Is it 8oz, or 8oz?!?

About a 6 weeks ago I brewed a chocolate porter. Recipe called for 8oz of unsweetened chocolate. I went to my local grocery store and there on the shelf was a package of Hersheys unsweetened chocolate in an 8oz package! Perfect! I dumped the whole package in my wort and proceeded with the rest of the brewing process.
Well at the time it seemed like a lot of chocolate. As it went through fermentation there was a lot if chocolate settleing. I kegged it about 4 weeks ago and when I go to pull a drink I get a glass of what can best be described as a glas if chocolate beverage with the consistency of a milkshake.

I am now thinking the 8oz might have been by volume, as in a cup, not by weight, as stated on the package.

What do you guys think? How can I remedy this? Its a 5 gallon batch so I was thinking about doing a 10 gallon porter then pulling from the top of this 5 and mixing them to dilute the chocolate.

Any other ideas?

Definitely 8oz by weight because ounce is a measure of weight, it's very unlikely to mean 'the volume of 8oz of water in chocolate'.

Did you use any finings? There are a lot of fats and proteins in chocolate, so perhaps it just needs extra long to condition? Just a guess...

I would not put any chocolate in my beer because of the oils in it. Cocoa powder would be a better option. What did you put in, was it chocolate (as in solid) or cocoa powder? I have put 8 ozs of cocoa powder in beers before and thought that it wasn't enough.

I don't know much about adding choc to brews, though I am planning a choc porter some time into 2011. In my reading, it seems like you CAN add blocks of choc despite the issue of the oils. From what I understand, and anyone can correct me if I am wrong, but with a number of very careful rackings below the 'oil slick' you should be able to get fairly good beer. Let HBT know how it works out - though I know I will still just use cocoa powder when I experiment.

B

Calder said:

What did you put in, was it chocolate (as in solid) or cocoa powder? I have put 8 ozs of cocoa powder in beers before and thought that it wasn't enough.

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Sorry, it was cocoa powder. I'm going to let it sit some more and see what else settles out.

let it sit and settle. from my experience chocolate beers change greatly over time.

i brewed my chocolate stout a year ago and it is much better today.
i used the same 8oz package you are talking about and it took alot more time in primary to settle. my next chocolate beer i will secondary before bottling..

I can't imagine it was asking for 8 fluid ounces for chocolate. Sometimes it's hard to know, but I usually look at the item and figure, how would a sane person measure this. If it's liquid, fluid ounces, anything else, weight ounces. Of course, I've seen sugar measurements that clearly wanted a cup of sugar, but were telling me to add 8 ounces. Just say a cup people!!!

Shooter said:

I can't imagine it was asking for 8 fluid ounces for chocolate.

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You're right it didn't call for 8 fluid oz, but when you measure chocolate for a glass of milk or hot chocolate you measure by the tablespoon, which is also a measure of liquid so I started to doubt myself

I just put it in the fridge today and will take a sample every week to see how it does. It seems to be getting better.

Chipster27 said:

You're right it didn't call for 8 fluid oz, but when you measure chocolate for a glass of milk or hot chocolate you measure by the tablespoon, which is also a measure of liquid so I started to doubt myself

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Trust me, I've been unsure on a number of occasions myself. In truth, I don't think SWMBO fully grasps the difference. She'll ask me, "How much is 16 ounces?" I respond, "Fluid ounces or by weight?" She just looks at me with a blank expression.

Since you mentioned that you kegged it, some chocolate solids may have settled to the bottom near the diptube. That could have contributed to the chocolate mikshake style first pour. My first pour from each keg is often pretty yeasty from the settled out yeast near the diptube. Just a thought.

Isn't our system of measurements great!

Special Hops said:

Isn't our system of measurements great!

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I know its the worst... even more annoying is pound force vs. pound mass vs. slugs. Impossible to wrap your mind around

I've used the same 8oz package of Hershey's cocoa powder in a brew It just took a lot of stirring to make sure it was all dissolved in. Next time, maybe pull out a quart of wort during the boil and stir it in so you can be sure it's dissolved, then add that back to the boil. I too do not think the 8oz was enough for my 5G Porter.
Like mentioned above, dry ingredients are measured by weight, never volume. 8oz by weight of sugar and take up two vary different volumes depending on moisture and other variables. Don't you ever watch Alton Brown ?

I always thought that if the unit of measurement was a weight then the amount should be based on weight. If the measurement was volume then it should be based on volume.

This is how it is done in baking. For example if you have a recipe that calls for 1 cup of flour and 16 oz of butter you would measure the cup and weigh the butter.

oz can be volume too. That's where the confusion comes in. Think 12oz beer. 12 oz of beer doesn't necessarily way 12 oz. We measure a shot of liquor by 1 fluid oz, not weight.

IrregularPulse said:

8oz by weight of sugar and take up two vary different volumes depending on moisture and other variables

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Exactly! Like I said, I've seen one too many recipe calling for 8oz of sugar and they clearly mean a cup, which may or may not be 8oz by weight. Seems to be a common theme with dry ingredients in baked goods.

RichmonS said:

I always thought that if the unit of measurement was a weight then the amount should be based on weight. If the measurement was volume then it should be based on volume.

This is how it is done in baking. For example if you have a recipe that calls for 1 cup of flour and 16 oz of butter you would measure the cup and weigh the butter.

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I do a lot of baking, and I ALWAYS weigh my flour. Variations in volume are very common, and the only way to exclude these from the recipe is to have scales and use them. 1 cup flour in the recipe = 4.25 oz. (cf. King Arthur Flour web site)

Here in Canada it's the metric system for the win!