Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
I bottled a batch of dark chocolate stout today (5gal extract batch). It was my first attempt at a chocolate stout. I used 6oz of unsweetened dark cocoa powder in the boil. It tasted great in the primary, but didn't have as much chocolate flavor as I was wanting. I decided I would rack on top of a vodka/cocoa powder concoction that I read about on this forum. I used an oz of vodka and about 3oz of cocoa powder. I let it sit in the secondary for about a week (until today).. I took my final gravity reading and tasted the sample. The great taste that I experienced in the primary was gone, and I could taste the vodka aftertaste. It had a very high alcohol taste to it..It's very discouraging considering how nice it tasted before doing that. I bottled up anyway, and I'm hoping after some extended time in the bottle it will mellow out. I have since graduated to AG and I brewed up an AG batch of this same beer. I also used lactose in the mix this time around. Also, this time instead of racking on top of anything in secondary I will go straight to the bottling bucket (after 4 week primary) with a little chocolate extract I got from my HBS. I'm hoping this batch will be way better. Have any of you used chocolate extract at bottling? Did you like it? Instructions say to use 5oz extract for a 5gal batch.. Should I cut that in half just to be on the safe side?