Cocoa powder

[ShermantheTank]

Hello everyone!

I'm about to transfer my second batch of homebrew from the primary to the secondary fermentor, and I had a question about adding ingredients.

I'm using True Brew's Irish Stout kit which, I imagine, is going to taste very bland and generic. A friend suggested that I add cocoa powder to improve the taste, but I have no idea how I would do this. I want the added flavor to be present, but not over-poweringly so. How much should I add? Should I add it before syphoning or after? My friend suggested dumping the cocoa powder in some boiling water to purify it; should I do this or is there some other method of cleanliness I should do?

Anyway, I'm not going to decide to add it or not until I crack the primary and try a sip. Just wanted to type up the question before I have to scrub the filth from my hands every time I think of touching a dirty surface, like my keyboard.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Priemus]

This isnt going to be a very helpful answer:

But as I look over recipes and uses of cocoa powder I cant help but notice that people that add it usually add around half a pound at flame out, not to the secondary. So, while I dont know what it would do having never tried myself I'd caution against it for the time being.

 

[Oldsock]

I don't think Irish stout is a great match for chocolate. They tend to be pretty dry/bitter, which won't complement the cocoa as well as a rounder/sweeter stout. That said, I really like adding cocoa powder when racking to secondary.

Mix ~4 oz of cocoa powder (for a moderate chocolate flavor) with enough water right off the boil to form a thick paste, let it sit for five minutes before mixing into the beer. This gives it a better flavor and makes mixing easier since it is hard to get cocoa powder to mix into cold liquids. Give it 1-2 weeks to extract/settle before bottling.

 

[ShermantheTank]

I don't think Irish stout is a great match for chocolate. They tend to be pretty dry/bitter, which won't complement the cocoa as well as a rounder/sweeter stout. That said, I really like adding cocoa powder when racking to secondary.

Mix ~4 oz of cocoa powder (for a moderate chocolate flavor) with enough water right off the boil to form a thick paste, let it sit for five minutes before mixing into the beer. This gives it a better flavor and makes mixing easier since it is hard to get cocoa powder to mix into cold liquids. Give it 1-2 weeks to extract/settle before bottling.

This is what I ended up going with, and it came out great! The beer is still very dry, but the cocoa powder added a layer of smoothness to the opening taste. The taste changes at the tail end to be more bitter/have more bite, just like a typical Irish Stout.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[MaltnHops]

I usually put 8 oz. in my chocolate porter at flameout and it comes out amazing. Nice chocolate aroma and flavor, without being overpowering.

 

[sfrisby]

A great piece of advice I read here is to add cocoa powder in the secondary because it needs the alcohol to keep it in suspension. In the boil or in primary it will sink to the bottom of the primary as it separates from the wort.

 

[jd3]

I recently did an extract stout kit that I added a bottle of liquid chocolate extract and then 3 oz of cocoa powder slurry at secondary. Turned out pretty good. It is only 5 weeks into bottling and keeps getting better and better.