Can you add chocolate malt after you pitch the yeast?

[dmorris]

It is possible to add chocolate malt after you pitch the yeast?

The recipe that I was making called for .5lb of steeped chocolate malt for a Scottish Ale I was making. On brewing day when I was getting ready to make this batch I realized that I was missing the chocolate malt. Since everything was setup and beer in-hand I decided to proceed with making the batch. I left a little room at the top of the Fermenter bucket to be able to add the malt in a few days when I am able to get my hands on the malt. At this time the yeast would have been pitched for 3 days.

What I am planning is to steep and boil around 1/2 gallon of water with the chocolate malt until the water reaches 170f and remove the malt and bring to a boil. Once the boiled malt has cooled I plan on adding it to the batch..

- Will this cause any problems with my batch?
- Should I just leave the batch the way it is? (I imagine it will still turn out ok)
- Is there another way I would accomplish the same flavor of the chocolate malt using a different ingredients or method later on in the process?

 

[ianw58]

Of course you can!

The malt will not have been boiled, so it will be contaminated with wild yeasts, bacteria and other goodies that will likely contaminate your beer.

Without steeping to extract the flavor, you won't add much flavor.

You could steep the chocolate malt in a bit of water and then boil the "tea" for 15 minutes to kill off any baddies, I suppose.

Or...

You could do a face palm, forget trying to fix this batch and see where it takes you.

 

[Yooper]

That should work out fine. I'd use less than 1/2 gallon, I think- maybe 1.5 quarts to steep the grain, and then allow a bit for absorption and boil off- to get back up to your five gallon sized batch.

 

[dmorris]

Great thanks for the help and the quick replies.

I think I am going to go the route of adding the chocolate malt after it has been boiled.

 

[ob_1jr]

interested on how this turns out. you could always add cocoa nibs after the major part of fermentation is over. although the chocolate flavor will be more subtle with the chocolate malt.