Bottling day eve chocolate stout emergency

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hey all, so I'm bottling a chocolate oatmeal stout tomorrow. I didn't add any chocolate to the boil, was planning to add some chocolate extract to my bottling bucket with my dextrose, but just went to the grocery store to find no chocolate extract.. So I bought some unsweetened cocoa powder, hoping I can still use it somehow. Can I just pasteurize it and add it to my bottling bucket like my dextrose? Thanks guys!

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Not sure how the cocoa powder would work out. Only time I've added cocoa flavor to a beer I used cocoa nibs slightly toasted in oven then soaked in enough vodka to cover them. Let it soak for a day or two and added the vodka to the beer before bottling.

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hmm, what if I buy unsweetened Baker's chocolate and melt it in a sauce pan well; would that mix well enough if racking into my bottling bucket with a nice swirl? Or would it separate and just sink to the bottom of my bottles?

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

So I just added 1 oz of cocoa powder to my boiling water/dextrose primer for a 3.5 gallon batch my oatmeal stout.. Racked beer from fermenter to bottling bucket, swirling in with my primer to mix. Bottled beer and kept a small sample of beer straight out of fermenter (from taking FG) and from end of bottling bucket (thus a sample with and without cocoa powder).

The sample with the cocoa powder looked lighter brown and hot chocolate-like with some settling of powder/residue, while the pre-cocoa powder sample looks like a normal stout. The sample with cocoa powder also has a strong cocoa smell and taste.. Really didn't think 1oz would do this much!! I hope it turns out okay after some conditioning..

 

[Rob2010SS]

So I just added 1 oz of cocoa powder to my boiling water/dextrose primer for a 3.5 gallon batch my oatmeal stout.. Racked beer from fermenter to bottling bucket, swirling in with my primer to mix. Bottled beer and kept a small sample of beer straight out of fermenter (from taking FG) and from end of bottling bucket (thus a sample with and without cocoa powder).

The sample with the cocoa powder looked lighter brown and hot chocolate-like with some settling of powder/residue, while the pre-cocoa powder sample looks like a normal stout. The sample with cocoa powder also has a strong cocoa smell and taste.. Really didn't think 1oz would do this much!! I hope it turns out okay after some conditioning..

I'll be curious to see how this turns out. Please keep us posted.

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hoping maybe my bottle bucket sample with cocoa powder was from when there was hardly any left so I tipped up the bucket, and it had already settled to the bottom.. So maybe most bottles won't have much? Crossing fingers lol

 

[microbusbrewery]

Yeah, IME it doesn't dissolve well. I've used it in the boil before and it kind of made a mess. My favorite way to add chocolate flavor and aroma is Drew's The Bomb Cocoa Nib and Vanilla Tincture, https://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/cacao-nib-extract-drew-way

 

[Lefou]

I'm considering a porter or oatmeal stout later on this year using cocoa powder as an ingredient, so this is an interesting read. The vodka tincture and nibs option is out because it's an added expense for extra items and I'm cheap.
I'm still bottling and haven't gone to kegging yet, so bottling time seems to be the best alternative - but I plan on doing it with a twist, combining the cocoa powder with hot dissolved sugar water using a graduated oral baby syringe for liquid priming. That way the mix goes right in the bottle, pre-measured, and primes at the same time. No cocoa in the mash, none in the boil or primary while each bottle gets properly primed. I've done the priming in a bucket before and never really trusted that mixing method, though it didn't cause any problems. I can allow a few lax variables in brewing, but being lazy during priming isn't one of them.

 

[uncleben113]

Sounds like you made the right decision. You may find more info on imparting chocolate using cocoa nibs in the future, though. I don't whether 1oz is too much or too little but personally, a chocolatey, oatmeal stout sounds delicious.

Also, this is a late answer to your question but melting chocolate and putting it into your beer is likely a bad idea due to the high level of oils in the chocolate. That'll leave oil in your beer and destroy your head retention.

Keep us updated!

 

[xpops]

I'm considering a porter or oatmeal stout later on this year using cocoa powder as an ingredient, so this is an interesting read. The vodka tincture and nibs option is out because it's an added expense for extra items and I'm cheap.
I'm still bottling and haven't gone to kegging yet, so bottling time seems to be the best alternative - but I plan on doing it with a twist, combining the cocoa powder with hot dissolved sugar water using a graduated oral baby syringe for liquid priming. That way the mix goes right in the bottle, pre-measured, and primes at the same time. No cocoa in the mash, none in the boil or primary while each bottle gets properly primed. I've done the priming in a bucket before and never really trusted that mixing method, though it didn't cause any problems. I can allow a few lax variables in brewing, but being lazy during priming isn't one of them.

if adding at bottling time, that is probably your best bet, to ensure equal distribution of the cocoa poweder tincture, otherwise i feel it would settle out in bottling bucket....at least without stirring the hell out of it and oxidizing the crap out of it.

I've added it at the end of boil for a chocolate stout a while back. it was a mess, but it turned out great and all bottles tasted the same.

let us know how this works out!

 

[uncleben113]

if adding at bottling time, that is probably your best bet, to ensure equal distribution of the cocoa poweder tincture, otherwise i feel it would settle out in bottling bucket....at least without stirring the hell out of it and oxidizing the crap out of it.!

Good point. Adding the powder into the secondary for a few days may allow the chocolate flavor to be imparted while letting all that chocolate powder settle out. A tincture also sounds like a great idea for this because you could add little by little until you get the character you want.

 

[Lefou]

A secondary carboy addition would be great idea for imparting flavor and aroma without a lot of cocoa powder ending up as bottle sediment. A six gallon primary fermentation siphoned to a five gallon secondary may be the way to go instead of adding during bottling. I have the carboys to do this ... so thanks for the reminder.
This is still in the "brainstorm" stage. At some point, I'll decide what to do and actually put it to paper when my brew day comes.