Chocolate stout

[C.N. Brewer]

Hey everyone! It’s been a little while since I’ve been on and a little while since I’ve brewed. Recently I’ve had my first son and I’m pretty thrilled about it. That being said, I want to brew a chocolate imperial stout (or even just a regular stout) and age it for about a year and drink it on his birthday next year. But the problem is, I’ve never brewed a stout before. I typically brew IPAs and PAs. So I was hoping to get some hop variety suggestions, a suggestion on how much malt to use, and I was wanting to know how I would get a chocolate flavor into my beer. Thanks fellas! I should mention too, it’s a 1 gallon batch.

 

[bracconiere]

I should mention too, it’s a 1 gallon batch.

you'll need more than a gallon for a proper first birthday...i gave my neighbor a gallon of cask booze and oak chips to age for 21 years, lol.....

 

[KookyBrewsky]

Chocolate stout was the first beer I’ve ever brewed, recently too, on the 21st. It was a kit from homebrewing.org.

Specialty Grains : 1lb flaked barley, 1lb chocolate, 4oz Black Patent

Bittering/boil hops : 1oz Williamette

Aroma hops : 1oz Fuggle

I had beginner’s luck but I don’t think I could’ve done a single thing to make it turn out better when it’s done in 4 more weeks and ready to drink. My second brew, almost a complete, 100% disaster. I have a bit more gear on the way so I can transfer these to a slightly warmer spot and brew two more, trying out my own recipe this time plus one more kit.

 

[RM-MN]

Unsweetened cocoa powder will give you the chocolate flavor.

Take a look at the top 3 results of my search for recipe ideas. I agree with Braccioniere that you probably need a bigger batch than one gallon. You may need to do a sample to test how the beer is maturing starting at about 6 months, just one bottle but that would deplete your one gallon by a fair percentage. Maybe 2 1/2 gallons would be more appropriate. Be aware that the imperial chocolate stout will not be fully mature at one year so having more will give you the chance to see the difference when you celebrate your son's second and third birthdays.

Recipes in the database on stouts: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/search/6602782/?q=chocolate+imperial+stout&o=relevance&c[node]=62

 

[KookyBrewsky]

Unsweetened cocoa powder will give you the chocolate flavor.

Take a look at the top 3 results of my search for recipe ideas. I agree with Braccioniere that you probably need a bigger batch than one gallon. You may need to do a sample to test how the beer is maturing starting at about 6 months, just one bottle but that would deplete your one gallon by a fair percentage. Maybe 2 1/2 gallons would be more appropriate. Be aware that the imperial chocolate stout will not be fully mature at one year so having more will give you the chance to see the difference when you celebrate your son's second and third birthdays.

Recipes in the database on stouts: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/search/6602782/?q=chocolate+imperial+stout&o=relevance&c[node]=62

Dang, I was looking forward to trying a chocolate stout after 5-6 weeks.

By maturing, do you mean aging, as in with the use of barrels? Or bottle conditioning?

 

[McKnuckle]

He's talking about an imperial chocolate stout, which is a high alcohol beer benefiting from extended aging (although > one year seems extreme). A standard gravity stout is ready in a matter of a couple of months, or less, depending on the ABV and roasted grain percentage in the recipe.

 

[Beer666]

I make a chocolate and coconut stout which i keg after 10 days and start drinking. Not sure why but it does not seem to benefit much from aging and it does not last long enough. I buy raw nibs and roast them at 100c for 20m and throw then into secondary for a week ( or longer if you can wait). About 150g in 25l gives a strong chocolate backbone. I do the same with RIS's but bottle after a month or so. I generally use 20% golden syrup to help attenuation and reduce the amount of base malt needed.

 

[RM-MN]

Dang, I was looking foreword to trying a chocolate stout after 5-6 weeks.

By maturing, do you mean aging, as in with the use of barrels? Or bottle conditioning?

I try my stouts in that time frame or just a little longer but from experience I know that they improve with more age. I bottle my stouts after 3 or 4 weeks in the fermenter and then let them mature at room temp or slightly below.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I second the cacao nibs suggestion. I've never messed around with powder, but nibs couldn't be easier and tastier. It's as if chocolate brownies get infused into your beer.

Hops: traditional english or Willamette will be good. Typically anything with an "earthy" profile.

 

[C.N. Brewer]

Thank you guys for all the help. I really appreciate the advice and I’m going to take a lot of it. I’ll post my recipe later on. I’m thinking I’m going to step away from the idea of the Imperial stout and just do a regular stout. Until I get a bigger set up, I won’t be able to do the imperials with just 1 gallon. Luckily, I love 10 minutes from a brew supply store so I think I’ll take a trip in a few days and check it out!

 

[C.N. Brewer]

Follow up question. Typically after fermentation finishes I usually transfer my beer into another fermentation jar and let it sit for an additional 2 weeks. For a stout since clarity really doesn’t matter, after fermentation finishes can I simply just transfer into the bottles? I’m wanting to keep a couple bottles to age for... like 10 months or so for his birthday. But I reckon I’ll try one after a month or 2 in bottle. Any suggestions?

 

[KookyBrewsky]

imperial chocolate stout

Thanks for the information and sorry for the confusion.

Although my chocolate stout didn't call for cocoa nibs, those are what they sent for my chipotle porter.

Follow up question. Typically after fermentation finishes I usually transfer my beer into another fermentation jar and let it sit for an additional 2 weeks. For a stout since clarity really doesn’t matter, after fermentation finishes can I simply just transfer into the bottles? I’m wanting to keep a couple bottles to age for... like 10 months or so for his birthday. But I reckon I’ll try one after a month or 2 in bottle. Any suggestions?

I am 100% a noob, but I plan on two weeks and a half weeks in primary without a secondary and bottle conditioning for 3+ weeks before I try one. I'm going to allot an amount per month so I can see how it ages as I brew others and try more professionally made craft beers

 

[C.N. Brewer]

If you don’t drink other beers while brewing your own beer, are you even brewing correctly? Haha.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

Follow up question. Typically after fermentation finishes I usually transfer my beer into another fermentation jar and let it sit for an additional 2 weeks. For a stout since clarity really doesn’t matter, after fermentation finishes can I simply just transfer into the bottles? I’m wanting to keep a couple bottles to age for... like 10 months or so for his birthday. But I reckon I’ll try one after a month or 2 in bottle. Any suggestions?

If you don’t drink other beers while brewing your own beer, are you even brewing correctly? Haha.

I’m a room temp tequila man. I love the agave sweetness. But as I said in my own post my main drink is black coffee and espresso, I love to roast beans and buy fresh roasted each week. Why not treat beer the same? We’re often sold some sort of sub-par stale commodity.

I’m picking a random beer to sample each week to make sure I can judge mine correctly. My first was the Old Rasputin Stout and wow, it was amazing. The mouth feel, flavors, aesthetics, that’s what I’d like to manage someday, something well crafted of my own accord.

This week Fat Tire was BOGO and I need more empty bottles so I couldn’t resist, lol...

 

[RM-MN]

Follow up question. Typically after fermentation finishes I usually transfer my beer into another fermentation jar and let it sit for an additional 2 weeks. For a stout since clarity really doesn’t matter, after fermentation finishes can I simply just transfer into the bottles? I’m wanting to keep a couple bottles to age for... like 10 months or so for his birthday. But I reckon I’ll try one after a month or 2 in bottle. Any suggestions?

There is no need nor any advantage to transferring your beer to another jar. It can just be left in the container it was fermented in until you are ready to bottle, be that 2 weeks or 2 months. It won't hurt the beer a bit.

 

[C.N. Brewer]

I’m a room temp tequila man. I love the agave sweetness. But as I said in my own post my main drink is black coffee and espresso, I love to roast beans and buy fresh roasted each week. Why not treat beer the same? We’re often sold some sort of sub-par stale commodity.

I’m picking a random beer to sample each week to make sure I can judge mine correctly. My first was the Old Rasputin Stout and wow, it was amazing. The mouth feel, flavors, aesthetics, that’s what I’d like to manage someday, something well crafted of my own accord.

This week Fat Tire was BOGO and I need more empty bottles so I couldn’t resist, lol...

Right there with you, love me some black coffee! Dark dark roast. Which is probably why I prefer stouts over anything else. And you honestly can’t go wrong with Fat Tire. My GO TO beer when I have one is typically Guinness. There is just something about looking at a fresh pint of Guinness that makes you giddy inside. Which is what stopped me from brewing for so long, I just found what I think is the perfect beer. But with that being said, I want to make my own stout recipe. I have a recipe for an IPA that I made on accident called “Hoppy Little Accident”. I was watching Bob Ross on Netflix and when I added my Hops, I didn’t read the number correctly and added like 800% more hops. So I quickly pulled it out after it boiled about 7 minutes or so and I realized what I did, and I have to say it’s the best beer I’ve ever made. It tastes a lot like Space Dust IPA.

 

[Jag75]

I soak nibs and vanilla beans in bourbon for a few weeks then add to the fermenter. I do notice that at about 2 -3 weeks in the keg it's at its prime. I have it on gas blend and it's a favorite around here .