AHS Chocolate Raspberry Stout

[Wrathbone]

Has anyone tried making this kit without the raspberry flavoring, and used fresh or frozen raspberries instead?

I'm curious as to the comparison of one vs. the other.

 

[scinerd3000]

When using friut I go one pound per gallon. So I will be using 10 pounds.

thank you. i will be trying this using real berries then. i think im gonna try and make hard rasberry lemonade since i have a lemon tree out back and im gonna need something to use the extract with....

 

[dogbar]

Looks like it's on sale again: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11253

 

[scinerd3000]

so i was trying to figure out the gravity contribution of fresh rasberries if i was to use them so heres what i did: Since i figured i would be using a pound (16oz) per gallon(4 qts) of fruit i used 4 oz of fruit in a quart of water and boiled ot break down all the fruit. I topped off to a quart of water to compensate for boil off and added to a hydrometer tube. Since water at 60deg is 1.000 i took a reading of the rasberry/water mix and got 1.009. Not sure if this is valid but since its the same concentration that i would have used in my brew scaled down i figure it will contribute 9 gravity points to my brew. Any thoughts?

 

[BrewDoc_Md]

I think you're supposed to add the fruit in the secondary, not in the primary. So, the fruit contributes flavor, but nothing really to the gravity.

I saw this kit on the promotional page of AHB and picked one up. Who knows when it'll be back again.

Frozen raspberries are ok to use, right? Do y'all just toss them in as is, or put them through a blender first?

 

[FSR402]

They should be added to the clearing tank. but because they do have sugar in them it will ferment again.

You also should not boil the berries......

 

[scinerd3000]

They should be added to the clearing tank. but because they do have sugar in them it will ferment again.

You also should not boil the berries......

i only boiled them to figure out specific graity...my blender was broken and i needed someway to get them disolved in the water quickly...boiling broke down the cell walls pretty well

 

[scinerd3000]

brewed today...SG settles at 1.053....well see how the rasberries make it. i have been freezing and thawing them and rasberries will be reasy to go in in a week.

 

[Augie]

So how long have people been letting this one age? I brewed mine on the 24th and its happily bubbling away in the primary now. I planned on at least 3-4 weeks in the primary then either a secondary or keg it and let it age in the keg. Thanks

 

[FSR402]

So how long have people been letting this one age? I brewed mine on the 24th and its happily bubbling away in the primary now. I planned on at least 3-4 weeks in the primary then either a secondary or keg it and let it age in the keg. Thanks

Mine is going to be 4-5 weeks in the primary (when ever I get around to racking it) then two weeks on the berries then I will keg. One keg will go right into the kezzer the other will sit at 62* until the other keg is kicked.

 

[tmoney1224]

Well I brewed this on 5-13 and it has been in the primary that whole time. Took a hydro reading today and it was at 1.021 and it's suppose to finish around 1.012 (OG 1.060). Used the Munton Premium Gold Dry Yeast that it came with it. I've moved it upstairs where it is warmer and am hoping it will finish up. Wondering whether I should pick up another packet of dry yeast, some safale-05 or something?

 

[FSR402]

Well I brewed this on 5-13 and it has been in the primary that whole time. Took a hydro reading today and it was at 1.021 and it's suppose to finish around 1.012 (OG 1.060). Used the Munton Premium Gold Dry Yeast that it came with it. I've moved it upstairs where it is warmer and am hoping it will finish up. Wondering whether I should pick up another packet of dry yeast, some safale-05 or something?

You have done what you need to do. Let it sit warm for a few days (like 5) then check it again. If it still has not changed drop some Danstar Nottingham in there..

I have only used the Muton's yeast one time and the same thing happend to me. Wont ever use it again.

 

[tmoney1224]

You have done what you need to do. Let it sit warm for a few days (like 5) then check it again. If it still has not changed drop some Danstar Nottingham in there..

I have only used the Muton's yeast one time and the same thing happend to me. Wont ever use it again.

Thanks FSR, thats what I was thinking to, was hoping to clear up this better bottle for another brew, but I guess it will just have to wait

 

[HomerT]

For those that hove done this, how difficult is the mini-mash? I have never done one, and this kit is mini-mash or all-grain only.

Also, what about brewing their Double CHocolate Stout and adding Oregan Raspberry puree to the secondary instead of the extract at bottling?

-Todd

 

[FSR402]

For those that hove done this, how difficult is the mini-mash? I have never done one, and this kit is mini-mash or all-grain only.

Also, what about brewing their Double CHocolate Stout and adding Oregan Raspberry puree to the secondary instead of the extract at bottling?

-Todd

I have heard of people doing PM's in both a crock-pot and even the oven to maintain temps.
It's very easy to do really.

Yes the raspberry puree will work also.
I have been planning to use real berries but last night I went to get them and holy crap... It's going to add $50 to this brew. Nope looks like I'll just use the extract and see how it goes.

 

[Wrathbone]

I have heard of people doing PM's in both a crock-pot and even the oven to maintain temps.
It's very easy to do really.

Yes the raspberry puree will work also.
I have been planning to use real berries but last night I went to get them and holy crap... It's going to add $50 to this brew. Nope looks like I'll just use the extract and see how it goes.

Just use frozen berries - they're already pasteurized, and you would be freezing the fresh ones anyways to break down the cell walls.

 

[scinerd3000]

i bought the frozen ones at the grocery store but there still pricy at like $3.20 per 10oz package. i dropped around 25 or 30 bucks on them but hopefully it will end up amazing so it wont matter. the fresh ones are 4 or 5 bucks for a 6 oz package. Screw that

 

[scinerd3000]

For those that hove done this, how difficult is the mini-mash? I have never done one, and this kit is mini-mash or all-grain only.

Also, what about brewing their Double CHocolate Stout and adding Oregan Raspberry puree to the secondary instead of the extract at bottling?

-Todd

you can do minimash's on the stove also....just remeber to check the temperature every so often and adjust the flame accordingly. Ive done it this way but the temp has to be adjusted every 7 minutes in my setup so its a pain but definitively doable. They have an extract version of this kit avalable on their website also: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11253

 

[FSR402]

i bought the frozen ones at the grocery store but there still pricy at like $3.20 per 10oz package. i dropped around 25 or 30 bucks on them but hopefully it will end up amazing so it wont matter. the fresh ones are 4 or 5 bucks for a 6 oz package. Screw that

That's what I planned to use.. At $3.20 for 10 oz it would work out to be $51.20 for me. Nope, I wont do it.

 

[HomerT]

you can do minimash's on the stove also....just remeber to check the temperature every so often and adjust the flame accordingly. Ive done it this way but the temp has to be adjusted every 7 minutes in my setup so its a pain but definitively doable. They have an extract version of this kit avalable on their website also: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=11253

I ordered the extract kit. This morning it only showed mini-mash, which prompted my post. I talked to them on the phone and they said it was a glitch.

-Todd

 

[Augie]

For those that hove done this, how difficult is the mini-mash? I have never done one, and this kit is mini-mash or all-grain only.

Also, what about brewing their Double CHocolate Stout and adding Oregan Raspberry puree to the secondary instead of the extract at bottling?

-Todd

This was my first mini-mash and I was surprised on how easy it was. Obvioulsy the final product will be the true judge.

 

[scinerd3000]

it ran me around 30 bucks for the rasberries...i figure its worth a try once and ill see from there. Time to add a rasberry patch next to my hops i guess.

 

[scinerd3000]

ok so i used a sht-ton of rasberries. About 5 pounds for a 5 gallon batch. I bought them frozen and then thawed them over and over. I need to go to home depot tomrow and jerry-rig a new blowoff tube because im scared this one is gonna get clogged. Well see if i come down in the morning to an expoded carboy. Sorry about the picture size....as computer literate as i am firefox keeps dieing and im fed up trying to resize. Ill keep you posted on how it comes out.

 

[FSR402]

when it's done you need to eat those berries

 

[scinerd3000]

if they don't disintegrate...beer berries. I guess i could pull them out and freeze them for later. Maybe ill bake a pie or something.

 

[MULE]

I let the beer sit in the primary for four weeks before I bottled it. When I first sampled it, my thoughts were that it was good, but the raspberry (I used the extract) was overpowering. Over time, it has mellowed out a little IMO. SWMBO didn't care for it much so I probably will not do it again.

This beer has been very popular with my Miller Lite drinkers so I am happy I did it.

 

[FSR402]

I let the beer sit in the primary for four weeks before I bottled it. When I first sampled it, my thoughts were that it was good, but the raspberry (I used the extract) was overpowering. Over time, it has mellowed out a little IMO. SWMBO didn't care for it much so I probably will not do it again.

This beer has been very popular with my Miller Lite drinkers so I am happy I did it.

Did you use the full 2oz of extract?

 

[MULE]

Did you use the full 2oz of extract?

Yes I did.

 

[nyer]

It does mellow out alot. When I first tasted it I wished I didn't add the rasp. extract. After sitting a few days it tastes great. I also noticed I don't taste the rasp. much unless there is foam on the beer. If I put it in growler and then pour into a glass I don't taste the rasp. at all. If I go from tap to glass it's there.

 

[scinerd3000]

Massive blowoff when i woke up. Im wondering if i need to mix the rasberries or stir at all? or should i just leave it? the damn things wont sink