Imperial Choc Stout

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bubbachunk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Messages
636
Reaction score
8
Location
Cincinnati
Recipe Type
Extract
Yeast
Safbrew S-33
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.096
Final Gravity
1.024
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
Color
Black
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7-10 days
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 days
Tasting Notes
Will add when I crack one open tonight
9# LME
2# Crystal 120
2# English Chocolate
1.5# American Black Patent
1.5oz Kent gold @ 60 min
1.5oz Kent gold @ 30 min
16 oz coco @ 15 min

The gravities are estimated using beer calculus since I forgot to take an initial when I brewed this. This is by far my favorite beer that I have made thus far and plan to brew it again with some tweaking.

Let me know if you have any questions. :mug:
 
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Malty but as sweet of the gravity may imply. The chocolate is not overpowering and is most evident in the finish. Head retention is lacking due to the coco powder but that is made up for in flavor.
 
Quick questions. Did you use light or dark extract? What type/brand of cocoa did you use? Will regular chocolate malt suffice for the English Chocolate?
 
Quick questions. Did you use light or dark extract? What type/brand of cocoa did you use? Will regular chocolate malt suffice for the English Chocolate?

Light. Ghirardelli (although something fat free may work better for head retention). Should be fine.
 
9# LME
2# Crystal 120
2# English Chocolate
1.5# American Black Patent
1.5oz Kent gold @ 60 min
1.5oz Kent gold @ 30 min
16 oz coco @ 15 min

The gravities are estimated using beer calculus since I forgot to take an initial when I brewed this. This is by far my favorite beer that I have made thus far and plan to brew it again with some tweaking.

Let me know if you have any questions. :mug:

I only got 2 brews under my belt thus far, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but is this asking for 9 pounds of light LME, 2 pounds of crystal 120, and 2 pounds of english chocolate? That seems like a lot of ingredients. How long did you steep the grains? I think I'm gonna try to make this one next.
 
I only got 2 brews under my belt thus far, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but is this asking for 9 pounds of light LME, 2 pounds of crystal 120, and 2 pounds of english chocolate? That seems like a lot of ingredients. How long did you steep the grains? I think I'm gonna try to make this one next.

Yes, you could probably cut it down a little bit. It was a very big beer and perhaps a bit to heavy on the roasted malts but the vanilla helped mellow it out.

I steeped the grains for 30 minutes.
 
What about the vanilla? I couldn't find it in the recipe. Did you just crack a vanilla bean in the secondary?
 
What about the vanilla? I couldn't find it in the recipe. Did you just crack a vanilla bean in the secondary?

Sorry about that omission. 2 beans split and scraped in secondary for 1 month. Beans were ~4 inches long Tahitian
 
I used Hershey cocoa unsweetened sugar free (baking cocoa) and only added 4oz to boil and 4oz to secondary. This cocoa add has worked good for me and my head was good and chocolate flavor was not to strong but I was aiming for a Samuel Smith chocolate stout flavor
 
This sounds delicious.

Why scrape the inside of the bean?

Also do you think adding even a 1/4# of flaked oats or barely would help with head retention but not take away from the chocolate flavors??
 
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