Oaking and chocolate

[rickprice407]

I have some Stout and a Double IPA coming out of primary in the next day or two and I want to ask a few questions.

I'd like to add chocolate to about 5 gallons of the stout. Assuming a level of some of the commercial double chocolate stouts (like Rogue, or Southern Tier's Mokah), how much unsweetend chocolate should I use?

I also want to add oak to the other 5 gallons of the stout and to at least 5 gallons of the double IPA. I have some heavy toast chips and medium toast shavings on hand. Any suggestions on how much of either to use would be a big help.

Thanks,

Rick in Atlanta

 

[smiller]

The heavier the toast, the more of a smokey, rich, almost savory flavor is imparted. Depending on what you want in that department, 2 oz of either toast level should do the trick, but since you have chips, only put them in the stout no more than 2 weeks before bottling/kegging. Otherwise, you'll end up drinking an oak tree. As for the IPA, you really should get some light chips, because the medium or heavy toast will probably not compliment the style very well. Light toast will give you more of a vanilla flavor, which is what I'm assuming you want for the IPA. I haven't used chocolate before, so I can't help you there.