First brew, chocolate coffee stout

[guillaume]

This is my first brew and went all grain.

3kg Maris Otter
0.454kg chocolate 454°
0.240kg crystal 40
0.240kg crsytal 120
0.5kg victory
0.5kg flaked oats
2oz Willamette hops at 60mins
2oz cocao powder
wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire

This is how it went :

I sprayed a bit of water on my grains before milling. I used around 0.035" setting. This was my first time, so I went kind of slow and by hand. I don't have much experience, but the husk looked good but the grain had lots of floor. Forgot to take a good picture.

I had 4 gallons of hot water (166&#8457 ready, poured the grains in the kettle. It looked too thick, so I added 1 gallon. Kept it at around 154-156℉ for an hour.

I poured my wort in a bucket, then batch sparged twice to get to around 7 gallons of wort (I didn't check sparge volume, around 3-4 gallons maybe). I cleaned my kettle, poured the wort back in it and started the boil. THEN I dumped my hops in it, forgot my bag.... And my cocao powder as well (Pre-boil gravity 1.020).

Boiled down to around 5.5 gallons. Then I cooled to 74℉ in like 10 minutes (OG 1.058-1.060)! I transfered to my fermenting bucket and added yeast. Then i remembered about the hop..... So i transfered it back to my kettle and filtered through cheese cloth back in the bucket.

1. Did i filter out my yeast at the end?
2. I plan to add espresso or coffee to it in second. Does 500ml sounds good ?
3. What would be my efficiency?
4. Did I messed up somewhere I 'm not aware of? Loll

 

[C-Rider]

I used 1 oz of coco powder in 2 gallons and it came out nice
As for the coffee, I add 8 oz to the 1.8 gallons in the bottling bucket. No need to secondary if you are using liquid coffee. I cold brew and then add right after the priming sugar.

 

[Culbetron]

You can't calculate your efficiency without knowing exactly how much water you added.

Don't worry about straining the hop particles out at the end. They just settle out in the fermenter along with the trub and floculated yeast.

How long did you boil for? Was it the 60mins you had planned? Going from 1.020 up to 1.050 by boiling off 1.5 gallons isn't possible. I'm guessing you measured your preboil gravity by putting some hot sort in your hydrometer sample cylinder and then measured your O.G of 1.050 after you had chilled the wort. Hydrometers are calibrated to measure gravity at about 70f so next time, chill hydrometer sample worth of wort down to 70f and then take your measurement.

 

[EO74]

I use cacao nibs in my milk chocolete stout I love when it's mashing it smells like granola oatmeal awww by far my favorite to mash!

 

[EO74]

Sorry I was supposed to add this RDWHAHB !

 

[JustLooking]

IMO if this is your first beer leave out the cocao powder and chocolate. Find out if you can brew a good stout before you make it into something else.

 

[guillaume]

You can't calculate your efficiency without knowing exactly how much water you added.

Don't worry about straining the hop particles out at the end. They just settle out in the fermenter along with the trub and floculated yeast.

How long did you boil for? Was it the 60mins you had planned? Going from 1.020 up to 1.050 by boiling off 1.5 gallons isn't possible. I'm guessing you measured your preboil gravity by putting some hot sort in your hydrometer sample cylinder and then measured your O.G of 1.050 after you had chilled the wort. Hydrometers are calibrated to measure gravity at about 70f so next time, chill hydrometer sample worth of wort down to 70f and then take your measurement.

I boiled for 60-70 minutes. It took a while for it to start, electric stove wasn't up to the task, so I used a second pot to boil 1 gallon.

I know I measured 1.040 somewhere before boil, I might have mixed up the numbers between my pre boil and sparge gravity (I measured my mash gravity before and after sparge). I chilled all my samples to 20°C. So yeah, It might be 1.041 pre boil loll For sparge, I had 3.9 gallons of wort, so I sparged twice to get 6.9 gallons for boil.

It's slowly bubbling this morning at around 20°C (68°F)!

I'll take notes for the hop particles. I also need to make gallons marks on my spoon... this would make boil easier. I'll get a propane burner next time so I don't make my electric stove suffer from the weight of 7 gallons of wort!

Now, I need to wait until I bottle this batch to make another

 

[Ralelen]

Hope your brew went well; but I always worry when first time brewers jump in and brew "super stout extreme hop chocolate bomb." IMHO you should start small with an extract/pale ale, and not all gain, so you can learn the basics of fermentation and temperature control without worrying about the extra steps of all grain.

 

[guillaume]

Hope your brew went well; but I always worry when first time brewers jump in and brew "super stout extreme hop chocolate bomb." IMHO you should start small with an extract/pale ale, and not all gain, so you can learn the basics of fermentation and temperature control without worrying about the extra steps of all grain.

But I started to brew to worry about all those steps It's really the fun part. If it taste bad, I'll just have more fun the next few times to fine tune the process. The aim was not to make a "super duper chocolate bomb", but to see how it turns out if I add it to the recipe. I see it like making croissant for the first time and adding chocolate chips inside (I cook alot and always do this).

I have to say, guessing the mash/sparge step would have been easier with a pale ale, it was hard to guess the clarity of the wort with a beer so dark hahaha I had my friend over and we had alot of fun (even though we ended up having supper at like 9pm after the brew).

 

[BrewHound]

You probably lost some yeast when you ran it through cheesecloth to filter out the hops. Whenever I use pellet hops I just drop the sludge into the primary and let it settle out. Unless you used a good sized yeast starter you might need to pitch a second pouch. Good luck!

 

[guillaume]

I used the wyeast pouch only. I activated it 24hrs before using it. I'll leave the hops pellets in next time! I was afraid iI would get too much hop taste in thé beer if I left it in during fermentation.

 

[BrewHound]

Nothing to worry about there. After 60 minutes of boiling those hops have nothing left to give.

 

[guillaume]

It was bubbling a lot last night, but it's down to one bubble every 3 sec now. Normal?

 

[BrewHound]

Yep. There are 3 basic phases that your yeast moves through: adaptive, attenuative, and conditioning. You're moving from attenuative (the most active) to conditioning. Most of your yeast is going dormant but some yeast is still at work cleaning up.

 

[guillaume]

Yep. There are 3 basic phases that your yeast moves through: adaptive, attenuative, and conditioning. You're moving from attenuative (the most active) to conditioning. Most of your yeast is going dormant but some yeast is still at work cleaning up.

Even I didn't get any krausen? From what I read about that yeast strain, I should get heavy krausen that's long to subdue.

Yeast is much more easy to control in bread hahaha

 

[BrewHound]

Once the bubbling slows to where it's not apparent in the airlock, take a hydrometer reading and that'll tell you what's happened. Relax for a couple days and plan the next brew!
If you saw enough airlock activity that it had slowed to 3 seconds, you had some happy yeast working on your behalf. There's not much to do that won't harm things at this point - don't fiddle with it.
Keep posting your progress!

 

[guillaume]

I'm doing an hefe weizen next time, cause apparently, I like to stress about yeast and fermentation That and summer is coming....

 

[guillaume]

I just figured, it might be because of the cocao powder that I'm not getting a krausen. I'll take à reading after a week.

 

[guillaume]

I just took a gravity reading after two weeks... 1.030! I also tested after a week, 1.030. This means something really went wrong with my fermentation I think I should have something close to 1.018-1.020 according to the plan. I should have made a starter (I will make one next time).

Ho well... now what should I do? Wait another 2 weeks then bottle or just bottle next week?

I tasted, and seriously it isn't bad at all. The chocolate and coffee aren't overwelming, just enough. The bitterness is also good. After only a week when I tasted it was very acidic (probably because of all the co2) but it's gone now.

 

[BrewHound]

Are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer to read gravity?

 

[BrewHound]

I'll expand now that I have more time.
If you used a refractometer to take a reading it won't read accurately once alcohol is present. Use a hydrometer and be sure you're reading it correctly. If all you have is a refractometer there are some converters online that will let you plug in your numbers and correct the reading.
If you want to try and kick up a little fermentation activity again just to be sure your yeast is well and truly done, open up your fermenter and gently (no splashing!) stir it a few times with a sanitized spoon to lift some yeast back into suspension. Then place your fermenter in a warmer place or set it on a heating pad on low for 2-3 days. You may not see any airlock activity but that doesn't mean nothing is happening. Take another hydrometer reading after a few days and get ready to bottle!

Either fermentation will have picked back up or it's just done and will have a little residual sweetness that you didn't intend. But hey, you said it tastes good and that is, literally, all that matters!

Right?

Post again and let me know what's up! And get ready to be the cool guy on your street that makes awesome beer!

 

[guillaume]

Hydrometer at 20℃

 

[guillaume]

I did stir it a little with my racking cane without splashing. I'm waiting another week and will take my reading then bottle. The yeast was 4 months old. I should have made a starter. Coule it be that i started it too early (12hrs)?

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Not to be a buzz kill, but that's a really ambitious beer for a first brew. These can take months in the bottle to balance out and taste like they should. I'd suggest brewing another batch as soon as your carboy is empty, and make something like a pale ale that can be ready in 4 weeks so you can enjoy it while this stout balances out.

Again, not trying to be a buzz kill - just speaking from experience. I have a chocolate coffee porter that took about 6 months to get to where I liked it, and then I reaaaalllly liked it.

 

[BrewHound]

I did stir it a little with my racking cane without splashing. I'm waiting another week and will take my reading then bottle. The yeast was 4 months old. I should have made a starter. Coule it be that i started it too early (12hrs)?

A starter might have been helpful in kicking off a faster, more vigorous fermentation but it likely would have made little difference to what you're seeing now. 4 months old isn't old for liquid yeast so long as it's been kept under refrigeration. I'm not sure what you mean when you suggest that you started it too early.
It sounds like you're beating yourself up but at the same time it sounds like you're happy with the results! You're being your own Buzz Killington!
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1428498834.618442.jpg