Trying my first chocolate stout. Working off sweet stout recipe (though without lactose) and added 8 oz. pure cocoa powder at 15 minutes. My extract was a combination half liquid, half dry (3 lbs each). I use pellet hops, and previously would not strain the wort going into primary. I just got a double mesh strainer and used it this time during transfer from kettle, and it filtered out a HUGE amount of stuff - had to clear it twice during the transfer so the wort would flow through the funnel into the carboy. Anyway, two days into fermentation - clearly its happening, airlock bubbling vigorously, big bubbles at the top, but virtually no krausen at all - just a tiny bit of foam. I'm used to seeing 2 to 3 inches at the top, and - like a relative newbie - I worry. I know - RDWHAHB - but I wonder - can you strain out too much from the wort? Is the lack of much krausen unusual?
A krausen question
- Thread starter rwberne
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The oils in the coccoa powder more than likely contributed to the less than stellar krausen. But it is really irrevelant as long as you have fermentation.
Revvy - Thanks for the reply! I thought cocoa powder (vs. bakers chocolate) would eliminate the oils, but I guess not. At to the other part of my question - is there such a thing as straining too much out of the wort when transferring to primary? I assume that anything that even a double mesh strainer will catch is something the yeast don't need - is this true?
Cocoa powder has reduced fat but there is some in there depending on the brand.
Since this sounds like your first time using it, I will mention that you should be ready for a lot of sediment in your fermenter. When I use cocoa I let the beer sit for a really long so it settles in the fermenter rather than the bottles.
Since this sounds like your first time using it, I will mention that you should be ready for a lot of sediment in your fermenter. When I use cocoa I let the beer sit for a really long so it settles in the fermenter rather than the bottles.
I think it was indeed the cocoa powder. I checked the gravity after about a week, and it was clearly coming down - so I knew it was fermenting. After about 2 weeks it was right about where the FG should be. I just racked it to a secondary to sit for a while. Took a sample - really yummy, nice chocolate taste without being too much (I find Youngs Double Chocolate too much like a milkshake). There was a LOT of sediment, but the secondary should take care of that. So, no krausen, NO PROBLEM. RDWHAHB
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