first experimental batch! Need some help.

Hey guys I am sure something similar has been discused on here but I was not able to find my answers through search. I am doing my first experimental batch this weekend. Its going to be an extract porter 5 gal full boil. My plan is to primary ferment it in one vessel and then rack it to 5 seperate secondarys (1 gal glass jugs) and add a different flavor to each secondary. The five flavors I have chosen are cocoa, cocoa raspberry, coffee, salted carmel, and smoked chipotle.

My main question is how much of each flavoring should I use, and would you suggest "fresh" flavorings or concentrated such as powdered or syrup. I plan to taste fairly often throughout the secondary process to get the flavor I want before bottling. Is there anything I am missing? I am open to any suggestions please.

thanks

 

I really like this idea.

I would find a 5 gallon recipe that calls for the ingredients in questions and then scale down the amounts to 1 gallon. Were it me, I would use "fresh" ingredients as much as I could. I'm pretty sure (not 100%) that you can make extract with the cocoa. You could add some of each ingredient in the secondary for a few days, and then add more at bottling if it's not flavored enough.

I would imagine that you can make cocoa extract. With the raspberries, I would look into adding them straight to the vessel. You might want to look into a sort of syrup or concentrate for the raspberries. For the coffee, I'm pretty sure lots of people cold brew coffee and and add it at bottling..should work the same for secondary. I have no idea for the salted caramel. You can probably also create an extract using chipotle peppers and maybe some smoked oak chips.

 

I have to wonder about the salted caramel....depending on how heavy on the flavoring you go and how heavy the salting is....salt is kind of a nemesis of yeast, as in salt, depending on amount, will inhibit or even kill yeast.....it might slow or even prevent bottle carbing, dunno....sounds like a good gallon of beer, though
Am assuming, since these are gallons, you're gonna bottle carb. As far as amounts, no advice, just the thought of salt with yeast made me say "hey"

 

Thats intersting I never would have thought that. Every yeast bread contains some salt with no ill effects so I wouldnt think it would but I will do some research. Also I like the idea of sclaing down 5 gal recipes. I would prefer to use fresh ingerdients but with small batches wondered if concentrate might be easier to get the right flavor.

I will be bottle carbing my thought was to divide my priming sugar and just add to each secondary and rack to bottles from there. Let me know what you think of this.

 

are you going to use flavor extracts? or the real deal? I've used cocoa, coffee, and peppers are number of times are here's what I do for 5gal:

- 3oz whole coffee beans in primary for 4-5 days
- 4oz cacao nibs w/ 2 vanilla beans in primary for 4-5 days (add 4oz cocoa powder in boil for straonger flavor)
- 2-3 chopped chilis in primary, taste regularly and take out if needed

 

Good info. Would like to use the real thing. Thanks

Also in reference to a previous post I did look up and read that in large amounts salt can kill yeast so I will work on this one some more.

 

I make bread, so I happen to have done the research. The reason salt is included in most yeast bread recipies is to ensure the bread doesn't over 5rise. If suppresses the action of the yeast.

 

Interesting. I'm sure there's a way to get a slight salty flavor in your caramel without using too much salt.

 

This is great. You guys are all awesome. Thanks and keep it coming.

 

For many of your ingredients (strong cold-brew coffee, salt), you can just gather more than you think you'll need, then add a little bit at a time when you bottle until you get the flavor just right. Just remember to do it before you add your priming sugar, so the sweetness which will be fermented out of the final beer doesn't throw your palate off!

A nice compromise between store-bought extracts and fresh ingredients right in the primary/secondary is to make your own extracts by infusing fresh ingredients in vodka for about a week. Pros: you can blend to taste at bottling time, and be absolutely sure you're not infecting your beer. Cons: you have to use extremely potent ingredients, or stop at a pretty subtle flavor, if you don't want the vodka itself to start meaningfully changing the character and ABV of your beer (although, in a dark, strong beer, maybe a little boozy heat would be plus?).

 

Thought I would post just to round this out. My flavors were chocolate, chocolate cherry, maple, coffee, and smoked chipotle. I added to the secondary fermenters and tasted after 24hours I should have added during bottling because after 24 hours my flavors were pretty good. They are bottled now and conditioning. I'm afraid the chipotle may be a dumper, but the others I think will turn out prety good. Thanks for the suggestions they were all very helpful.