Chocolate Milk Stout

[DocDriza]

Just tried my chocolate stout, and it's supposed to taste like chocolate milk. It tastes like coffee. Caocao nibs and lactose were added to the boil. What should I change?

 

[CorporateHippie]

Beer won't taste like chocolate milk. Most stouts do have an essence of coffee and/or chocolate. Where r we at here in the process??? Primary fermentation? Secondary? Bottled?

 

[PJM]

Beer won't taste like chocolate milk.

I would have agreed with you on this statement had I not tasted Terrapin's Moo Hoo Sweet Stout. Tastes just like chocolate milk. It is amazing.

Since tasting it, I have set about determining how to replicate it. The coffee flavor may have come from the dark grains in your recipe or perhaps from boiling the nibs. From what I have read, many people use the nibs directly in the secondary or by making a tincture using vodka and adding to secondary. Seems that these methods give you more chocolate flavor and aroma with less bitterness. I haven't tried it yet so can't provide personal input. I do have a tincture going now. Will add it to my sweet stout in a day or two.

Good luck.

 

[DocDriza]

It's bottled and conditioned.

The recipe called for lactose which I thought would give the milk flavor.

I've also had a stout that taste like chocolate milk.

 

[Chappy6107]

anyone know where to find Terrapin's Moo Hoo Sweet Stout in the Tx dfw area? I would like to try this to see if I want to attempt to brew it.

 

[estricklin]

anyone know where to find Terrapin's Moo Hoo Sweet Stout in the Tx dfw area? I would like to try this to see if I want to attempt to brew it.

I thought Spec's might, but didn't seem to.

 

[Hello]

There's a moo-hoo clone recipe here. I have to search for it but it's from finsfan. Your coffee flavor is from roasted grain I bet. Lactose won't ever taste like milk, it'll give great mouth feel. What was your recipe? In order to tell you what to change, it's helpful to know the recipe.

 

[DaNewf]

+1 on the lactose not making beer taste like milk. It will sweeten the beer and add body to it.

Aren't nibs usually added after the boil (primary or secondary)?

A lot of chocolate stouts use extract (vanilla and/or chocolate) to bring the chocolate flavor more to the front.

Sometimes the stout just needs time for the stronger roasted flavours to mellow out so that the chocolate is more pronounced. I've got a chocolate milk stout (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/coopers-triple-chocolate-milk-stout-498363/) in the bottle about a week now. I will wait at least another 3 or 4 weeks before I touch the first bottle.

 

[atli126]

Danewf How did your stout turnout?

 

[finsfan]

Chocolate should never be boiled, it just turns bitter. Like others have said, the nibs should be added after primary fermentation to lock in the flavor AND aroma, which is just as important.

 

[DaNewf]

Danewf How did your stout turnout?

I'm 3 or 4 weeks away from finding out (who knows, it might take even longer). The hydrometer sample I took (and drank) on bottling day leads me to believe it will be pretty good. We'll see.

 

[DocDriza]

Well I'll let it age a little and see what changes. This was an extract kit I picked up and it said to boil the nibs for 5 minutes. Next time I'll use a secondary.

 

[eadavis80]

When I did my NB milk chocolate stout, their instructions said to rack the beer on top of the coaco nibs in secondary. I had a great experience with that kit earlier in the year and am conditioning a 2nd go around with that kit now.

 

[DocDriza]

In the kit I got from my LHBS had me boil the nibs for 5 minutes and the lactose for 60. I showed the recipe to a friend, and like you guys he disagrees with the boiling of the nibs, and thought I needed more lactose. He says that I should put more nibs than what is in the instructions into the secondary also. I understand what I can do next time to make it better.

Thanks guys.

 

[robert843]

I tried a Moo Hoo yesterday and loved it. I will definitely try to brew this beer sometime this winter.

 

[eadavis80]

How much lactose was in the kit? The NB kit had a pound. Remember that lactose is non-fermentable. I made mine with harvested Danstar Windsor Ale yeast, which leaves a higher than normal gravity, on its own. So, my FG was only down to 1.022 - my ABV was a very mild 3.6% on that batch, but the samples tasted good along the way. I bottle tonight, so I hope after 2 weeks on the nibs it's good n' tasty!

 

[DocDriza]

It was a pound. But could probably afford to put another pound in.