AG chocolate honey porter

I've experimented quite a bit with my third AG batch. First, I used a yeast cake from a stout. I've never even tried a smack pack before, but I used a Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale Yeast and left a thin layer of the stout on top of the cake. I repitched this recipe over top of it and stirred:

10lb pale
1lb crysta 60L
.25lb roasted barley
.5lb chocolate malt
.5lb black patent
.5lb white wheat
1lb torrified wheat
3lb honey
6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

.25 oz hallertauer (bittering) 60 min
.5 oz vangaurd (bittering) 60 min
.5 oz fuggle (bittering) 60 min
.5 oz fuggle (aroma) 10 min

Preboil gravity @ 60F = 1.043
OG @ 60F = 1.072

I added the unsweetened chocolate 30 in, and it didn't break down very well. It stuck to the brew spoon, to the bottom of the kettle, to the glass I tried to melt it in. Everything!

I also added the honey at the 45 minute mark. After this, I noticed that there were large clumps of what look like wax or cocoa butter on the top of the primary. I took a few pics and was hoping for some feedback.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46381 ... 301194889/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46381 ... 301942612/

It doesn't taste like much of anything, but it's certainly waxy and very oily to the touch.

Should this break down, or should I scoop it out?
There is also a bit of an rotten egg smell to the beers. It's not overpowering, but noticeable. I've heard that this is normal, yes?

Inchrisin,
I have heard that the use of chocolate is messy and I heard using the powdered chocolate works better (less coca butter?). Anyone have any feedback on this?

I just bottled a porter that was somewhat similar to your recipe except I didn't use chocolate but used Carafa (dehusked). Instead of roasted barley, (seems there are two schools of thought on the use of roasted barley in porters) I used biscuit malt and oats instead of wheat and I used a pound of Belgian Candi instead of honey. For hops I went the "noble" route with Kent Goldings and Fuggle but the IBU's were up around 43. OG was 1.065 and I used British Ale yeast (White Labs) that I propagated to 1 liter. I liken the whole thing as a kind of a robust European Porter, probably real close to the stout line.

Now the hard part, waiting for it to bottle condition.


Jeff

bump...inchrisin, how did this come out. I saw this recipe for an extract brew and I'm looking to try it. The OG was lower in the book however, 1.063 to be exact. Just wondering what you thought of it..a no go or a must brew? Thanks!

This is the recepie I used, I'll ket you know about the results:

Chocolate Honey Porter

3 1/3 pounds amber malt extract
3 1/3 pounds dark malt extract
1 pound crystal malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
1/4 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound torrefied wheat
3 pounds honey
6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 ounce hallertauer hops (bittering)
1/2 ounce fuggles hops (bittering)
1/2 ounce fuggles hops (aroma)
1 package irish ale yeast
1 ounce sliced ginger root
3/4 cup corn sugar (priming)

Place crushed crystal malt, black patent malt, torrefied wheat, and roasted barley in water, and steep at 155 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove spent grains and add malt extracts, honey, and bittering hops, and boil for 30 minutes. Add melted chocolate (2 minutes in the microwave works best) and boil an additional 30 minutes. Add aroma hops for the last 5 minutes of the boil. cool wort and pitch yeast. Ferment for 5 to 7 days, then transfer to the secondary Fermenter, and add 1 ounce of sliced gingerroot. Ferment for an additional 7 days. Bottle, using corn sugar. age for 10 to 14 days. Beer will be best after aging in the bottle for at least 4 to 6 weeks.

OG: 1.063

I've just bottled a honey choco porter that was half malt and half grain mix. I used three oz of english fuggle for the boil (thoughout the boil) and dry hopped with one oz of english fuggle. I used eight oz of unsweetened, powdered baking cocoa (added choc at 45 minute mark of a 60 minute boil) and two pounds of clover honey at the 30 minute mark. I had no problems what so ever with the chocolate combining in the boil ). I had no rotten egg smell or bad taste at all. The next time I do this one, I'll use less honey and maybe 12 oz of baking cocoa. The chocolate came through acceptably, but it could have been a little more pronounced for me. The honey taste really came through. I have another week of carbing to go and then at least three-four more weeks for conditioning. The more, the merrier. ABV came out as 6.1%. Will get around to doing an all grain when I have all the setups put together.