Here's what I did if anyone is interested:
17 lbs US two-row
2 lbs US black patent
1.5 lbs chocolate
Mashed at 155 for an hour (last time direct fired for 5 minutes to bring back up to 155 from 150 at 30 minutes...this time I decocted about a gallon and a half for 10 minutes to bring the temp back up)
Boiled 1 hour
hop additions:
2 oz Northern Brewer at 60 minutes
2 oz Northern Brewer at 30 minutes
2 oz Tettnanger at 5 minutes
maltodextrine:
1 lb at 60 minutes
Crushed Cocoa beans:
2 oz at 30 minutes
2 oz at 15 minutes
2 oz in a jameson extract (2 cups) two days before bottle in secondary
Vanilla Beans (4)
in same jameson extract as cocoa beans
Fermentation:
Safale 04, 2 packets
65-70 degrees for about 1 week
transfer to a secondary and set for 2 weeks at 55 in the basement.
Let me tell you this beer has by far been my favorite beer I've ever had...and I don't like stouts as much as I like pale ales. Which is why I'm so upset I !@#$ed this up. Throughout the last batch, it tastes like a nice guinness extra stout. But it starts off with the cocoa and maybe a little nutty. Then it finishes with just a touch of the vanilla and whiskey. I need to get a better system so I can have a little more control over this. I'd like to make it consistent...I'm pretty sure this isn't going to be the same each time. Thanks for the suggestions guys. Since I'm a lazy bastard and it sounds like it's not going to have that big an effect on half of the batch, I'm going to pitch this one tomorrow, then mix the two in a large secondary to hopefully smooth out some of the fruity flavors I might get from overpitching. I think I might scrape the krausen too. I specifically put it in buckets so I could. Hey, it's supposed to make heffs a little more smooth, why can't it work for a stout too?