Coopers Irish stout kit+ cocoa powder syrup

[eskimoJoe]

I just tried a Coopers Irish stout extract kit 'modified' with 4g of cocoa powder I made into a syrup.

My syrup mixture was
1 part nestle 100%cocoa powder
1 part sugar
1 part water
pinch of salt, boiled until reduced.

I used 4 oz of cocoa powder to make the above mixture.

The recipe is as follows:

1 coopers Irish stout kit
3 lbs dark traditional dme
Cocoa syrup
Small amount of dextrose
Boiled until fully combined (approx 3-5 mins)

The original gravity (OG) was 1.054 at 80+ degrees F so I think about 1.056 temperature corrected.

The ABV should be in the 5.3-6.3% abv range .

Notes:

1. when trying to dump the DME into the boiling pot , it formed Into rocky clumps. I've read this is common when adding DME into hot/boiling water.
It eventually dissolved with mixing.

2. The fermentation seemed instant , as I put the yeast into the must when it was about 80-90 degrees F. It has stabilized to 68 def. F within the last 24 hours, but fermentation seemed instant with airlock activity. Hope all is well.

I'll update in 3-4 weeks .

 

[unionrdr]

80-90F is way to high to pitch yeast. you'll likely get some off flavors from the high pitch temp. Next time,try to chill the wort (Beer is from wort,wine is from must) down to 75F or so,then top off with water chilled in the fridge a day or two before brew day. This would get wort temp down to 65F or so if topping off with about 2 gallons after a partial boil. And DME always seems to clump,so I stir briskly with a plastic paddle to break them up & get them dissolved. Pretty common occurance,just getting them well disolved is the key.
I've never used chocolate in my recipes,but use chocolate malt in my partial mashes. Using a half pound or so would give chocolate like flavors as well. A couple ounces of roasted malt gives a Euro semi-sweet chocolate flavor,imo.

 

[grasshopper1917]

The coopers stout ferments pretty hard. Watch out it doesn't bubble through your airlock!

 

[eskimoJoe]

Union: yeah I shouldn't have pitched that early. I was worried about potential infection waiting for the must to cool. I'll try specialty roasted malts when I get more experienced, in the past I've failed one too many times with partials lol!

Grasshopper: yes , it did bubble up a little thru the airlock ! Vigorous fermentation indeed. Luckily for me it was only a few drops.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,crystal/caramel malts & some specialty malts can be steeped. 30 minutes @ 155 or so would be fine.

 

[eskimoJoe]

One week later, gravity is at 1.022

 

[rocketsan]

Keep us posted on how it tastes

 

[eskimoJoe]

Holding steady at 1.022. I will bottle tomorrow if I find the same reading. This will equate to around 4.4% abv which is a little disappointing. On the bright side, I hope it's sweet and malty, which is what I look for in a chocolate stout.

 

[unionrdr]

With an OG of 1.056,it should get down lower than 1.022. Unless you have a lot of unfermentables in there. Most likely,the yeast got shocked into dormancy somehow.

 

[eskimoJoe]

I've read that stout fg's in the 1.02 range aren't unheard of....union as for the unfermentables, I did use a lot of dme, which might lead to a higher fg than if I had used higher levels of dextrose....in the 5-7 of the brews I've made my temperature range and 'protocol' have been the same....that being said I tasted a sample while bottling and .... By the hymen of Olivia Newton John ! It is super sweet! I'll update in 5 -7 days on how it tastes carbed...

Note: I think some of my cocoa syrup settled at the bottom under the yeast cake. Some, but not all.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,the DME would raise the Fg a couple points vs sugar. but not that high. Since it tastes sweet,I still think it's stuck.

 

[rocketsan]

Could one use Hershey sugar free syrup at bottling?

 

[unionrdr]

That'd be cloudy & messy. And it does contain sucralose,caramel color,possibly from the glycirin & that gum as well.

 

[BobAgain]

This could turn out nicely.

I found an old (1 yr out of date) Coopers Irish Stout hanging around in the basement a couple of months ago so I put it together. I used a new pack of Nottingham with nutrient, bumped the OG up to 1052 with light DME and it finished at 1014. I bottled it early this year, adding 4 Tbsp of instant coffee dissolved into 20 oz of Creme de Cacao into my bottling bucket, racked onto that and then bottled.

I tried a 12 oz warm "tester" today to check on the progress; a nice wisp on the open, good effervescence and foamy head on a center pour and really good notes of chocolate and coffee. I'll wait for my son to do a blind taste since he's got a much better palate than I do, but I am very happy.

I bet that yours will turn out well, too.

 

[rocketsan]

That'd be cloudy & messy. And it does contain sucralose,caramel color,possibly from the glycirin & that gum as well.

Cloudy??? It's a stout...

 

[rocketsan]

Creme de cacao... Interesting...

 

[BobAgain]

it was a complete gamble - easier for me (maybe) since the whole kit was out of date. I'm wildly surprised at how well it worked.

on a tech note, it seemed that I should have used 18 oz of CdC for 5 gal and so I eyeballed it for the 5.5 that I was bottling. 20 oz seemed correct, but I was still nervous when I popped the top on the tester today.

 

[rocketsan]

Was it boozy?

 

[BobAgain]

Was it boozy?

not at all. The CdC became the priming sugar and instead of an ABV of 5.0 it bumped it up to (maybe) 5.5%. Almost light when compared to Founders Breakfast Stout...

 

[unionrdr]

Adding chocolate,bosco,etc will give some turbidity,cloudy funk. My stout & robust porter were clear,but you'd have to pour it in a pilsner glass to see the clarity at the top of the glass. Rather than the narrower bottom of the glasses I use.The light shining through them gives a garnet glow.

 

[rocketsan]

not at all. The CdC became the priming sugar and instead of an ABV of 5.0 it bumped it up to (maybe) 5.5%. Almost light when compared to Founders Breakfast Stout...

So the CdeC has a sugar component to it?

 

[unionrdr]

Some of those thickeners,additives,body enhancers,etc are based on sugars or syrups that have a sugar component of one percentage or another. that was my concern with the chocolate syrups.

 

[eskimoJoe]

'Twas a good beer, top three (out of ten) that I have brewed. Could taste more chocolate-y, it was a little bitter. But it was fun making Black and Tans for the Super Bowl. Next time I'd like it dryer with more abv but all and all it's a decent beer.

 

[BobAgain]

View attachment 177260
'Twas a good beer, top three (out of ten) that I have brewed. Could taste more chocolate-y, it was a little bitter. But it was fun making Black and Tans for the Super Bowl. Next time I'd like it dryer with more abv but all and all it's a decent beer.

That looks good, Joe..


So the CdeC has a sugar component to it?

Sorry Rocketsan, I missed your question. Yes, the CdC has sugar. I found the equivalency here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Bottle_conditioned

 

[rocketsan]

That is valuable info, thanks!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[krispn]

Hey BobAgain

I'm geting ready to bottle some Coopers and wanna experiment with doing some liquer addition as the priming sugar but will be adding it to the bottle as opposed to the batch.

Thinking of a CdeC addition to 10 btls, CdeCassis to 10 btls, muscavado sugar to 10 btls - would 5ml of liquer be an appropriate sort of figure or have you simply batch primed in the past?

Cheers!

 

[BobAgain]

sorry, have only done it in bulk so far.