2 cents maybe 4 if you have a lot extra

[Big_Z]

Thinking of a new recipe for a brew tommorow (maybe Sat. if the weather is crap). Just wanted some more experienced brewers input on any good changes / additions / subtractions. So here is what I am thinking of.

Ingredients:
8 lbs. Muntons Extra Dark DME
8 oz. chocolate malt
4 oz. black patent malt
3 c. flaked Barley
1 oz. Mt Hood
1 oz. Fuggle
4 oz Unsweetened Bakers Chocalate (powder)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 c Premade Vanilla coffee (Made in coffemaker w/. 1/2 c. ground vanilla coffee)
3/4 c. corn sugar or 1 1/4 c. dried malt extract (for bottling)
Irish Ale Yeast - WLP004

Steps:

Add the chocolate malt, flaked barely,and black patent malts to 1 1/2 gallons of cold water and steep at 160-170 for 30 minutes.

Add the malt extracts, one gallon of boiling water, and bittering hops and bring to a to boil.

Boil for 6o minutes.

Turn off the heat and add 4 c. coffee, 1tsp vanilla extract, and 4oz Unsweetened Bakers chocolate to the hot near boiling wort.

Let the wort steep for 10 minutes (at temperatures between 160-180 degrees F{71-88 C} in order to pasturize the coffee/choc/Vanilla. mixture.

Add the finishing hops 2 minutes before the 10 minute steep in complete.

Chill wort to below 70 degrees F.

Pour into primary fermenter and add cold bottled water to add up to a total of five gallons.

Pitch Yeast

After 5-7 days of primary fermentation, rack the fermenting beer into a secondary fermenter.

Secondary fermentation about 14-21 days longer.

Bottle when fermentation is complete.

Anyway just looking for some advice. Thanks in advance

 

[elmetal]

extra dark AND chocolate malt? what the heck are you trying to do!?

 

[JoMarky]

If it were me, I'd drop the black patent, I dont like its flavor and and you wont need it for its color.

I dont know too much about extract, but I think with using purely dark extract your final gravity will be very very high.

Do a forum search for how to cold brew coffee, it reduces the amount of acid and tannins you get in the coffee.

Since its a dark beer, you dont need to worry about clarity really. Save some work by leaving it in primary for 2 weeks and then racking it to your bottling bucket and go straight to bottles, no need for secondary.

Optional although not necessary is doing the "late extract addition" method to get better hop utilization and an easier boil.

 

[maida7]

use light malt extract for all beers. The steeping grains will give you the dark colors and flavors.

the 10 min steep time following the boil may form some DMS resulting in a bad off flavor. Typically you want to go from boiling to under 140F as fast as possible to limit the formation of DMS in the beer. I would just add that stuff to the wort at flame out and start cooling. Any bugs will be killed immediately when the enter the boiling wort.

Make a starter for your liquid yeast (very important)

Go longer in the primary 2-3 weeks and skip the secondary.

 

[Graeme]

+1 on everything Maida7 said

 

[Big_Z]

Thanks for all the input. Made a few changes based on what was said. Got rid of the final steep, dropped most of the black patent (2oz instead of 4oz), dropped some of the choc (4oz instead of 8oz), added a little 10L crystal (couldnt help it wanted to add something I had extra off 4oz), and threw the finishing hops in at the end of the boil. Instead of pitching one small starter (2pints) as I noramally do pitched a little over a quart. Final gravity was not all that bad just a hair over 1.06. I will keep it in the primary for 3 weeks and then off to bottles for who knows how long. On a side note I love dark beer if I cant get it like tar I dont like it LOL. I will try this one again next Friday with 2oz black, 8oz choc, and 8 oz crystal with light DME instead of the dark. Also thinking I may like it more with a hint of cherry not sure if I will do that with this one or the next.