Chocolate Stout

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DeathBrewer

Maniacally Malty
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i'm going to give this a shot...never added chocolate to any beer before.

Here's the plan:

Heat the cacao powder in hot water and add with 15 minutes left in the boil, along with the whirfloc and lactose.

All the extract will be added at the beginning of the boil.

Cacao Nibs will be added to the secondary for two weeks.

Let me know if any of this sounds odd to you or if you have any suggestions! Also, does anyone know how this will age? will the chocolate flavor still be around next winter?

Cheers,
DB
:mug:

Chocolate Stout

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

13-B Stout, Sweet Stout

Min OG: 1.042 Max OG: 1.056
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 48
Min Clr: 30 Max Clr: 60 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 8.88
Anticipated OG: 1.052 Plato: 12.92
Anticipated SRM: 26.4
Anticipated IBU: 28.6
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.47 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.044 SG 11.06 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Extract SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.5 2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.009 2
11.3 1.00 lbs. Munich Malt Germany 1.005 8
9.9 0.88 lbs. Chocolate Malt America 1.003 350
5.6 0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L America 1.002 40
5.6 0.50 lbs. White Wheat Belgium 1.003 3
5.6 0.50 lbs. Flaked Soft White Wheat America 1.002 2
28.2 2.50 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.021 8
5.6 0.50 lbs. Brown Sugar Generic 1.004 4
5.6 0.50 lbs. Lactose 1.003 0

Exract represented as SG.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.25 oz. Willamette Whole 5.40 27.2 60 min.
0.25 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.20 1.4 20 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 Unit Whirfloc Fining 15 Min (boil)
4.00 Oz Cacao Powder Spice 15 Min (boil)
4.00 Oz Cacao Nibs Spice 14 Days (secondary)


Yeast
-----

DCL Yeast S-05 SafAle American Ale
 
DeathBrewer said:
it may kill the head :D i'm hoping the wheat will help with that.

I was worried about that, but when I just racked my Mocha Java Stout I noticed most of the oils stayed on the top of the beer in the fermenter. I just left the last inch in there, so I figure maybe the head won't be that affected. I'm going to tap it in a couple days, I'll let you know.
 
Technically speaking, I think one must add roasted barley in order for it to qualify as a stout. I think anywhere from 10-20% will do. Skip the late hop addition, and save your hops for another beer. Everything else, looks smashing.:)
Although i can't chim in about the cacao powder
 
i'm going to add a bit, but i don't want very much roasted malt in there, i want the flavor coming from the chocolate. the EKG will definitely accent that flavor well ;)
 
My friend and I brewed a Chocolate Truffle Stout about a month and a half ago. We added a specialty hot cocoa mix with 10-15 min left in the boil, then added some at flameout. We tasted it after the primary fermentation and decided to add some unsweetened cocoa powder and some more hot cocoa mix to the secondary. Then we primed it for bottling with evaporated cane juice and unsweetened cocoa powder (the mix that made up our hot cocoa mix). It seems to be working very well and we are going to crack the first bottle saturday.
 
I don't know how the chocolate will hold out in the end, but I added 8oz of roasted cocoa nibs to the 8-8-8 imperial stout (in secondary) and they added quite a bit of flavor. I didn't notice any significant amount of oils when I bottled.


Good Luck
 
the cocoa powder shouldn't have any oils in it, according to the place i bought it from. i was more concerned about the nibs, but it sounds like that might not be a problem either. thanks for all the input!

i think i'm going to use the full 8 oz of the powder (last 15 of boil), then see how it tastes in secondary. i'll add as much nibs in secondary based on taste and what i think will really accentuate the flavor...seeing as i'd like this to age for a little while.
 
The cocoa powder does have a small amount of fat in it, but when I've done brews with it, I've put it in first, before anything else, and have been able to spoon out the tiny amount of oils in it. I did the same thing when I used peanut butter.
 
shoot, wasn't planning on brewing this tonight, but it looks like that may be the plan.

i didn't buy an lactose yet. where do i get this and does it matter when it is added? can i add when i bottle this batch?
 
Torchiest said:
I've never added lactose until bottling time. I think that's the preferred time to do it.

i didn't think of that...
i've got a chocolate vanilla cherry stout that i'll be moving to secondary today. Wanted to go with nibs but will be adding more cherry and chocolate at secondary as well as a vanilla bean. Put half the cherry at flame out as well as 2oz of bakers chocolate. I've got some lactose that perhaps now i'll hold off with until botteling.
thanks!
:mug:
 
davefleck said:
i didn't think of that...
i've got a chocolate vanilla cherry stout that i'll be moving to secondary today. Wanted to go with nibs but will be adding more cherry and chocolate at secondary as well as a vanilla bean. Put half the cherry at flame out as well as 2oz of bakers chocolate. I've got some lactose that perhaps now i'll hold off with until botteling.
thanks!
:mug:

Dave- I started brewing a chocolate stout, but you got me thinking about adding cherry flavor to it. I used 4 oz cocoa powder in the last 15 minutes of the boil, and plan on adding 2 oz. chocolate extract at bottling. Anyone have a suggestion on how much cherry extract should I add to get a subtle, not overpowering cherry flavor?
 
I put 1.5 pounds or actual Dove Milk chocolate and my lactose both at the very end of my boil, let the chocolate solublize--all the oils rose to the top of the boil, and the beer turned out great (would be better if I had a nitro set up) Still has great head retention.

just sharing my experience
 
I've been thinking about getting a nitro set-up as well. i'm going to start later this year with just a nitro/co2 tank and picnic tap that i can bring to the desert for my friend's coffee porter :)
 
davefleck said:
i didn't think of that...
i've got a chocolate vanilla cherry stout that i'll be moving to secondary today. Wanted to go with nibs but will be adding more cherry and chocolate at secondary as well as a vanilla bean. Put half the cherry at flame out as well as 2oz of bakers chocolate. I've got some lactose that perhaps now i'll hold off with until botteling.
thanks!
:mug:

I'm pretty sure you don't wanna add the cherry at flame out, as you'll lose most of the aroma over the week or two in primary. It's generally best to add fruit for the secondary for two weeks, then do another week in a tertiary. That's how I've had my best success. I like your style. My second brew was a vanilla chocolate hazelnut porter. Still modifying the recipe after four versions of it, including a cherry chocolate porter I did once. :D
 
JimboJ said:
Dave- I started brewing a chocolate stout, but you got me thinking about adding cherry flavor to it. I used 4 oz cocoa powder in the last 15 minutes of the boil, and plan on adding 2 oz. chocolate extract at bottling. Anyone have a suggestion on how much cherry extract should I add to get a subtle, not overpowering cherry flavor?

When I do my raspberry half-wit, I use 2.5lbs of fruit and 4oz of extract, and I get a solid raspberry flavor. I'd say try 2oz of cherry extract, and it should be noticeable but not dominating. This thread has got me itching to make about three or four different brews now, thanks! :fro:
 
well, finally brewed this up yesterday and DAMNIT...i forgot to add the brown sugar! i only got about 60% efficiency, too, but that will still be just fine. i'll just boil up the sugar tonight and add it in tonight

:drunk:

it was still pretty tasty from the sample. VERY chocolatey, with 6 oz of powder.

i took a hot sample as well. it was like a hoppy hot cocoa :D

can't wait to try this...should make for a nice dessert beer
:mug:
 
I have a chocolate stout that is just about ready to be transferred to the secondary for some bulk conditioning...I used 6oz of cocoa and 1/2 lb of chocolate malt in it so far. I'm probably going to add an ounce or two of chocolate extract in the secondary as well, taste depending. The hydro sample I drew a couple of weeks ago tasted good though :D
 
So I've tapped the keg, and my SWMBO says it's her favorite beer I've ever made. It's really quite awesome, the AG version blows the extract version out of the water. The chocolate comes through very well and there's really no loss of head at all.
 
DeathBrewer said:
i didn't buy an lactose yet. where do i get this and does it matter when it is added? can i add when i bottle this batch?

I forgot to mention that you should be able to get lactose at any LHBS. And yeah, I really want to try a chocolate porter float; that would be tasty!
 
So I've tapped the keg, and my SWMBO says it's her favorite beer I've ever made. It's really quite awesome, the AG version blows the extract version out of the water. The chocolate comes through very well and there's really no loss of head at all.
that's good to hear. i'll be tasting mine in a few hours to see how much lactose i want to add.

i was supposed to bottle this tonight, but my friend just let me know that he and his girl are throwing a dessert party next weekend! his gf is a dessert chef and makes some AMAZING dishes.

so i need to bring some good beers. i'm planning on brinking my dunkelweizen (which is VERY tasty) but it just seems like it would be a true shame if i didn't bring my chocolate stout to a DESSERT party!!!

so i'm kegging this instead. i figured that would also help when adding the lactose. i can add a little bit at a time until it tastes right.

i'll let you know how it goes.

:mug:
 
So how did this turn out? I just brewed another batch of my porter this week, although I didn't add cocoa this time. I was considering adding it to secondary.
 
Intersting. I have a chocolate oatmeal stout that is not nearly as chocolaty as I'd hoped, thinking about putting some cocoa nibs in a hop bag and throwing them in the keg.
 
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