Kasteel Barista Chocolate

[stieg000]

Recently I was rolling down the isle with the Belgians at the local beer store, when I saw this bottle of Kasteel Barista Chocolate. On top of the name alone it was also a Belgian Quad so I knew it was for me and my wife. So to make a long story short we absolutely loved it and I wanted to clone it.

Here's the recipe I came up with and brewed.

Recipe: Barista Chocolate Quad (clone) #1
Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Estimated ABV: 10.9%
Estimated OG: 1.099 SG
Estimated Color: 27.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ferment Temp: 66F for 2 Days, Ramped up to 78F over 7 days
Mash Temp: 152F

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type %/IBU
15 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsen (Dingemans) (1.6 SRM) Grain 79.5 %
12.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (Bairds) (200 SRM) Grain 3.8 %
4.0 oz Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415 SRM) Grain 1.3 %
2 lbs Candi Syrup, D-90 (90.0 SRM) Extract 10.3 %
1 lbs Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 5.1 %
2.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.60 %] Boil Hop 24.9 %
1.0 pkg Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) Yeast
8.00 oz Cocoa nibs (Secondary 0.0 mins) Flavor


I tasted my first bottle of this beer and it came out as a great tasting Belgian quad with chocolate. I need to make some tweaks to the recipe already such as drop out the Carafa Special and swap turbinado for table sugar, mostly for color adjustment.

The big difference between my clone attempt and Kasteel Barista Chocolate is the fact that it lacks the over the top chocolate taste. I've brewed with cocoa nibs and cocoa powder and neither of them come out with the particular taste of chocolate that it has. I live in Phoenix, AZ and Prescott Brewery has a chocolate porter called Achocolypse that also has the same type of over the top chocolate taste. Anyone familiar with either of these brews have any idea how to achieve that flavor?

 

[wyowolf]

I just had this the other day, it was great! Any updates to recipe? or something similar?

 

[stieg000]

I actually reconfigured this entire recipie and it came out much closer.

12# pils dingmans
12# pale crisp
1# pale chocolate
.4oz carafa 3 special
2oz EKG@ 60
WLP500
6oz cocoa nibs
6oz coffee beans

Then I did 6oz of a local specialty hot chocolate flavored whole bean coffee. I think for the next round I'll blend 50/50 the hot chocolate with a plain dark roast. The chocolate flavor came across very strong but good. Also probably add a few more pounds of pils . The color was very close this time but the ABV was short at 10.

 

[wyowolf]

thank you very much!

I actually reconfigured this entire recipie and it came out much closer.

12# pils dingmans
12# pale crisp
1# pale chocolate
.4oz carafa 3 special
2oz EKG@ 60
WLP500
6oz cocoa nibs
6oz coffee beans

Then I did 6oz of a local specialty hot chocolate flavored whole bean coffee. I think for the next round I'll blend 50/50 the hot chocolate with a plain dark roast. The chocolate flavor came across very strong but good. Also probably add a few more pounds of pils . The color was very close this time but the ABV was short at 10.

 

[Jelmi]

Hi Stieg000 and others, I know this recipe is from a while back but I'm interested in brewing this clone. Can somebody please elaborate on what "12#" means? I assume it's 12 lbs, but just to be sure.

I'm also curious on how you added the choco nibs and coffee beans. Did you just "toss them in" at secondary or how did you go about this? And how long did they sit in the fermentor?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Nordskov]

Im sorry to revive an old thread, but better post here than start a new

My clone just finished 1. fermentation and I am about to add coffee and cacao nibs.
SG is 1029
What is FG supposed to be?
My recipe calc says 1028, that seems a tad sweet for a belgian quad.

Should I prepare the nibs before adding?
Some roast them in the oven.

I get a hint of vanilla in the original beer. Can you confirm that?

Cheers