Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Double Chocolate Oatmeal Snout

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Bout to brew this in a week or 2. Gonna follow the recipe exactly although I am going to sub the fuggles for cascades. How much water did you mash with/sparge with?
 
I mashed with a little over 6 quarts. Sparged enough to fill my kettle. Little under 4 gallons.

Not sure about the cascades. Don't think the flavor would be right with this, but that's just me. If they're just for bittering and you make sure to do a full 60 minutes it should be fine.
 
Not sure about the cascades. Don't think the flavor would be right with this, but that's just me. If they're just for bittering and you make sure to do a full 60 minutes it should be fine.
Ya I just figured that for bitterness it wouldn't matter too much. I guess I could get some Fuggles...How much flavor is impacted from hops boiled for 60 min?
 
Ya I just figured that for bitterness it wouldn't matter too much. I guess I could get some Fuggles...How much flavor is impacted from hops boiled for 60 min?

Couldn't tell you, really. But when it comes down to it, it's your batch and it could make it better for all I know. Do whatcha want :mug: That's what homebrewing is all about!
 
Did you strain the wort into your fermenter or just dump everything in? I guess the chocolate making its way into the fermenter is necessary right?
 
everything went in the fermenter in my batch

great recipe

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I poured it through a strainer to strain out the hops, but the cocoa powder is fine enough that most of it passes right through. I also tend to do what I call a "hop sparge" when I pour some of my top up water through the hops in the strainer to rinse all the worty goodness of them. :D I just can't bring myself to waste a drop if I can avoid it!
 
It's a 6.5 gallons, but there is less than 5 gallons in it... we did a newbie mistake and over half a gallon is missing.
 
I bottled a batch of back in December. I cracked one tonight. Wow, I was pleasantly surprised. I will have to make this a regular! Thanks:mug:
 
Probably has fat in it, but as was pointed out earlier by the guy who used a can of Hershey's, it doesn't seem to hurt the head much at all.
 
Just made this as my first partial mash. It looks so great in the fermenter, can't wait to taste it!
 
Just pitched S04. This stuff looks awesome and I nailed the SG at 1.070. Ended up going w/ Willamette. And the waiting begins...
 
man this looks tasty. i'm still a noob, but i'm gonna try this with few slight modifications. like adding coffee and maybe a sprinkly of cinnamon too. why do you only boil your extract for last 15 min of boil. don't you usually steep/sparge grains for 30-45 min at 155, then add extract, bring to a boil and do the full 60?
 
Wow, this yeast ferments fast! In two days it looks like its starting to wind down. Also, how much did you guys lose to the large amount of cocoa powder sitting on the bottom of the beer? There is a ton.
 
man this looks tasty. i'm still a noob, but i'm gonna try this with few slight modifications. like adding coffee and maybe a sprinkly of cinnamon too. why do you only boil your extract for last 15 min of boil. don't you usually steep/sparge grains for 30-45 min at 155, then add extract, bring to a boil and do the full 60?

This a partial mash, not a steeping grains recipe. After the mash, you have pretty much full strength wort for the boil. The extract is added at the end and only has a short boil time. No need to boil it all through. The recipe is designed for a late extract addition.

Wow, this yeast ferments fast! In two days it looks like its starting to wind down. Also, how much did you guys lose to the large amount of cocoa powder sitting on the bottom of the beer? There is a ton.

Not much at all. Give it a good 3 weeks minimum in the primary and the cocoa powder settles right down with the yeast cake. It looks almost like pudding after you siphon the beer off it. Here's a shot of my yeast cake from my first batch of this:
10964d1241065853-leaving-beer-behind-your-yeast-chocolate-yeast-cake.jpg
 
If the oats aren't from a homebrew store what do you recommend and how would you prepare them?
cheers
 
From what I read you can substitute "quick oats" from the grocery store, but not instant oatmeal. I haven't done it myself, so I can't say from experience.
 
New to Oats in brewing... What is the best thing to mash the Oats with? Some say 6-row brewers malt others say 2 row. Does it matter which one? And is there an oats to malt ratio standard?

Thanks
 
More questions.. my lhbs.. is interesting.. they do things a little different here in New Zealand.. but i could not get Fuggles here would Nz syrian goldings (alpha 6.4) work as a good substitute? If so since it is a little higher with a 6.4 than the recommend fuggles how much would i put in?
thank you!
 
D4rren: 6-row has more enzymes. I use it in my Brown Biscuit, but the 2-row works just fine in this recipe. In this one I'm riding a bit on the outside of what it can convert, but it works just fine.

garyhood: if you drop it hops to 1.5 oz, it should work fine with those hops. They're in the boil for a full 60, so you aren't getting much for flavor or aroma if anything. They're just there for a little bitterness. The cocoa powder dominates the flavor of this one.
 
2 row it is:)

So for the the mash in general. Does the "wort" that is created from the mash need to already be mixed in while I am steeping my other grains? Or can I do both at the same time and add the "wort" from the mash when I go to do the boil? ya know, to save a little time :p
 
2 row it is:)

So for the the mash in general. Does the "wort" that is created from the mash need to already be mixed in while I am steeping my other grains? Or can I do both at the same time and add the "wort" from the mash when I go to do the boil? ya know, to save a little time :p

All the grains go in at once and mash together. 2-row, oats, crystal, chocolate and barley all go in the mash. Drain that off, sparge, drain again and start your boil. Throw in your hops at start of boil and add the LME when you have 15 minutes left.
 
This one is in the books. First batch for me..done in New Zealand:) Wonder if I am the furthermost Brewer to make this batch. I received a 1.63 reading but that I am sure is to the fact I used about .5 lb less extract. Only had two cans of the Amber.. That is ok.. I can deal with a little less alcohol on this guy. It should be really interesting. I think I should have went with more hops.. I used the Nz Goldings.. but we will see:) Always can do more in the next batch.. now let the waiting begin.. Thanks again for putting this recipe up! Now time to go to Bed 2am here New Zealand time..
 
Don't sweat the hops. They really take a backseat in this brew. If I wanted to experiment with the recipe, I think I could make this without any hops whatsoever.
 
I got my scoresheets back from NHC yesterday and it proved that this is a beer for bitter dark chocolate lovers and not for normal people. :D

They kept putting notes that it had too much cocoa and not enough hops or malt flavor. So, this isn't a competition beer. Just one to enjoy because I like it the way it IS! This one's just for me and my chocolate lovin' friends. It's CHOCOLATE BEER not beer with chocolate in it. :D
 
The version I made of this was more bitter chocolatey while to me youngs is more sweet. I have a few delicious bottles left...
 
Well I am a week and a 1/2 into primary. I thought that I would drip some off to take a hydro measurement and I am at 1.020. I had a slightly lower OG so I am going to keep it going for another week before I check another measurement, but I have to say I tasted it and without the vanilla bean this stuff is great. I think with the vanilla and another week in the 2nd will make this beer just beautiful. I can not wait:) Thanks for the posting and I will keep you inform!
 
Brewed the AG version of this a while ago and just bottled it today after two weeks on the vanilla bean. Tasted pretty darn good today and hopefully with some weeks behind it in the bottle it will shape up into an awesome beer! Thanks for the recipe! I'll keep you updated how it tastes when its fully ready!
 
brewed this a weed ago but forgot to add the cocolate powder so I am going to rack into secondary ontop of the powder and vanilla bean in a week or so I will let you know how it turns out
 
I ended up mashing a little too high for the first fifteen minutes or so, but got the temp down when I realized it. It's been in bottles for about four weeks and is really quite good. It only has a small head, but retains it really well. And it's very chocolatey. At first I thought the vanilla was too strong but the flavors have really melded and now it is quite good. When I'm feeling naughty I'll put in a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That is awesome!
 
I've made floats with mine too! French vanilla ice cream goes great with this. If you really want to go overboard, crumble up some Reeses peanut butter cups on top. :D
 

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