Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Andes Mint Chocolate Stout

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Ah ok. Just making sure it wasn't a double primed situation

 

[mdbrewer1]

Ah ok. Just making sure it wasn't a double primed situation

Not that bad. Just a little extra sugar since I overestimated how much was going to be in the bottling bucket.

I have 6 Grolsch bottles which I'll try to use to gauge where I'm at.

 

[Yellowirenut]

Yesterday I cracked open a bottle of this tasty brew. It has been one year since I brewed it. The mint character is till very prevalent but not at much as before. The chocolate is very faint. I had an issue of the mint being to strong as I added a few more tea bags than the recipe called for.

 

[DaveNH]

Think it's definite stuck. Roused the yeast twice and still sitting at 1.030. Think I might try another pack of 05 and if that doesn't work, just bottle it and call it good.

 

[COEBRA]

Think it's definite stuck. Roused the yeast twice and still sitting at 1.030. Think I might try another pack of 05 and if that doesn't work, just bottle it and call it good.

This is what I did. I added amalayse and another pack of S04, let it sit 2 more weeks and bottled. I guess we'll see what happens. A certain little nephew accidentally smashed my hydrometer mid-brew Saturday so I don't know what the FG ended up at. It tasted less sweet so I went ahead and bottled to make room in the FC for the new brew.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Took a sample this past weekend. I'm right at the target FG, but I WAY missed my OG (I believe it was in the mid 1040s. Late brewday, plenty of mistakes and distractions, yadda yadda).

The chocolate and peppermint flavors were definitely there, but, as expected, it tastes a bit watery.

Any thoughts on how to make it better? I plan on adding cocoa nibs, but I don't expect that to help that much

 

[Sepanik1986]

So I just cracked a bottle after sitting for a week and a half and there is nearly no carbonation. Used 3.2 ounces priming sugar for just under 5 gallons. I'm thinking the cold crash might have affected the timing for this. Or the cold basement (57F) the flavor is spot on tho and I can't wait to have it at its full carb level

 

[mdbrewer1]

So I just cracked a bottle after sitting for a week and a half and there is nearly no carbonation. Used 3.2 ounces priming sugar for just under 5 gallons. I'm thinking the cold crash might have affected the timing for this. Or the cold basement (57F) the flavor is spot on tho and I can't wait to have it at its full carb level

What level carbonation were you shooting for? That amount of sugar for 5 gallons looks a little low. The cold temperatures are probably the bigger factor though. I usually condition in the low 70s for the first couple weeks at least.

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

Agreed on the colder temperatures affecting carbonation. When I bottled, 70s was a good temp to shoot for.

 

[mdbrewer1]

3.2 oz of priming sugar for a little less than 5 gallons put you at about 2.1 vol CO2, which I find is a little on the low side for my liking. Combined with the cold temperature, I'm not suprised there is almost no carbonation at this point. Bump the temperature up for a couple days to get the yeast going again and you'll probably get to 2.1 vol in a week or a little more.

 

[COEBRA]

57 is way to low to carb at. I also agree that 3.2 oz is also low. I bottle most of mine with 5 oz priming sugar at 70-75 and have great results. Bring your bottles inside to a dark closet or something for a week or two and you should be "in like Flint"

 

[Sepanik1986]

Sweet. The temp dropped like crazy the day after I bottled. I went with a lower amount because I was going for the "style profile" on the brewers friend calculator

 

[guitarman31]

Day number 9 in the primary and I am down to 1.014 from 1.064! Sample tasted pretty dang amazing! I could use a little more chocolate so I'm going to secondary with some cocoa nibs.

 

[Genghis]

How long do you generally leave this one to let the cocoa powder settle out? I pulled a gravity sample at 2.5 weeks, and there was still plenty in suspension.

 

[Sepanik1986]

How long do you generally leave this one to let the cocoa powder settle out? I pulled a gravity sample at 2.5 weeks, and there was still plenty in suspension.

I transferred mine over at 2 weeks, then after another 2 weeks I cold crashed for 2 days then transferred to my bottle bucket

 

[peejaynj]

Anyone notice that there's a nice head when this is poured room temperature but no head when refrigerated? From bottle that is.

 

[Sepanik1986]

Yes. I actually take it out the fridge for 20 minutes or so then pour.

 

[howamidriving]

I was think about doing this but trying to boost the abv up into the 8-9% range or so. Anybody have input on any changes that should be made to hops and the like? I was also thinking that I might have to add some mint in secondary since it'll be conditioning for longer.

Kinda just brainstorming, I probably won't be brewing this until sometime after the new year when money isn't so tight but any input from the more experienced brewers out there would be great!

 

[guitarman31]

Cracked open a bottle last night after being bottled for only 12 days. Tasted pretty freaking amazing already! The mint came through very nicely. I cut back the cocoa powder in the boil because I dry hopped with nibs, because of that I didn't get the level of chocolate taste as I was hoping for. I actually get a lot of coffee taste in the beer which was unexpected but fits in well. Overall I'm really impressed with this beer has turned out so far, thanks for the recipe!

View attachment 1418842474504.jpg

 

[Sepanik1986]

I was think about doing this but trying to boost the abv up into the 8-9% range or so. Anybody have input on any changes that should be made to hops and the like? I was also thinking that I might have to add some mint in secondary since it'll be conditioning for longer.

Kinda just brainstorming, I probably won't be brewing this until sometime after the new year when money isn't so tight but any input from the more experienced brewers out there would be great!

You can try adding some corn sugar to achieve a higher abv, also bumping up the grain bill would
work as well.

 

[Kuntry]

Brewed this today. OG 1058. Brewers friend had it at 1054 so I'd say I'm on track. Pulled a little Wort from boil to mix with Cacao which kept it from clumping at add time. Also added a couple small pinches of licorice root in bag with 20 g of peppermint to help bring depth to the chocolate.
Question, did you prime when kegging or just force carbonate?

 

[mdbrewer1]

My batch has been in bottles for 2 months now, and I just had my first since resolving the carbonation issue. The flavors have come together nicely, and it is quite tasty when it warms up just a bit. I'm really going to enjoy these this winter on cold nights in front of the fireplace.

Thanks again for the great recipe!

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

Brewed this today. OG 1058. Brewers friend had it at 1054 so I'd say I'm on track. Pulled a little Wort from boil to mix with Cacao which kept it from clumping at add time. Also added a couple small pinches of licorice root in bag with 20 g of peppermint to help bring depth to the chocolate.
Question, did you prime when kegging or just force carbonate?

I always just force carbonate. 30 PSI for 36 hours and then I drop to serving pressure. Around 10 PSI for this beer.

 

[JaybirdBrew]

This sounds amazing and I want to make it, except I'm only set up for Extract. Does anyone have this recipe for extract?
Thanks,
Jaybird.

Secondary: Russian Imperial Stout (BB)
Bottled: Germerican IPA (BB)
Bottled: Fornicator Doppelbock (High Gravity)
Next up: Falconer's Flight Extra IPA or Whiskey Barrel Stout.

 

[mdbrewer1]

I had another one of these tonight in honor of St Patrick’s Day and it is really starting to come together. All the work with repriming them looks like it is going to pay off.

 

[raceon4]

So I brewed this as one of my first all grain batches back in December. I used S-04 and some roasted barley in place of the Carafa III. This was a lesson in patience. I have a couple bottles that I didn't drink wanting to see if it would get better. It wasn't bad just not was I was expecting. I just opened one today and boy has it really mellowed out well.

This is definitely one I need to rebrew with the right yeast and ingredients. Or even the way I brewed it this time. Either way it's great.

 

[COEBRA]

This is a great base stout recipe as well. I brewed a variant of this last year without the mint and it scored well in my local competition. It will be added to my regular rotation

 

[TwoHingeBrewing]

I brewed this up on the 12th and am about ready to rack this into the secondary. It smells wonderful and actually tasted pretty good before it went into the primary. Can't wait to drink this one properly.

 

[gunsington]

I apologize if this has already been discussed, but are the mint teabags supposed to go into the fermenter for the duration of fermentation? or do I want to remove them?

 

[guitarman31]

When I brewed this I did not keep them in the fermentor. I racked to a secondary and dry hopped with cocoa nibs. If you felt like there wasn't enough mint in there I'm sure you could add more tea bags once the primary fermentation was done.