eyedoctodd
Well-Known Member
Hi all, hoping I can get some guidance here on brewing with chocolate.
Not chocolate malt, not nibs, actual chocolate. I have been recruited to brew for a competition based on using locally-sourced specialty ingredients and I have been assigned chocolate donated by a local cakes and candies business. I have about 3-4 pounds of sweet chocolate wafers (little discs) - think of the chocolate that would get melted down to coat strawberries - that's the format of the chocolate I have to use. I have scoured the web for info and found very little. Hoping someone here can help. I need to brew in the next few weeks.
I'm wondering what this type of ingredient will do to my gravity and my color specifically, and what styles it would best complement. I want to avoid the obvious stouts and porters and brown ales. One person suggested a chocolate and orange zest witbier, and another suggestion was a Belgian dubbel, thinking the fruity raisiny esters could mate well with chocolate. I'm leaning toward the dubbel. One other idea I had was to make a Northern German altbier.
My plan was to use some chocolate in the boil (melt it down and throw it in at the very end of the boil) and use some after primary fermentation is done, almost like dry hopping it, to try to impart some aroma. I don't know if such a chocolate aroma has any prayer of standing up to the ester aromas from the yeast. Also, not sure if for such a use I should grind it up finely and toss it in or if I should attempt to make some sort of tincture with vodka to extract the essence. I'm not opposed to "cheating" and possibly using additional nibs or cocoa powder to help augment the chocolate character in the beer but I need to check to see if that's a rule violation.
I have spoken with the person who donated the chocolate to see about if there is any more info available on it (which sugars are in it, percentage of fats, etc) and she is supposed to be emailing me. It's just frustrating trying to research this and finding basically nothing.
HELP and thanks!
Todd
Not chocolate malt, not nibs, actual chocolate. I have been recruited to brew for a competition based on using locally-sourced specialty ingredients and I have been assigned chocolate donated by a local cakes and candies business. I have about 3-4 pounds of sweet chocolate wafers (little discs) - think of the chocolate that would get melted down to coat strawberries - that's the format of the chocolate I have to use. I have scoured the web for info and found very little. Hoping someone here can help. I need to brew in the next few weeks.
I'm wondering what this type of ingredient will do to my gravity and my color specifically, and what styles it would best complement. I want to avoid the obvious stouts and porters and brown ales. One person suggested a chocolate and orange zest witbier, and another suggestion was a Belgian dubbel, thinking the fruity raisiny esters could mate well with chocolate. I'm leaning toward the dubbel. One other idea I had was to make a Northern German altbier.
My plan was to use some chocolate in the boil (melt it down and throw it in at the very end of the boil) and use some after primary fermentation is done, almost like dry hopping it, to try to impart some aroma. I don't know if such a chocolate aroma has any prayer of standing up to the ester aromas from the yeast. Also, not sure if for such a use I should grind it up finely and toss it in or if I should attempt to make some sort of tincture with vodka to extract the essence. I'm not opposed to "cheating" and possibly using additional nibs or cocoa powder to help augment the chocolate character in the beer but I need to check to see if that's a rule violation.
I have spoken with the person who donated the chocolate to see about if there is any more info available on it (which sugars are in it, percentage of fats, etc) and she is supposed to be emailing me. It's just frustrating trying to research this and finding basically nothing.
HELP and thanks!
Todd