Question for Cocoa Powder In Porter Brewers

[C-Rider]

This makes no sense to me. Why can you add cocoa to a stout and it comes out OK and in a porter it produces something you can't drink???? I've used it in coffee/chocolate stouts and it tastes great and have been thinking of a chocolate porter for a while. Could it be not using lactose in the porters?

 

[Howie]

Just a bit of advice here if you plan to use cocoa powder.

For a more intense chocolate flavor, get cocoa powder from a specialty spice supplier like Penzey's or Savory Spice. The difference between what they sell and the grocery store varieties is ENORMOUS. I often buy cocoa powder to make chocolate syrup for my kids' chocolate milk, etc. It's unbelievable how good that stuff is. It's so rich that it makes chocolate milk taste more like chocolate pudding.

I've not used it in beer, so YMMV.

 

[kcpup]

I would encourage you to read this detailed article. It has a lot of good information and has helped me greatly when making a cocoa porter and chocolate stout.

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/formulating-and-brewing-winning-chocolate-porter

Cheers

 

[Zietgeist]

I've done a Chocolate Chipotle Stout a few times using dutch processed cocoa. Has anyone done any side by side on this?
With a little age it's really outstanding. But has had some head retention and alkaline taste problems that I'm still working on. I've been adding 2oz of cocoa powder and 3/4t of chipotle powder per gallon.
This is the C3 level of chipotle powder in our experimenting. My cobrewers also made a C4 with 1 1/2t of chipotle per gallon. For major spice heads it's a big winner.