Imperial Chocolate Stout

I'm brewing an Imperial Chocolate Stout for Christmas. Beersmith has it coming in at 11% ABV and 76 IBUs. I was going to add the chocolate when I rack from secondary into the bottling bucket. Right now I'm thinking 1 oz. of unsweetened Belgian chocolate powder and some Godiva chocolate liqueur.

The question is, how much Godiva to add? Or, should I buy some more chocolate powder and do the whole thing that way? If so, how much more? I've read a few threads that say everything from 1oz. of powder to 8oz. I don't want crazy chocolate taste, just enough to be a good finishing beer after a big Christmas dinner.

i think I would stay away from the Liqueur... I believe that has milk product or associated milk products in it, and therefore will curdle...


I think no more than 4oz of unsweetened chocolate would suffice.

Yes, Godiva will DEFINITELY curdle. You should use cream de cacao. It works!

have a look:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/tamed-wife-triple-chocolate-stout-199074/

I just put a batch into the fermenter today. I am letting it ferment with 4 oz of Cacao nibs (and another secret ingredient) to let it finish. Boiling with it will lead to bitterness, and I don't think the 1 oz of chocolate will lend enough flavor. The nibs were recommended by several people. I picked up the nibs at a Whole Foods store. Let me know how yours turns out.

I was wondering, do you think it will have aged long enough to be ready for Christmas? I was told to let it age for a minimum of six months. What do you or anyone else think?

Dave.

DLB said:

I was wondering, do you think it will have aged long enough to be ready for Christmas? I was told to let it age for a minimum of six months. What do you or anyone else think?

Dave.

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I agree. I've been researching it and I'm going to drop my ABV significantly so it's ready by Christmas. At 11%, 6 mo. seems to be the minimum for aging.

I have a similar recipe going to be boiling tomorrow to be ready for Xmas. The LHBS suggested the extra light DME and LME, for a black stout?
Also the suggested chocolate addition is 6 ounces of Hersheys powder, bitter but dry powder with the full boil time. Does this sound OK. I am trying to get a black stout with a chocolate flavor.
Thank you

I am doing the exact same thing today. We did a double chocolate milk stout in the past, and used lactose and a full 8oz package of unsweetened baking chocolate. Turned out well, the dryness of the cocoa balanced the sweetness of the lactose.

This time we're doing a Russian Imperial with cocoa and cherries, and using maltodextrin to balance the dryness. I'll take the recommendation here and throw the cocoa in for only the last 5 minutes of the boil.

So, I just tasted the first bottle of this - it's a little green but very good. Changes in the original recipe are as follows: Used 2 oz. unsweetened cocoa powder in the secondary. Very slight chocolate taste when I racked to the bottling bucket - almost unnoticeable. Added another 1 oz. unsweetened cocoa powder at bottling with the corn sugar. Tastes much chocolatier - not overwhelming, though. A good balance to the stout flavor. This is going to be a great Christmas beer.

For those worried about bottle bombs UNsweetened chocolate doesn't add anything that will react with the yeast, so there is no need to worry. It's carbing like normal with the corn sugar and the chocolate powder just adds taste.

I'm trying to put together a recipe for a chocolate cherry stout for christmas. It will be about 1.070, nothing too crazy. So if I get together all the ingredients by next weekend, that'll give me 6 weeks. Should be plenty of time.... I hope