filbert
Member
After cranking out three or four very acceptable (if straightforward) batches, I'm starting to get creative (everybody, together, "Oh, that's dangerous!")
I'm contemplating for the upcoming holiday season a chocolate-coffee-stout, and would like some suggestions/warnings regarding the idea.
I would use the following LME's:
Briess Traditional Dark, two 3.3 lb cans;
Briess Golden Light, two 3.3 lb cans (a cup or so held back for bottle conditioning at the end--and possibly some invested in a yeast starter.)
The yeast will be Vierka Dark Munich dry yeast (I had success previously with that yeast with a dark featuring one Briess Traditional Dark and one Briess Sparkling Amber, so I thought I'd try it with a beer with a significantly higher SG).
Hops will be either or both Cascade and Kent Goldings (I've got both as pellets). I'll probably go for a fairly mild hoppyness, as I and most of my beer-drinking friends both tend to prefer less aggressively hopped beers. But since I'm using quite a bit of malt here I expect and want it to be a very full-bodied, rather mild brew with any sweetness offset by not only the hops but also the chocolate and the coffee.
My thought is to add an ounce of solid unsweetened dark chocolate to the wort at the end of the boil, let it melt/stir it in, and then add a quart or so of cold-brewed coffee (just Folger's, nothing fancy there) before adding the yeast and going into the primary fermenter.
My main questions (other than--is this a good idea in the first place?) is should I attempt a yeast starter? I've read here that higher SG batches do better with a starter, especially if you're using dry yeast.
Am I adding the right kind of chocolate and coffee, at the right times?
Will blowoff be an issue? I've not had a problem with blowoff previously, but then I haven't really tried anything this exotic, either. I'm planning on a five gallon total batch size, in a six-gallon carboy. I just have airlocks (and a wife that would NOT be happy if I made a sticky mess in the basement where this will sit for a few weeks.) I could probably rig some kind of blowoff tube, but since I'm naturally lazy, I'd rather not. <grin>
Mainly, I'm looking for first-reactions from folks--"woah, that will be a mistake!" or "Hmm, that sounds interesting" or something in between, in addition to the specific questions above.
Cheers!
I'm contemplating for the upcoming holiday season a chocolate-coffee-stout, and would like some suggestions/warnings regarding the idea.
I would use the following LME's:
Briess Traditional Dark, two 3.3 lb cans;
Briess Golden Light, two 3.3 lb cans (a cup or so held back for bottle conditioning at the end--and possibly some invested in a yeast starter.)
The yeast will be Vierka Dark Munich dry yeast (I had success previously with that yeast with a dark featuring one Briess Traditional Dark and one Briess Sparkling Amber, so I thought I'd try it with a beer with a significantly higher SG).
Hops will be either or both Cascade and Kent Goldings (I've got both as pellets). I'll probably go for a fairly mild hoppyness, as I and most of my beer-drinking friends both tend to prefer less aggressively hopped beers. But since I'm using quite a bit of malt here I expect and want it to be a very full-bodied, rather mild brew with any sweetness offset by not only the hops but also the chocolate and the coffee.
My thought is to add an ounce of solid unsweetened dark chocolate to the wort at the end of the boil, let it melt/stir it in, and then add a quart or so of cold-brewed coffee (just Folger's, nothing fancy there) before adding the yeast and going into the primary fermenter.
My main questions (other than--is this a good idea in the first place?) is should I attempt a yeast starter? I've read here that higher SG batches do better with a starter, especially if you're using dry yeast.
Am I adding the right kind of chocolate and coffee, at the right times?
Will blowoff be an issue? I've not had a problem with blowoff previously, but then I haven't really tried anything this exotic, either. I'm planning on a five gallon total batch size, in a six-gallon carboy. I just have airlocks (and a wife that would NOT be happy if I made a sticky mess in the basement where this will sit for a few weeks.) I could probably rig some kind of blowoff tube, but since I'm naturally lazy, I'd rather not. <grin>
Mainly, I'm looking for first-reactions from folks--"woah, that will be a mistake!" or "Hmm, that sounds interesting" or something in between, in addition to the specific questions above.
Cheers!