Should I add some chocolate extract to this recipe?

[LarryC]

I found a recipe for a chocolate raspberry stout that I thought looked pretty good. Today I went to my LHBS and went over the recipe and bought all the ingredients (this is an extract recipe with steeping grains). Here's the recipe;
Chocolate Raspberry Stout
0.5 lbs. American Chocolate Malt
0.25 lbs. American Black Patent
0.5 lbs. Roasted Barley
2.7 lbs. Dark DME
2.5 lbs. Dry Amber DME
0.25 lbs. Molasses
0.25 lbs. Lactose
1.0 oz. Cascade (Pellets, 6.8 %AA) boiled 60 min.
1 oz. Fuggle (Pellets, 4.5 %AA) boiled 5 min.
3 ounces Raspberry Extract (not included in calculations)
White Labs WLP011 European Ale yeast

This is my first time using a recipe and not a kit so I am trying to make sure I have it right. After getting home & doing some reading I see that the chocolate malt doesn't really add any (much) chocolate flavor. My intent is to have some - not overwhelming- chocolate flavor to the beer. Rouge Chocolate Stout is about the level of flavor I'm going for with some raspberry added in.

Should I buy some chocolate extract and add it to the recipe? If so, when should it be added?

 

[Runyanka]

Get some chocolate liquer from the grocery store (near the spices) I think it comes in 3oz bottles. I added half a can of coco powder (rehydrated) to the end of boil, then added 1 oz of the chocolate liquer at bottling. Turned out fantastic!

 

[Parker36]

If it is you first home made recipe, I would try to keep it simple. You can always make alterations next time you brew it.

 

[LarryC]

Duece - I need to get some raspberry extract and I'll probably be going to the local Whole Foods to find it so I'll pick up the chocolate at the same time. Was the cocoa half of one of those 8 oz. Hershey's Cocoa boxes?

Parker36 - normally I would agree but the point of this batch is to have a chocolate flavor in the beer and if what I read about chocolate malt is correct, it would add little to no chocolate flavor to my beer.

 

[BrewBalls]

my last brew was a chocolate cream stout and I used hershey's special dark cocoa powder. it was added at the end of the boil.

and just now looking at the recipe, I realized I put double the amount of cocoa the recipe called for. for some reason i thought i was to dump the whole can into the recipe. looking at the recipe, it only asked for 1/2 cup.


It didn't come out entirely too chocolatey, probably right at the maximum. good beer, but something I'd only want every once in a while

 

[VTBrewer]

Pretty interesting recipe. The molasses and roasted barley are def going to have a flavor profile addition as well as the chocolate. If you want a more chocolately flavor, I'd not increase the chocolate, I'd decrease the roasted barley to .25

Just my opinion. In cases like this...you really need to make it once and then have a "brew over" (kinda like that car came down the road when you hit a home run but the OF called "do over").

 

[FishinDave07]

The only chocolate beer that i brewed with chocolate was a Russian Imperial Stout in which i added 8 oz of unsweetened bakers chocolate to the mash. I hear a lot about adding cocoa nibs to the secondary as per Dogfish Head and would want to try that someday.

But, In a Moose Drool clone i brewed a while back i noticed that it had an excellent, profound chocolately taste that i can attribute to equal parts of chocolate malt and black patent. I've never tasted anything like it.