Chocolate stout addition suggestions?

[eadavis80]

I will be brewing N. Brewer's chocolate stout later this fall. Last time I did it, I loved it. The only thing I did different than the recipe was that I soaked the cacoa nibs in vanilla vodka before racking, which I think really helped. In addition to doing that, I will also be making the kit with my first attempt at harvested/washed yeast. I'll be using Danstar Windsor Ale yeast from N. Brewer's Caribou Slobber I'll be brewing before. Two questions: 1) Do you think that yeast will work well with the chocolate stout and 2) what other chocolate additions have you had success with besides cacoa nibs? I will be using the nibs again and don't want chocolate overload, but experimenting is half of the fun of the hobby, right?

 

[RM-MN]

I'd suggest you limit your experimentation to one variable, either the washed yeast or a different variation on the chocolate like using cocoa instead of the cacao nibs. Otherwise you won't know what made the beer really good or really bad.

 

[eadavis80]

That's good advice - hadn't really thought of the "2 variable" possible problem. Guess this time around it'll be the harvested yeast and try something else next year with it.

 

[Zepth]

I used 150g (about 5.5 - 6 oz) cocoa in a stout at flameout. Gave a very subtle chocolate flavour in the finish. Similar to the bitterness of a quality dark (75-80%) chocolate. Planning to modify the recipe for a couple different reasons, but I'll be probably double the cocoa content among other things.