Cholaca - Pure Liquid Cacao

[6midgets]

I've used them in beers and they are amazing. I find no need to use "fresh" items like actual coconut, chocolate etc. These are super high quality. I'm a fan.

I'm intrigued. How much do you normally add to a five gallon batch?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I'm intrigued. How much do you normally add to a five gallon batch?

A teaspoon or so. Each extract comes with instructions on how much to add. It's easiest to start low and then add to taste. They work great and are painless and worry free. So many flavors too which is cool.

 

[6midgets]

A teaspoon or so. Each extract comes with instructions on how much to add. It's easiest to start low and then add to taste. They work great and are painless and worry free. So many flavors too which is cool.

I just ordered some chocolate to try in a milk porter that I've got in the fermenter. When do you normally add your flavorings?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I just ordered some chocolate to try in a milk porter that I've got in the fermenter. When do you normally add your flavorings?

At kegging. I just drop it in right before racking to a keg.

If you bottle, mix it in when stirring your priming sugar in.

Either way hope you enjoy it.

 

[beer-me-now]

At kegging. I just drop it in right before racking to a keg.

If you bottle, mix it in when stirring your priming sugar in.

Either way hope you enjoy it.

I've been very curious about the Apex Flavors since reading about them in the Death By Coconut recipe clone thread - thank you!

Forgive my beginners question here but do I need to adjust the amount of priming sugar if I plan on adding an Apex Flavor before bottling?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I've been very curious about the Apex Flavors since reading about them in the Death By Coconut recipe clone thread - thank you!

Forgive my beginners question here but do I need to adjust the amount of priming sugar if I plan on adding an Apex Flavor before bottling?

No - they have nothing to do with each other.

Enjoy the Apex flavors - they are amazing.

 

[beer-me-now]

No - they have nothing to do with each other.

Enjoy the Apex flavors - they are amazing.

Cheers and thanks!

 

[Morrey]

I've been very curious about the Apex Flavors since reading about them in the Death By Coconut recipe clone thread - thank you!

Forgive my beginners question here but do I need to adjust the amount of priming sugar if I plan on adding an Apex Flavor before bottling?

As James Miller says above, there is no need to adjust your priming sugar. However, that was heads up thinking on your part to be aware to ask this question. I looked at Apex Flavors Blood Orange that I had planned to buy to enhance a Gose that I'll make soon. I looked at their spec sheet and the Specific Gravity (SG) of this product is under 1.000 - frequently or generally meaning there is no sugar that will be available for yeast to consume in addition to the priming sugar you'll add. Just for reassurance I checked coconut and the SG was under 1.000 so no sugar there either.

 

[beer-me-now]

As James Miller says above, there is no need to adjust your priming sugar. However, that was heads up thinking on your part to be aware to ask this question. I looked at Apex Flavors Blood Orange that I had planned to buy to enhance a Gose that I'll make soon. I looked at their spec sheet and the Specific Gravity (SG) of this product is under 1.000 frequently or generally meaning there is no sugar that will be available for yeast to consume in addition to the priming sugar you'll add. Just for reassurance I checked coconut and the SG was under 1.000 so no sugar there either.

Thank you very much for this detailed explanation for why it's not an issue in this case, this will help me greatly in the future. Being a new brewer I wasn't exactly sure how to word my concern and you laid it out perfectly. I want to avoid bottles exploding in my closet!

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Thank you very much for this detailed explanation for why it's not an issue in this case, this will help me greatly in the future. Being a new brewer I wasn't exactly sure how to word my concern and you laid it out perfectly. I want to avoid bottles exploding in my closet!

Yeah these extracts are mostly alcohol, no sugar contribution to your beer. Let us know how they work out.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

As James Miller says above, there is no need to adjust your priming sugar. However, that was heads up thinking on your part to be aware to ask this question. I looked at Apex Flavors Blood Orange that I had planned to buy to enhance a Gose that I'll make soon. I looked at their spec sheet and the Specific Gravity (SG) of this product is under 1.000 - frequently or generally meaning there is no sugar that will be available for yeast to consume in addition to the priming sugar you'll add. Just for reassurance I checked coconut and the SG was under 1.000 so no sugar there either.

The coconut one is amazing. My favorite was probably french toast or s'mores. They added an awesome flavor to some porters I brewed in the fall. I have no doubt the blood orange one will be tasty too.

 

[Morrey]

The coconut one is amazing. My favorite was probably french toast or s'mores. They added an awesome flavor to some porters I brewed in the fall. I have no doubt the blood orange one will be tasty too.

The Gose sourness should compliment and work with the blood orange nicely. The ratio for a 5g batch recommended by Apex is .5 to 1.5 oz for their flavors. Being that the sourness may subdue the flavor's strength, would you recommend going on the higher side? Since I purge kegs and transfer O2 free into a closed keg, it wont be easy for me to sample and add to taste. Any ideas of the ratio you used with your flavorings?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

The Gose sourness should compliment and work with the blood orange nicely. The ratio for a 5g batch recommended by Apex is .5 to 1.5 oz for their flavors. Being that the sourness may subdue the flavor's strength, would you recommend going on the higher side? Since I purge kegs and transfer O2 free into a closed keg, it wont be easy for me to sample and add to taste. Any ideas of the ratio you used with your flavorings?

Yeah they have the recommended ratio for each type on the side of the bottle. I think it's % per volume, so you'll have to do a little math. I went with the full recommendation for each of mine on my porter variants in November, and they all turned out very nice. You could definitely detect the flavors using that amount. I am not sure how much blood orange flavor you're looking for in this, but I always recommend going a bit under whenever adding extracts, as you can't remove the flavor but you can add to it. Not being able to add more to taste does it make it more challenging, so I would suggest just going a slight hair under the recommended volume. I hope that works out for the flavor you're intending.

Also another option would be to take 12-24 oz of beer, perhaps a retail gose, and add exactly the same ratio you're planning on adding via a mL dropper and test it out. If it tastes good then you're good to go! We did that with one and it worked great.

 

[duelerx]

Yeah they have the recommended ratio for each type on the side of the bottle. I think it's % per volume, so you'll have to do a little math. I went with the full recommendation for each of mine on my porter variants in November, and they all turned out very nice. You could definitely detect the flavors using that amount. I am not sure how much blood orange flavor you're looking for in this, but I always recommend going a bit under whenever adding extracts, as you can't remove the flavor but you can add to it. Not being able to add more to taste does it make it more challenging, so I would suggest just going a slight hair under the recommended volume. I hope that works out for the flavor you're intending.

Also another option would be to take 12-24 oz of beer, perhaps a retail gose, and add exactly the same ratio you're planning on adding via a mL dropper and test it out. If it tastes good then you're good to go! We did that with one and it worked great.

I'm intrigued by your recommendation thanks!, thinking to try smores in a porter what dosage did you have success?

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I'm intrigued by your recommendation thanks!, thinking to try smores in a porter what dosage did you have success?

The Smores was freaking amazing. I can check the dosage at home when I check the bottle, but I used exactly what they recommended and it worked great.

 

[cdug619]

Just to keep the Cholaca info flowing.

I did a 6 gallon batch of an RIS at 10.7%. I used 1 vanilla bean and 16oz of unsweetened Cholaca after fermentation was done. Just added to primary for 4 days and then bottled 5 gallons. At 2 months of aging it tastes amazing. Can taste both the vanilla and chocolate. The chocolate flavor, for my taste, was about a much as I would want to go. Could probably do 12oz of Cholaca and have a little less flavor.

The remaining gallon is sitting in a little cask that had aspen aged rye whiskey from a new distillery in Colorado. Can't wait to compare the two.