Hey guys,
I'm not sure if this post belongs in the beginners thread, or the gluten free thread, but anyways... I'm brewing my second GF Ale and this time I wanted to try to add some coffee & chocolate flavour to it. So far I have prepared the wort using Briess 45DE syrup according to their "Hoppy To Be Gluten Free" recipe, and it's sitting in the primary fermenting with the hops.
From what I've read I'd have to add the following to the secondary before transferring:
*10 shots of espresso brewed from fresh ground beans, boiled first (sanitation).
*6oz of cacao nibs, after they've been sitting in vodka for a few days (sanitation)
*(optional) 1/4-1/2 cup of Splenda, added to the coffee, (it has maltodextrin & sucralose, which dont ferment, and would add to the sweetness/thickness) - I wanted to sweeten it to offset the bitterness, and I would use Lactose, but im also blessed with lactose intolerance.
I'm just not sure the less-roasted syrup base im using will work with these dark bitter flavours. What do you guys think? Do you guys have any tips/suggestions; is this a bad idea?
PS: I would have made a porter, but I can't get the syrup for one up here in Canada - AFAIK I can only get Briess stuff, and they dont make a syrup for Porters. I will try roasting my own grains eventually, but it would be nice to have something similar to a dark ale in the meantime... I havent had a Guinness or a coffee-porter in 5 years and its driving me nuts.
I'm not sure if this post belongs in the beginners thread, or the gluten free thread, but anyways... I'm brewing my second GF Ale and this time I wanted to try to add some coffee & chocolate flavour to it. So far I have prepared the wort using Briess 45DE syrup according to their "Hoppy To Be Gluten Free" recipe, and it's sitting in the primary fermenting with the hops.
From what I've read I'd have to add the following to the secondary before transferring:
*10 shots of espresso brewed from fresh ground beans, boiled first (sanitation).
*6oz of cacao nibs, after they've been sitting in vodka for a few days (sanitation)
*(optional) 1/4-1/2 cup of Splenda, added to the coffee, (it has maltodextrin & sucralose, which dont ferment, and would add to the sweetness/thickness) - I wanted to sweeten it to offset the bitterness, and I would use Lactose, but im also blessed with lactose intolerance.
I'm just not sure the less-roasted syrup base im using will work with these dark bitter flavours. What do you guys think? Do you guys have any tips/suggestions; is this a bad idea?
PS: I would have made a porter, but I can't get the syrup for one up here in Canada - AFAIK I can only get Briess stuff, and they dont make a syrup for Porters. I will try roasting my own grains eventually, but it would be nice to have something similar to a dark ale in the meantime... I havent had a Guinness or a coffee-porter in 5 years and its driving me nuts.