First wort hopping a chocolate stout?

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TooDogly

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I'm new to all-grain brewing, this will be my third batch. The goal with this beer is a smooth chocolatey stout similar to Southern Tier's Choklat. I am using a cooler mash tun and my efficiency has been pretty low, around 67% so far, thus the addition of brown sugar to boost the OG and to add some molasses sweetness. Fermenting with Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), probably with a starter, but maybe just two smack-packs.

Any suggestions on the recipe would be appreciated. Also, this will be the first time I've tried first wort hopping and I'm interested to hear what the community has to say about its use. Thanks!

Predicted stats
1.097 OG
1.024 FG
75 IBU
9.6% ABV
35 SRM


Pale 2-Row (US) 12.0 lb 63 % Mash 37 1 °L
Briess Caramel Malt 60L 2.0 lb 10 % Mash 34 60 °L
Brown Sugar 2.0 lb 10 % Boil 45 15 °L
Briess Extra Special Malt 1.0 lb 5 % Mash 34 130 °L
Pale Chocolate Malt (US) 1.0 lb 5 % Mash 33 207 °L
Barley, Flaked 1.0 lb 5 % Mash 32 1 °L


Willamette (US) 1.0 oz 60 min First Wort Leaf 5.5%
Chinook (US) 1.0 oz 60 min First Wort Leaf 13.1%
Chinook (US) 1.0 oz 60 min Boil Leaf 13.1%
Willamette (US) 1.0 oz 15 min Boil Leaf 5.5%


Dark Belgian Chocolate 16.0 oz 60.0 min Boil
Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) 1.0 tsp 15.0 min Boil
Cocoa Nibs 8.0 oz 14.0 days Secondary
 
I have done a FWH on my IPA's, Pales and Ambers but not on a stout. FWH imparts a smooth bitterness not sure that is what you are looking for in a stout, they are usually a malt forward beer. I would also recommend a half a pound or so of oats it adds another layer of mouthfeel.

Edit, I just reread your post, the FWH IS your 60 minute addition, that would be 2oz of Chinook and I think that would would be quite bitter in that style of beer.
 
I was thinking that a smoother hop profile in a chocolate beer is a good thing, but perhaps not?

I could remove the chinook from the FWH and leave everything else the same.

I read that using FWH method will lower your wort pH, making further hop additions contribute more to the IBU than usual. I was concerned that in this high OG recipe the hop utilization would be low, so FWH would help to boost the IBU...
 
Have you considered Fuggle hops and possibly maple syrup? By the looks of the other characteristics in your profile, it might be just the ticket....
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I was trying to follow Southern tier's ingredient list as close as I can:

2-row barley / caramel 60 malt / barley flakes / chocolate malt / bittersweet Belgian chocolate / kettle hops: chinook & willamette

I think maple syrup would change the flavor profile a little too much for my tastes. Choklat is a pretty sweet, and also pretty boozy beer, but I don't know whether that sweetness comes from mash temp or the crystal malt in their recipe, or combination of both.
 
Yes, using FWH for this style would work great. No reason not to want to have a smoother hop profile for the bitterness in a more malt-forward style. My experience with FWH is that you won't notice a drastic difference whether you add them early or just do the regular 60 min addition, but there are some others that have noticed a big difference.
 
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