Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Double Chocolate Oatmeal Snout

[ChshreCat]

The idea of adding blackberries. Just seems like an AWESOME dessert beer. ChshreCat, How long do you think it would take to age?

Don't think it would take much longer than usual.

 

[fastfocus]

I got #7.5 of blackberries yesterday. In the freezer now. To save until ready to brew, I'm going to vacuum seal them into #1 bags. Looking at the fruit beers, they average #3 to #5 in a 5gal batch. Do you think #5 will be enough to add a good berry flavor to the beer? Hmm, Chocolate Blackberry oatmeal stout. OH YEAH

Your recipe is a great base for so many idea's.

 

[ChshreCat]

Thanks!

I think 5# would be plenty. 3 or 4 would probably do it, really, but if you want the blackberry to be more pronounced, then 5 would do it.

 

[nudistbrewing]

I was thinking about adding some berry to this recipe as well; let us know how it turns out fastfocus!

 

[ChshreCat]

I'm also thinking about throwing some toasted coconut in it sometime too.

 

[fastfocus]

A friend ask me a while back about doing that. He love the toasted coconut marshmallows. LOL Going to get my grains (hopefully) this week to get the blackberry chocolate oatmeal milk stout together.

 

[klynch494]

Sorry if I am repeating this question as I might have skipped over it somewhere in the long thread...

As I have continually came back to this recipe and find myself salivating at the thought of making it for myself, I think a touch more of a caramel or toffee note pulling through the chocolate would be awesome. Would upping the amount of caramel/crystal malt assist with this or should I look to another method such as an extract if there is one?

Thanks in advance for any help or smart a** comments!

 

[nudistbrewing]

Just bottled this one a few nights ago; very excited to try it carb'd. I left it on the vanilla bean for 10 days and the vanilla really came through strong. I'm hoping the vanilla relaxes as it conditions but I'll definitely be brewing this again. Thanks for the recipe ChshreCat.

 

[fastfocus]

ChshreCat, We talked about the black berry addition to your stout. If i wanted to boost the ABV would it make a favor difference using a cane or corn sugar to do this Vs using DME. I understand making this a bigger beer will require extra aging.

 

[fastfocus]

ChshreCat, We talked about the black berry addition to your stout. If i wanted to boost the ABV would it make a favor difference using a cane or corn sugar to do this Vs using DME. I understand making this a bigger beer will require extra aging.

Just bottled this one a few nights ago; very excited to try it carb'd. I left it on the vanilla bean for 10 days and the vanilla really came through strong. I'm hoping the vanilla relaxes as it conditions but I'll definitely be brewing this again. Thanks for the recipe ChshreCat.

nudist, i added vanilla to this recipy. When they say a little goes a long way. THEY MEAN IT.

 

[ChshreCat]

Well, don't up it too much since this sometimes takes some time to condition already. A lb of corn sugar would bump you up about another 1% abv but I wouldn't push it past that. If you want more then rework the recipe into something bigger.

 

[wintermute2]

I just brewed up a somewhat similar (5 gal) batch, but during the boil realized that I only had 4 oz. of cocoa powder. I figured I'd chocolate-up by adding nibs during secondary. Is there some weight ratio that I can use to compare nib weight vs. powder weight so that I don't under- or over-chocolate it?

Edit: The only cocoa nibs I could find are sprayed with cocoa liquor, so I bought some organic chocolate extract instead (ethanol, agave juice sweetener, and cocoa powder) - have to figure out how little of this potent stuff to use...

 

[bellinmi88]

Just go to your local market and get some Dutched Cocoa and add another 4 ounces to the secondary....it all settles to the bottom anyway and leaves the flavor in the beer. Rack right onto the powder.

 

[wintermute2]

Just go to your local market and get some Dutched Cocoa and add another 4 ounces to the secondary....it all settles to the bottom anyway and leaves the flavor in the beer. Rack right onto the powder.

There's no cross-contamination concerns doing this? (I guess I can soak the powder in vodka).

 

[bellinmi88]

The same exact thing happened to me about 3 weeks ago....I made a slury with vodka but it made such a thick paste I had concerns about it dissolving properly. I ended up just racking onto the cocoa and it at first sat on top for a couple days then eventually after a week it all settled on the bottom.

I don't bottle condition...Kegged it last weekend and just had a glass 30 minutes ago and it is awesome. I am considering following the same process with the next batch.

 

[ChshreCat]

There's no cross-contamination concerns doing this? (I guess I can soak the powder in vodka).

Once the beer is in secondary the chance of infection is quite low. Plus, the cocoa powder is coming in a sealed container. It's not like you're scraping it off the cacao pods from your back yard.

The same exact thing happened to me about 3 weeks ago....I made a slury with vodka but it made such a thick paste I had concerns about it dissolving properly. I ended up just racking onto the cocoa and it at first sat on top for a couple days then eventually after a week it all settled on the bottom.

I don't bottle condition...Kegged it last weekend and just had a glass 30 minutes ago and it is awesome. I am considering following the same process with the next batch.

Cocoa powder won't dissolve. It's a powder, but it's a solid. It'll settle out, but it leaches out flavor.

 

[wintermute2]

Just put this in secondary, over a split vanilla bean I had soaking in a wee bit of vodka for 5 days (the vodka/extract went in as well). The wort/beer had a great oatmeal stout taste coming out of the primary, with a noticeable, but slight chocolate taste - exactly what I wanted - 4 oz. of cocoa powder worked out perfectly. It had a wonderful chocolate aroma that I hope sticks around when I bottle.

 

[fastfocus]

OK, just sampled this with a blackberry addition. #1 of berries per gallon. Very tart flavor when compared to the other half with no berries. Much drier in flavor and more of a wine like in taste. Was hoping for a little purple in the head. Nope. I'd say so far a swing and a miss. Maybe with some aging the tartness will mellow out. WOW is it tart. For using ripe sweet fruit, It's like sucking on the vine.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Sugar from the fruit dries beer out, no?

 

[mandasaurus_rex]

Just bottled this about a week ago, and the sample I took tasted fantastic. I know its warm out and almost summer but I can't wait until this is ready to drink.

 

[speedster00]

Ive brewed this 3 times and its always a favorite. Ive used hersheys dark and regular hersheys cocoa powder. The regular taste better. Ive also used a vanilla bean and extract. If you want the vanilla flavor to be more pronounced use extract. The bean is very mild and hardly noticable to me anyway.

Im going to brew this for a 4th time and use 8oz of cocoa and .5 oz of vanilla extract. I also like adding Lactose. 4oz adds some body and smooths out the sweetness some.

 

[TBuuck]

Just brewed this baby up, took a taste two days into fermentation and a was surprised by a little bit of a sour taste right at the start. Not sure if that is the bitterness of the cocoa powder, but I'm kind of hoping that dissipates over the conditioning in the next week. Anybody else get this same result?

 

[orangemen5]

2 days into fermentation is any kind of indicator of what the beer will taste like. Wait till fermentation is a least over then taste again.

 

[Zwoods]

so i haven't seen an exact all grain recipe yet but after i used some formulas found on the Palmer website to convert the extract to all grain i came up with

9.5 ish pounds of 2 row
.86 ish pounds of crystal 60L

and keeping everything else the same, would this change the recipe much?
would i still get the same results for the beer?

 

[ChshreCat]

Oughta do just fine, I think.

 

[DasHos]

Brewed the AG version on pg 1 on Monday. Threw in a lb of lactose, too. Planning on tossing in 2 or 3 vanilla beans and 4 oz cacao nibs as well. At bottling time, may throw in just a smidge of cold extracted coffee. This brew is gonna be AWESOME. Oh, also used White Labs WL002 (two vials). Not that I don't love dark chocolate, but I did want something sweeter. OG came in at 1.074. I can't wait!

 

[daman]

As I see, most of the brewers are using kakao powder for choco feeling, I am wondering if using a real black chocolate is a good idea? Anyone tried that? Other question when the chocolate should be added? In 15minutes till boiling end or somethnig like that? And here is a question which was bothering me for a long time, but never had a chance to ask, if you add sugars, chocolate, fruits or other stuff in boiling stage, will it change your gravity? Will the gravity change for a same ammount if I would add Chocolate into a boiling stage and if I would add it straight into fermenter?

 

[ChshreCat]

Cocoa powder won't change the gravity at all. Sugar definitely will because... well, that's the whole reason you check the gravity... to see how much sugar is in it.

Fruit... it depends on how much sugar is extracted into solution. But fruit is best added later during the ferment rather than the boil. Boiling sets the pectin in the fruit and you can get something approaching beer jello. Ok, that's an exaggeration but you get the point.

When you say "real black chocolate" I'm guessing you mean like a chocolate bar or something? That's just going to be less cocoa and more other stuff like fats that can cause problems with your head retention.

I always add the cocoa powder late in the boil so it has time to churn around and really get mixed with the wort to impart a lot of flavor. It all settles out in the end so it's almost like steeping a tea or something.

 

[gwapogorilla]

Thanks for posting this recipe ChshreCat. It has inspired a recipe of my own. May I ask a question? Why Do you need to use "fat free" cacao? The reason I ask is that I ordered RAW Cacao beans....they are whole and not roasted, and have a higher fat content then most powders on the market. This is a link to what I bought....http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EKRRVQ0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I am/was planning on grinding 5 oz. of these and adding 5 minutes left in the boil. But I am a little concerned as you stated "fat free".
Thoughts?

 

[ChshreCat]

Thanks for posting this recipe ChshreCat. It has inspired a recipe of my own. May I ask a question? Why Do you need to use "fat free" cacao? The reason I ask is that I ordered RAW Cacao beans....they are whole and not roasted, and have a higher fat content then most powders on the market. This is a link to what I bought....http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EKRRVQ0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I am/was planning on grinding 5 oz. of these and adding 5 minutes left in the boil. But I am a little concerned as you stated "fat free".
Thoughts?

Fats tend to destroy head retention in your beer. I use fat free cocoa powder to retain as much head as I can on my beer. If you don't mind a lack of foam, then there's nothing to worry about. It shouldn't affect it otherwise though I'm not sure you'd get quick as much chocolate flavor.

Now... if it were me... I'd go ahead and use fat free cocoa powder, but a slightly smaller amount, in the boil. Then I'd take those cocoa beans and crack them into smaller chunks with a rolling pin, but not grind then down to powder and then secondary on them. Call it a TRIPLE chocolate stout!

THEN (Yeah, I'm not done yet).... THEN... when you bottle, take those beer soaked nibs and rinse the yeast off them and back them into a chocolate cheesecake. Dark chocolate cheesecake with stout-soaked cocoa nibs.