AHS Chocolate Raspberry Stout

[Austinhomebrew]

Forrest, what do you think about the stout sitting on the yeast cake in the secondary then? Wouldn't that be the same principle?

The point of transfering is to move it off of the yeast. And you should do this a couple of days after you reach final gravity. If you transfer with care you will not have much sediment (just a dusting on the bottom) in the secondary, not enough to worry about. Then you can leave it in the secondary for a longer time. Or you can keg the beer instead of a secondary and age it in there. Your first draw will be cloudy but after that it will be fine.


Forrest

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Got my kit today....can't wait to brew this one.

Three quick questions:
1) Only one hop addition? No flavor/aroma hops?

2) Add the extract at bottling with the priming sugar water? And then rack onto it?

3) WHen to add the Aclo-boost? During the boil I am assuming?

-Todd

1) Stouts aren't about hops, they are about the grain. In every beer, you need a bittering hop or it just doesn't taste like beer.

2) Add the Raspberry extract when bottling or kegging.

3) Add the alcohol boost when you add the extract.

 

[Ryanh1801]

Well this thread got me motivated to bottle tonight. Got it done. Tasted really good. Did 2 1/2 gallons the way it was and 2 1/2 with 1 oz. raspberry. From the sample the raspberry was not over powering at all. Great kit Forrest, specially for 16 bucks (I think thats what I paid)

 

[Augie]

Got mine in the keg today and its already great. The wife even liked it and she is not a big fan of stouts.

I'm going to let it sit in the keg for about 2 weeks and then put it in the fridge and carb it.

 

[FSR402]

Got mine in the keg today and its already great. The wife even liked it and she is not a big fan of stouts.

I got off my butt and kegged up the two batches I had. They sat in the fermenter for 36 days and finished at 1.014.
One is in the kezzer on the gas they other is hanging out until the first one kicks.
The hydro sample tasted good.

 

[BrewDoc_Md]

I brewed this kit this past Saturday with a Wyeast 1084 quart starter. Plan to let it sit 2 weeks in the primary bucket, then rack onto a few pounds of raspberries in the secondary carboy for 2 weeks, then keg. If the berry flavor isn't enough, I figure I can always add some or all of the included extract.

With a crazy hot summer already upon us on the East coast, my fermentation temps will unfortunately be ~75F, give or take. How will this affect fermentation and flavors in this stout?

 

[HomerT]

I am gonna brew this one up tommorow night. Those of you that have already, how long did you secondary for? I was planningon a short <2wk secondary, thinking that its a stout and it will be so damn dark, its not gonna matter.

-Todd

 

[FSR402]

I am gonna brew this one up tommorow night. Those of you that have already, how long did you secondary for? I was planningon a short <2wk secondary, thinking that its a stout and it will be so damn dark, its not gonna matter.

-Todd

If you are going to put it on fruit then two weeks would be good. If not, don't bother. It's just one more step, more things to clean and sanitize and one more chance to infect it.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I am gonna brew this one up tommorow night. Those of you that have already, how long did you secondary for? I was planningon a short <2wk secondary, thinking that its a stout and it will be so damn dark, its not gonna matter.

-Todd

With proper transfering technique you should have but a dusting on the bottom of the secondary. This beer is ready to drink flavor wise after a week in the secondary. It should be clear by then as well.

Forrest

 

[FSR402]

I just pulled the first pint.

Very nice.

I't's still a little under carbed but in another day or two it should be right.

Color is very dark as it should be. What head I do have (I opend the tap just a little at the end to give the head) has stuck around for a good 10 minutes. It dropped from about a 1/2 inch to this nice thin 1/16 inch of foam and has stayed there. No lacing the glass though but as the beer warms it's starting to. (served at 40*)

Smell is a strong raspberry followed by a light choco.

Taste is great. Thick body but very smooth. I get the raspberry up front and the chocolate on the finish. Neither is over powering or to much in my opinion.
I'm not getting the "waxy" that others have said with the extract.


This is a very well put together beer and I will be making it again. Thanks Forrest.
This has made me want to try out more of your kits. Can you cut me a deal on 30 gallon batches?

 

[scinerd3000]

damn man...30 gal batch? thats alot of beer....

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I just pulled the first pint.

Very nice.

I't's still a little under carbed but in another day or two it should be right.

Color is very dark as it should be. What head I do have (I opend the tap just a little at the end to give the head) has stuck around for a good 10 minutes. It dropped from about a 1/2 inch to this nice thin 1/16 inch of foam and has stayed there. No lacing the glass though but as the beer warms it's starting to. (served at 40*)

Smell is a strong raspberry followed by a light choco.

Taste is great. Thick body but very smooth. I get the raspberry up front and the chocolate on the finish. Neither is over powering or to much in my opinion.
I'm not getting the "waxy" that others have said with the extract.


This is a very well put together beer and I will be making it again. Thanks Forrest.
This has made me want to try out more of your kits. Can you cut me a deal on 30 gallon batches?

30 gallons would be 6 kits. How about if you pay for the shipping for the first kit and I will pick up the tab for the shipping on the rest? That would be only $6.99 to ship 60lbs. to your door.

I am glad you like the kit it is one of my own.

Forrest

 

[FSR402]

30 gallons would be 6 kits. How about if you pay for the shipping for the first kit and I will pick up the tab for the shipping on the rest? That would be only $6.99 to ship 60lbs. to your door.

I am glad you like the kit it is one of my own.

Forrest

Sounds good to me. Once I get two banjo burners under my 55 gal kettle I'll be doing just that. Until that (near the end of summer I hope) I'll just have to stick to the two kits at a time.

 

[scinerd3000]

just moved mine off the berries and into a tertiary and i took a taste...i think 1 lb fruit per gal was a bit much as the rasberry is somewhat overpowering. You still get the stout flavor though with the underlying chocolate tones but i think once it mellows in the bottle a bit its gonna be great., right now its kinda sour. id go with a half pound rasberries per gallon if i did it again. will post again at bottle time. 1 week

 

[HomerT]

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?

I used the Wyeast pack and have the same issue. It fermented at 68F for about four or five days and then the bubbling just stopped. I racked it to secondary last night and the hydro was 1.021 from an OG of 1.061. I am really hoping it will go lower, as beersmith was predicting like 1.014.

-Todd

 

[dogbar]

30 gallons would be 6 kits. How about if you pay for the shipping for the first kit and I will pick up the tab for the shipping on the rest? That would be only $6.99 to ship 60lbs. to your door.

That's quite the deal

 

[Ryanh1801]

Ok, finally had my first fully carbed version tonight. Great beer. Only thing I wish it had was a little more roast flavor, it would make a great desert beer as is though.

 

[toddrod]

I just racked mine into the secondary. SG is down to 1016. I can just barely taste the Cocoa, but can not taste any of the Cherries ( 5lbs worth). Will probably add the Black Cherry extract at bottling. Overall taste good right now.

 

[BrewDoc_Md]

I racked onto 3.5 pounds of raspberries in a Better Bottle today. The hydrometer sample tasted great...good roasted flavor with a nice dry aftertaste. I hit the final gravity after 2 weeks in the primary. I added extra cocoa at the end of the wort boil, about 2 Tsp of Herseys Cocoa powder; but I couldn't sense any chocolate flavor and just a very slight, barely noticable aroma. Maybe it'll become more apparent with age. If needed, I plan to add some of the included raspberry extract to the keg to taste.

 

[toddrod]

Well, I bottled today. Taste really good exceprt that I still can not taste any cherries. So, I ended up bottling half of the batch and then added 2 oz of Black Cherry extract to the other half of the batch.. It gave the beer a mild cherry taste but noting overwhelming like Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat. I will give a final evaluation in 2-3 weeks when it is ready to drink.

 

[HomerT]

Kegged mine last night. Will report out tommorow. Never did get it to drop below 1.021, which is disappointing.

 

[tmoney1224]

Kegged mine last night. Will report out tommorow. Never did get it to drop below 1.021, which is disappointing.

Bottled mine 3 1/2 weeks ago, mine never got below 1.021 as well. So far it is good, rasberry is fairly strong at this point, but seems like the consensus is it will mellow out after a while. Let some family try it and they both seemed to like it.

 

[FSR402]

Bottled mine 3 1/2 weeks ago, mine never got below 1.021 as well. So far it is good, rasberry is fairly strong at this point, but seems like the consensus is it will mellow out after a while. Let some family try it and they both seemed to like it.

What yeast do you guys (that can't get it down) use?

I chose not to use the yeast that AHS said to use and I had no problems. But I also did the AG so I have a little more control of that.

 

[HomerT]

I used the Wyeast option (Irish Ale??) that AHS had.

 

[RiverSwillBeer]

Ive had problems with Wyeast doing exactly that .... weird.

 

[FSR402]

I used the Wyeast option (Irish Ale??) that AHS had.

The 1084 should have got it down without any problem. Did you do extract or AG?
Just wondering if the extract brews are the ones staying high.

 

[HomerT]

The 1084 should have got it down without any problem. Did you do extract or AG?
Just wondering if the extract brews are the ones staying high.

Extract here.

 

[RiverSwillBeer]

The 1084 should have got it down without any problem. Did you do extract or AG?
Just wondering if the extract brews are the ones staying high.

AG here ..

 

[FSR402]

Extract here.

AG here ..

Well that kills that idea. Unless your mash temps were off.

 

[RiverSwillBeer]

Well that kills that idea. Unless your mash temps were off.

Anything is possible ...