Fruit Beer DC Raspberry Stout

[Bonneville]

Seems like a lot of Vodka

Yep!

 

[PundyBrews]

What about adding some dark oak chips to this brew?

 

[Pelikan]

I would avoid the oak chips. You might have a nice effect by adding some 120L in place of the D2.

 

[Bonneville]

I would avoid the oak chips. You might have a nice effect by adding some 120L in place of the D2.

I was hoping OP would show up. I haven't tasted this yet, but envision a fairly sweet beer (raspberry, chocolate, D2, etc.) Oak would seem to go in a very different direction.

I feel like a noob homebrewer again as the waiting is killing me for this one beer, and I have 35+ gallons of homebrew lying around.

 

[BDB]

Well I just transfered to secondary yesterday. I ended up losing about 3/4 gal. due to the raspberry puree. Not a big deal. I did pull a sample for a premature taste before racking. The raspberry was present but not overwhelming. This is going to be a tasty beer.

 

[PundyBrews]

Where can i get the lactose and in what form?

 

[Bonneville]

Where can i get the lactose and in what form?

Your LHBS or any online store. It's a white powder.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/lactose-1-lb.html

 

[McBrewski]

Were you guys sure to add a significant amount of yeast (add more wort to your liquid starter several times to increase the cell count) or did you find that one package worth was sufficient?

 

[BDB]

McBrewski,

I just used a Wyeast smack pack with no starter. Everything turn out fine. But a starter would never hurt.

Bonneville,

I got one more week left in the bottle before I'm going to the glass. I think around new years would be a great time to compare notes.

 

[Bonneville]

Bonneville,

I got one more week left in the bottle before I'm going to the glass. I think around new years would be a great time to compare notes.

I'm bottling this weekend. Went extra-long in the primary due to a nasty illness. 3 weeks in secondary, and 3 weeks in bottle. Ready for New Year's. Looking forward to my bottling taste this weekend.

 

[McBrewski]

I think after 3 weeks of primary fermentation it is finally done. Took a while but I got my grav down to 1.021 from 1.063 so I was pretty spot on with yours. Will be adding the puree once I can find it somewhere.

edit: I'm ordering a can of the puree from homebrewers' outpost right now. Should I be concerned with this sitting in primary for too long? It's been in primary for a bit over 3 weeks already then it will probably be 4 weeks by the time the puree arrives then another 2 weeks after I add that. So I'd be looking at about 6 weeks in primary.

 

[HomeBrewDan]

I'm thinking of making this recipe, at the request of my lady. I was thinking about the Vodka/chocolate mix though... What about using "Godiva Chocloate Liqueur" instead of the Vodka-choc mix? Seem like that might be easier and lead to a much richer flavor...

Several to choose from:
http://www.godiva.com/beyond_chocolate/liqueur.aspx

What do you think? Seems like a reasonable alternative, no?

And this makes me wonder, how much of this would I want to use? I think that Godiva is going to contribute a lot more flavor - by volume - than the chocolate vodka mix would. Correct?

 

[max2zero99]

Or this might give me a reason for that nitro setup I always wanted.

that's the spirit :rockin:

 

[pkpdogg]

I haven't checked back on this thread for a while, but I thought I'd let you all know that I also tried this as my first all-grain batch about a year ago and had great results. My efficiency sucked, so my ABV was lower than intended, but the end product sure worked out well.

One thing to note is DO NOT cheap out on the cocoa powder. I used your basic Hershey's powder the first time and it was good, but as my taste buds developed, ended up tasting a bit synthetic and powdery in the beer. In my all-grain batch, I stepped up and used Scharffen Berger unsweetened cocoa powder and it made a world of a difference!

Cheers!

 

[Madinaman]

i am trying the Extract recipe, but subbing out the Raspberry with blackberry puree as the little lady loves it. Will report with my brew day results, when the ingredients come in.

 

[Pelikan]

Sounds interesting. Let us know.

 

[Madinaman]

I also plan to add the cocoa powder to the boil, as this is what I have done in the past when adding cocoa powder. I have the ingredients on order, and have the vanilla "extract" already steeping. It should have a good two months before it goes into the secondary.

 

[Madinaman]

Did the extract version of this, but decided to add one ounce of chocolate to the boil, then another two ounces, mixed with vodka, in the secondary. I made the vanilla bean and vodka mixture in a blender, to really get the vanilla incorporated so i get max flavor. I also used blackberry instead of raspberry. It took me 4 weeks in the primary before I could add blackberry, which I did today. I fermented a little lower than the original recipe stated, but it was constant, within .5 of a degree. When I bottle and open one, i will post back to see how my tweaks came out.

 

[BDB]

So after enjoying this beer. I think I will make it again. I thought the raspberry and vanilla was perfect, but I want more chocolate in this next batch.

Thanks for the recipe.

 

[menisale]

I made this recipe as an AG on 10/29. I just moved from secondary to the keg yesterday. Upon tasting my hydro sample the raspberry is still over powering. Have minimal stout flavor or chocolate flavor. Those of you that have tried this recipe, does the raspberry mellow over time?

Figuring if it doesn't mellow out that i will either need to add more Cocoa or some espresso.

On the Cocoa I added 2 oz at flame out plus another 2 oz into secondary with the vanilla, because I was hoping for more chocolate and less raspberry.

My OG was 1.067 and FG was 1.018, so okay on the numbers.

 

[fauxtoe]

I just completed a brew of this yesterday, can't wait to try it out in about 6 weeks.

My OG was 1.059, I think because the candi syrup I used was a bit dried out and I lost about 1/8 of it in the container.

 

[fauxtoe]

Picture of the serious fermentation taking place. Using a yeast starter is very noticeable compared to my other brews

 

[Nantana]

what is the difference between D2 and D 45 Belgian candi syrup? if it is just colour why do you use such a light one in a stout?

 

[fauxtoe]

The difference in syrups also results in a different taste, here is a link to describe it better:

http://www.candisyrup.com/

I actually used the wrong syrup in mine that is currently in the late stages of the primary so I will let you/everyone know how it turns our using a very light syrup in a month or two.

 

[Elysium]

Thanks for posting this recipe! I just picked up all of the brew-day ingredients, except the vanilla beans, which I need to get on NOW, and can't wait to get this one going. I just have one quick comment and question ...

You might want to warn people that the price tag on this one is pretty high. The Belgian D2 syrup was ~$17 at my LHBS and the puree appears to be ~$15+ via online searches. I'm not trying to be a cheap bastard, but this one was quite a step up from the extract kits I previously brewed. =P I'll help out and post a final cost once I get everything tallied up.

So your posting was ~4wks or so ago ... how is it coming along? I'd like to hear about your samplings and see if you'd do anything different after looking back at your experience.

Thanks again, and I look forward to trying this one out!

Hey. Tell us what the outcome was like? Did you like the brew?

 

[Hackinjeebs]

I just did this with 5 lbs of frozen whole rasberries. I ended up dropping the vanilla and cocoa powder though. Tasted it prior to secondary and it was fantastic. So i opted to leave it as is and just keg it right there. I'll let it condition for a few weeks and let you know how it turns out. I don't believe in over complicating an already great brew so i left it where it is.