...
I honestly think chocolate malt got it's name from it's color, not because it imparts much chocolate flavor.....at least not to my palette.

kenb said:

I never notice much chocolate from chocolate malt. Nuttiness? Yes. Chocolate? No. The only thing that gives me much chocolate is roasted barley, which of course imparts coffee along with the chocolate...
I honestly think chocolate malt got it's name from it's color, not because it imparts much chocolate flavor.....at least not to my palette.

Click to expand...

Perhaps you and I get our chocolate malt from different sources. Mine certainly throws a ton of deep roasted flavors, but I get a distinct chocolate aroma and flavor from it throughout the brewing process, including in the glass.

I've used chocolate malt from both my LHBS and Austin Homebrew, but I don't know the brand name or maltster.

In any case, adding chocolate malt or cocoa to shaggy's beer is not going to help him - the beer already suffers from some pretty intense flavor components. Patience should be the first ingredient. If patience is not rewarded, then some lactose is probably in order.

Yuri_Rage said:

Perhaps you and I get our chocolate malt from different sources. Mine certainly throws a ton of deep roasted flavors, but I get a distinct chocolate aroma and from it throughout the brewing process, including in the glass.

I've used chocolate malt from both my LHBS and Austin Homebrew, but I don't know the brand name or maltster.

In any case, adding chocolate malt or cocoa to shaggy's beer is not going to help him - the beer already suffers from some pretty intense flavor components. Patience should be the first ingredient. If patience is not rewarded, then some lactose is probably in order.

Click to expand...

I concur, lactose will help a little. Likely time and lactose are your best bets....

i found the flavor component i am missing

just got back from a Homebrew Club meeting and someone brought a milk stout

that is almost what i need - no doubt in my mind


not the stout part (i already have stout covered)


time to research recipe's and see if i can find what is in it and see what it would take to flavor 5 gallons


my batch just about stopped bubbling today ---- 22 Dec will put it over to a secondary along with whatever i find from my recipe search

Milk stout = good stout recipe + high mash temp + lactose

Yuri_Rage said:

Milk stout = good stout recipe + high mash temp + lactose

Click to expand...

crap --- that leaves me out ---

can i substitue Bad Stout Recipe for good stout recipe?

and substitute a high mash temp for boiling the bejesus out of that lactose?