Chocolate beer??

[Grinnan5150]

America's Brewing Company in Aurora, IL used to make a chocolate beer. It was golden in color and used chocolate but not sure if it was actual chocolate, nibs or cocoa powder. They are gone now so I can't ask.

My wife loved it and I would like to do something similar but not sure how. Anyone in Chicago had it or anyone made a similar chocolate beer that could give any advice?

Thanks!!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

There's plenty of ways to get a chocolate flavor in your beer. The most common way is obviously to use chocolate malt, but that won't leave you with a golden colored beer. Cocoa nibs or 100% bakers chocolate are my favorites. Use it in the last few minutes of your boil, or add it to your fermentor after sanitizing it in vodka. Northern Brewer also sells a chocolate extract that I've heard is pretty good.

If you decide to use real chocolate or powedered, make sure you watch the ingredients. It needs to be 100% chocolate without any butter or additives. Any kind of butter or oil will kill your head retention.

 

[Grinnan5150]

Cool, thank you!!!!

 

[Calder]

Cocoa nibs or 100% bakers chocolate are my favorites. Use it in the last few minutes of your boil.

If you decide to use real chocolate or powedered, make sure you watch the ingredients. It needs to be 100% chocolate without any butter or additives. Any kind of butter or oil will kill your head retention.

Doesn't 'Real chocolate' (or bakers chocolate) have fat (or oil) in it?


..... I think you end up leaving any oils in the fermenter as they stay on the surface, and get very little in the bottles. It's more a problem of ensuring the fermenters are completely clean after using the stuff.

 

[Stauffbier]

I used Hersheys "special dark" cocoa powder in my Chocolate Stout. It tastes great, but it's still in the fermentor so I don't know if my head retention will be affected. Time will tell.. Good luck!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Doesn't 'Real chocolate' (or bakers chocolate) have fat (or oil) in it?

Yes, I believe chocolate has natural oils in it. These aren't oils that really effect the beer a whole lot from my experience. It's the added butter and fat that comes in your typical Hershey bar that will really screw with you. If you're using 100% chocolate, you won't have all the extra junk.

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I use unsweetened cocoa powder for my chocolate beers. Make sure you mash a bit higher so you can get some residual sweetness in there, because that's home dark flavor. I use mine in the last 10 minutes of the boil. 4 oz. in a five gallon batch.

 

[HenryKDuff]

I've used Ghiardelli Unsweetened Cocoa (10 oz) added with 10 minutes left in the boil with great results in a Porter.

 

[camelcarlson]

I typically use organic roasted coca nibs in the last 10 mins of the boil and have had great results. I normally use 1-3 oz depending on what i'm aiming for.

 

[C-Rider]

There's plenty of ways to get a chocolate flavor in your beer. The most common way is obviously to use chocolate malt,

T thought "chocolate malt" got it's name from the color and not the flavor it gives to the brew.

 

[Stauffbier]

T thought "chocolate malt" got it's name from the color and not the flavor it gives to the brew.

I've read the same thing. I have an experimental 1 gal batch that has 1/2lb of chocolate malt in it.. It's pretty good, but tastes nothing like chocolate!

 

[C-Rider]

I've read the same thing. I have an experimental 1 gal batch that has 1/2lb of chocolate malt in it.. It's pretty good, but tastes nothing like chocolate!

Yea I believe the easiest way is w/unsweetened cocoa powder into the boil as some point. Nothing special to do beyond measuring the powder

 

[Calder]

I recently put some unsweetened cocoa powder into my secondary and got an erruption ......... bubbled up and came out the carboy like a volcano going off. Don't understand what went on.

I used 8 ozs cocoa powder in 7 gallons. Because the carboy was pretty much full, instead of using water to make the cocoa into a paste/liquid, I took beer out of the carboy (a couple of ounces at a time), and mixed it in a bowl with the cocoa. It took 20 ozs to get the powder into a liquid. I used 24 ozs total to make it flow better when pouring back in. I mixed it before adding, because just dumping in the powder, wouldn't have dissolved it.

I started to pour it through a funnel, and when I had about half in, I noticed bubbling in the fermenter. I stopped pouring, removed the funnel, and reached for a handy towel to wrap around the carboy, just in time to prevent a major mess. It came up like lava, and when it stopped it left a 'mountain' of bubbles about 4 inches high above the carboy.

I cleaned it up and added the rest slowly (about an ounce at a time), and got it in in the end. So I don't actually know how much cocoa I got in the fermenter.

Not sure what happened. The cocoa mix was alkali, while the beer is acidic. It was a Brett beer so may have been more acidic than normal. I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

 

[Teromous]

I've done few chocolate beers, and if you go heavy on the chocolate it's a real PITA. The BYO for Jan-Feb has a bunch of stuff on doing chocolate beers. One of their pieces of advice that I'm going to try next time, is to pull off a small pot of wort and slowly mix the cocoa to that, the add the liquid back to the boil. I've brewed with both powdered cocoa and cocoa nibs, but cocoa nibs were the easiest. From my notes, I did one with 16oz of cocoa and I remember that one was a horrid mess of sludge. I would also advise that if you decide to use lactose sugar, to take it easy on that as well. I used 1lb and it was ridiculously sweet.

 

[Stauffbier]

I recently put some unsweetened cocoa powder into my secondary and got an erruption ......... bubbled up and came out the carboy like a volcano going off. Don't understand what went on.

I used 8 ozs cocoa powder in 7 gallons. Because the carboy was pretty much full, instead of using water to make the cocoa into a paste/liquid, I took beer out of the carboy (a couple of ounces at a time), and mixed it in a bowl with the cocoa. It took 20 ozs to get the powder into a liquid. I used 24 ozs total to make it flow better when pouring back in. I mixed it before adding, because just dumping in the powder, wouldn't have dissolved it.

I started to pour it through a funnel, and when I had about half in, I noticed bubbling in the fermenter. I stopped pouring, removed the funnel, and reached for a handy towel to wrap around the carboy, just in time to prevent a major mess. It came up like lava, and when it stopped it left a 'mountain' of bubbles about 4 inches high above the carboy.

I cleaned it up and added the rest slowly (about an ounce at a time), and got it in in the end. So I don't actually know how much cocoa I got in the fermenter.

Not sure what happened. The cocoa mix was alkali, while the beer is acidic. It was a Brett beer so may have been more acidic than normal. I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Wow, that's strange! In my dark chocolate stout I boiled 2 oz of unsweetend dark cocoa powder for 60 min, 2 oz for 30 mins, and 2 oz at flame out. Then after primary was done I mixed 4 oz with a shot of vodka and a shot of Cream de cocoa and it turned into a nice syrup. I put the chocolate syrup mixture in my secondary and racked on top of it. I got a few tiny bubbles, but I think that was the sugar in the Cream de cocoa fermenting out. After 24 hours it was settled out like normal. I'm bottling it some time next week...

 

[fxdude]

I used Hersheys "special dark" cocoa powder in my Chocolate Stout. It tastes great, but it's still in the fermentor so I don't know if my head retention will be affected. Time will tell.. Good luck!

I've also used the Hershey's Special Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. I used a pound of it in the last minute of my boil. When I siphoned into the carboy I made sure to get all of the "gunk" on the bottom. It was a porter which turned out excellent, one of the better beers I've brewed.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

T thought "chocolate malt" got it's name from the color and not the flavor it gives to the brew.

Maybe partly true, but in my experience, it does leave you with a subtle chocolate flavor when using a pound or more. It's nothing major, but it's there.