I Eat Danger For Breakfast Stout

[grizzly2378]

This kit is on my short list. Thinking of brewing it here relatively soon and then aging it for awhile (as in 3-6 months). I'm wondering if it would be better to rack it to secondary and then stash the carboy away and forget about it for awhile or if it is better to bottle it after a month or so and age it in the bottles. Any benefits/cons either way? The one con I can think of for bottles is that I'll likely break down and start drinking them sooner than planned .


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[elatowski]

That's the only Pro/Con I can think of when talking about bottling. My beer patience is next to nothing.

 

[medley]

I've brewed this beer a few times and just like founders Its way to bitter for my taste. I like to age this for at least a year before I start drinking it. the hop bitterness fades and the chocolate gets stronger. I brew it with 8oz unsweetened cocoa powder and 2oz of cocoa nibs in secondary and I don't start to taste any chocolate until 4 months and it just gets stronger with time. The first time I brewed this I drank it too soon, I had the last bottle about a year after it was brewed and I couldn't believe how much better it was so now I always age this. I want to try brewing it with less hops and see If I like it better sooner.

 

[twistyboy]

I've brewed this beer a few times and just like founders Its way to bitter for my taste. I like to age this for at least a year before I start drinking it. the hop bitterness fades and the chocolate gets stronger. I brew it with 8oz unsweetened cocoa powder and 2oz of cocoa nibs in secondary and I don't start to taste any chocolate until 4 months and it just gets stronger with time. The first time I brewed this I drank it too soon, I had the last bottle about a year after it was brewed and I couldn't believe how much better it was so now I always age this. I want to try brewing it with less hops and see If I like it better sooner.

did you put the 24 oz of chocolate too?

 

[Chadwick]

O.G. 1.082
F.G. 1.018
ABV 8.3%
IBU's 60

3.3 Lbs Munich Malt Syrup
5.3 Lbs Light Malt Syrup
1.1 Lbs Wheat Malt Syrup
16oz Roasted Barley
10 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz De-husked Carafa1 Malt
4 oz Coffee Malt
8 oz 150L Crystal Malt
4 oz Special B Malt
16 oz Flaked Oats
24 oz Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate
5 oz Dark Roasted Coffee Beans

2 oz Horizon Hops (65 Min)
1/2 oz Willamette (30 Min)
1/2 oz /willamette (1 Min)

Safale US-05

~5 oz of fresh ground coffee beans steep for 10 min. at flameout.
~With 5 min remaining in boil, add 24 oz chocolate, 5.3 lbs Light Malt Syruo, and 1.1 lbs of Wheat Malt Syrup.

Do like them dark don't you?:rockin:

 

[twistyboy]

anyone tried this recipe with no chocolate?looks like there plenty chocolate taste with with the steeping grain.?

 

[medley]

I just use 8oz unsweetened cocoa powder and 2oz of cocoa nibs in secondary instead of the recommended 24oz chocolate bar. I've had better results this way. I keep this beer in primary for a few weeks and transfer as much of the yeast cake full of chocolate over to secondary because it seems that the beer picks up the chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder after alchohol is present. In other words alchohol extracts more flavor than water will.

 

[grizzly2378]

Just ordered this kit yesterday. What did everyone else do for the coffee addition? The recipe says to add 5 oz of dark roasted ground coffee. I was thinking of using locally roasted espresso and adding the ground beans at flameout as suggested in the recipe.

 

[elatowski]

I used 5 oz of Detroit French Roast from the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company. Tossed it in at flameout, put the lid on and steeped for 10min like directions say. Turned out great. A bit more coffee forward than Founders but I liked it.

 

[ross_daly]

...I keep this beer in primary for a few weeks and transfer as much of the yeast cake full of chocolate over to secondary because it seems that the beer picks up the chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder after alchohol is present. In other words alchohol extracts more flavor than water will.

Why do you rack it then? Doesn't that just oxygenate it needlessly?

 

[medley]

Why do you rack it then? Doesn't that just oxygenate it needlessly?

Yes it does needlessly oxygenate it. I'm just still in the habbit of racking the beer off the floculated yeast. Especially because I usually leave this in the carboy for a while. This beer produces a huge chocolate yeast cake. I know I shouldn't transfer to secondary but most of my beers either get dry hopped or have some adjunct going into secondary so all my beers get brewed that way.

 

[grizzly2378]

Just got done racking mine to secondary. The amount of chocolate that had settled in the bottom of the carboy was astounding. Looked like way more than 24 oz worth (granted, there was some other stuff mixed in there). Looks like my gravity finished a bit high...I've taken three readings over the past week or so and have gotten 1.024 each time. Target was 1.018-1.022. Close enough I guess. It certainly doesn't seem as though it's gonna move any lower. The samples have all tasted great, so no big deal. Planning on a month or so in secondary before bottling.


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[ob_1jr]

I just ordered this kit. I'm going to not add chocolate to it. I will put some cocoa powder and cocoa nibs in the secondary. I think I will soak the cocoa nibs and powder in some maker's mark.

I brewed up the chocolate covered BEAVR nutz kit from midwest and it came out pretty good. I used half a cup of cocoa power and 4 oz of cocoa nibs in the secondary. The chocolate taste is pretty strong and only a hint of peanut butter from the PB2 (which I couldn't fit all of it in the secondary).

 

[ob_1jr]

I will be brewing this up tomorrow. thinking of adding a pound of lactose also...thoughts?

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

I will be brewing this up tomorrow. thinking of adding a pound of lactose also...thoughts?

I seems most of the milk stout recipes Ive done have been just right with 8 oz lactose. Boil like 10 min at the end.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[ob_1jr]

Interesting. Ok, so this 8 oz will bring up the mouth feel. The chocolate covered beavr nutz seemed a bit thin for me. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I expected it to be more thick feeling in the mouth. I just expected it to be like the Alaska Oatmeal Stout or Sam Adams Cream Stout.


I am also planning on using some Maker's Mark (probably 16 oz) with 4 oz of cocoa nibs, 2 vanilla beans in the secondary. (I will be setting this up tomorrow after I brew and let it soak and mature for the 4 weeks I plan on leaving everything ferment in the primary) I didn't want to go with the bakers chocolate. The chocolate covered beavr nutz is about the right about of chocolate flavor for me. I will also add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder in the secondary. (just like I did with the chocolate covered beavr nutz)


also, when i did the chocolate covered beavr nutz recipe, it had me seep/mash the grains for 60 mins and then rinse/sparge the grains. Did anyone do this for this kit? I know the instructions say to seep the grains for 30 mins and discard. I don't see any harm in doing the "sparge" rinse to the grains. any thoughts on this?

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

8 oz doesnt seem to be alot, but it does the trick. Check Deception Cream Stout. And the Founders Breakfast Stout clone. It usually does the trick for mouthfeel, but doesnt knock all the other flavors outta the way


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[ob_1jr]

Thanks for your input. I will go with about 8 oz and see how it comes out. I don't want it to be too sweet. From reading on other recipes 1 lb is supplied, but they tell you to use 8 oz. I want to see how it comes out once fully carbed up seeing that is the only real test to see if the flavor and mouthfeel are where I want it. If not, I know to add more next time, but not a full pound. I will report back in a few months once the beer is ready.

 

[ob_1jr]

Well I brewed it up last sunday and I really can't wait for this one to be done. It smelled awesome during the boil. My OG was 1.080 with about .5 lb of lactose in it (I think I am a bit over 5 gallons..probably close to 5.5 gallons) It only took about 12 hours to see the fermentation going and 36 hours until I had to put the blow off tube on. this is the second brew I have had to put a blow off tube on.

so here it is after 12 hours:

and here it is after 36 hours. I checked it when I got up in the morning and it was a good thing I did.

here it is after about a minute after I put the blow off tube on.

It has been almost a week and fermentation has really settled down. After about 3 days I put an airlock back on. I will let this sit in the primary for another couple of weeks before transferring to the secondary. I will be adding about 3/4 bottle of Maker's Mark with 4 oz of cocoa nibs and 2 vanilla beans. I put this mixture in a jar and have it sitting waiting since I brewed it on last sunday.

 

[grizzly2378]

Anyone else get really low yield out of this kit? Mine is still in secondary, plan on bottling this weekend, but it's obvious that I have far less than 5 gallons in there. Maybe 3.75-4. The monstrous chocolate/yeast/coffee trub in the primary cost me a ton of liquid. I'm sure it'll still be great, just won't be much of it.


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[ob_1jr]

That is part of the reason I didn't use the baker's chocolate....besides the mess and clean-up. I will be transferring mine to the secondary this weekend.

 

[grizzly2378]

Ended up with 38 bottles worth, about what I expected and about 10 under my normal yield. The sample tasted great, so at least they'll be 38 good beers! I'll have to ration them out as much as possible.


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[ob_1jr]

I transferred my beer on sunday. It tasted awesome and had a good chocolate note to it even though I didn't use baker's chocolate. The 8 oz or so of lactose I added really thickened up the beer too. I can't wait to taste it in a couple of weeks when I bottle it. I added about 16 or so oz of Maker's Mark that had 4oz of cocoa nibs and 2 vanilla beans in it for 3 weeks. In the last week I added 1/2 cup of cocoa powder.

 

[ob_1jr]

Well I bottled it this last saturday. It does taste pretty amazing so far. I will crack one open in a couple of weeks to taste it. It will be hard to wait.

 

[BradP316]

Since so many of you lost alot of beer due to the chocolate, would it hurt to top it off with water to bring it to 5.5 - 6 gallons before you add it to the primary? I'm actually about to brew this kit in the next month to have it ready for Christmas.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Since so many of you lost alot of beer due to the chocolate, would it hurt to top it off with water to bring it to 5.5 - 6 gallons before you add it to the primary? I'm actually about to brew this kit in the next month to have it ready for Christmas.

A trick I used on a chocolate cherry imperial stout. At flameout, I placed approx 2-3 cups of wort in a sauce pan and put it on the stove. I added all of the chocolate to that, melted it, then put it in the primary with the cooled wort that I racked from my kettle. That way I didnt have any chocolate get mixed up in the trub and it was easier to transfer the wort.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[ob_1jr]

I opted to use cocoa nibs and cocoa powder to combat losing a lot of the beer. I still lost some because of the lactose, but not near as much. I ended up with 34 1/2 liter bottles...I normally end up with 35-36 in the batches I have done...so not far off from what I expected.

 

[ob_1jr]

Well I popped one open last night after being in the refridge for 2 days. It was pretty awesome! It is probably the best one I have brewed yet. Nice chocolate taste with just the cocoa powder and nibs. There is a very faint taste of the Maker's Mark too.

 

[BradP316]

I am brewing this tomorrow. I know you steep the grounded coffee beans for 10 minutes at flameout, but do you pour them out after this or do you put them in the primary as well?

 

[ob_1jr]

I strained the coffee grains out after the steep. I have a metal strainer. I had one of these last weekend and they have gotten better. There is ever so slight taste of maker's mark in it. The chocolate flavor is pretty good and good lacing. This one is so far my favorite brew.