Imperial Stout Sweet Chocolate Milk Stout

[mark1964]

Thanks for your advice metalchef1,
I brew with eBIAB Using a Hosehead brew controller
my grains totalled to 18.3 kg (40pounds) 15 kg of that was Marris otter. I did a (68C (154F) recirculating mash for 75 min and a mash out at 75C ( 167F) and also did a batch sparge in another pot where I placed the grain bag into 80C (176F) water for 20 min. Then did a 120min boil. I never rely on just one temperature device so after stirring my mash every 15 min or so I use a thermapen to keep things honest. The pre boil Gravity was 1.063 keeping in mind I added 1kg (2.2 pound) of lactose and 2 cups of unsweetened cocoa powder to the boil which are both adjuncts so unfermentable. These I know will add to my my gravity. Which was as stated earlier 1.094. Can you MC1 or anyone else see anything that could cause the issues I'm having?

 

[Abrayton]

I just kegged mine at 1.028 after 4 weeks and I thought that was high. I mashed low at about 150° but I ran out of oxygen and I think my old yeast pooped out. You could try pitching an active vitality starter and see what happens? Good luck and i bet it still tastes good even at 1.046!

 

[Abrayton]

Yum

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Mark any updates?

 

[goodolarchie]

I brewed this stout on the 13th which would make it 18 days ago and its a 42 litre batch. OG 1.094. I used the recipe on this thread and hit all my marks pretty well. the only thing I changed was the yeast which was recommended to me by my LHBS. I used 4 packets of Lallemand Nottingham yeast.

Just Curious if this worked out in the end? I'm a big fan of Nottingham for lots of different ales, but I'm wondering if your OG was asking too much of it? The most I've put through Nottingham was 1.078 and it took it down to 1.007. At your OG it could plow down to 11.0%...

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Initially it took off like a bat out of hell but looks like it is stalling. Any ideas or should I just wait? I just bumped it up to 69 degrees.

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[LoneTreeFarms]

you can try and re-pitch some yeast to see If it takes off again. this one will finish sweeter because of the lactose addition. not sure what the OP had for a final gravity.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

My original OG was 1.087, the OP had 1.090 and a FG of 1.030 I may pick up a pack of SF-33 in case It continues to stall, I brewed a 10 gallon batch.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

My original OG was 1.087, the OP had 1.090 and a FG of 1.030 I may pick up a pack of SF-33 in case It continues to stall, I brewed a 10 gallon batch.

Build up a starter and try that with the sf-33 packet

 

[Metalchef1]

I've read some success stories with uvaferm 43 restart yeast.... Look into it?
It's a special yeast that is alcohol tolerant up to 18%? Ph shouldn't affect it, etc. etc..
Supposed to be a super yeast that when used properly will restart stuck fermentation..
I guess it's primary use is in the wine industry but why can't it be used with beer?

 

[Nichols2127]

099 will chew through damn near anything too!!

 

[Metalchef1]

Yeah... That stuff can go up to 24%?

The literature for the uvaferm 43 makes it sound like a miracle product.... " innovative pre-acclimation"... I have never used it so I can't say it will work any better than any yeast (especially since they recommend doing a reacclimation process like before mentioned) but sometimes I'm a sucker for a good sales pitch... And the fasta pasta does truly make pasta cookery much quicker and easier than ever before.....

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Made a starter for 24 hours and just re-pitched. Hopefully it will take off but after 4 hours but nothing yet but hopefully soon.

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[Abrayton]

Put an iteration of this recipe + madagascar vanilla beans and a bit of cinnamon in a small 10gal fresh Apple Brandy barrel for a few months.

A buddy who is a BJCP judge said it’s high 30s/low 40s scoring wise.

It’s outstanding.

I am going to attempt to use cinnamon in this recipe. How/when did you add it?

 

[degivens]

I am going to attempt to use cinnamon in this recipe. How/when did you add it?

For that beer I transferred to a secondary where I added in the beans and full cinnamon sticks prior to throwing everything in the barrel.

I believe the secondary was for around a month but i’d also guess most cinnamon flavor will transfer much quicker than that.

1-2 per 5 gallons should be enough depending on how prevalent you want the cinnamon to be.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

I ended up at 1.033 so not too far off . It spent 22 days in the fermenter and I just kegged it up. The stout faucet makes such a pretty pour. It is delicious and I know it will get better each day.

 

[dschiller]

My OG was 1.084 and I’ve been stuck at 1.038 from day 7 to day 14. Like other posts, fermentation the first two days was pretty explosive (next time I’ll put a pan under my carafe of star sans). Perhaps some of my 2 packets of S-33 blew out my vent tube. I’m thinking of adding another pack of yeast and my question is what folks recommend? WLP001? Wyeast #1056? Another S-33? I don’t think adding a little alpha amylase powder to my fermenter would be a wise alternative to reduce my SG.

 

[dschiller]

Just realized I’m having the same problem as Dockside_Brewing, but I’d like to think I should be able to get below 1.03. Perhaps finishing with something other than rehydrated S-33 is the way to go.

 

[dschiller]

I forgot to take an OG reading prior to the carboy, but I know it stalled out around 1.04... added amylase and it's down to 1.023... needless to say, it's getting kegged. There were still bubbles coming every 10 seconds give or take from the blow off tube. Sample prior to the enzyme addition was mighty tasty although I figured the ABV was too low to rack. Sample now is pretty dry, similar to Guinness. Will be interesting to see how it shapes up in the keg at 11psi.

Thanks for the recipe.

Hoe much alpha amylase did you add?

 

[Abrayton]

3rd time brewing this. I added raspberries to the fermenter for four days before cold crashing and kegging. Hit 10% abv and that’s without factoring in the increase from the raspberries but it’s a sneaky 10%. This turned out awesome!

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Brewing this possibly next weekend.
But I only have one packet of sf-33 sooooo brewing a 1 gallon ipa using my last bit of grain today and that will be my starter for this.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Came in at 1.088 tossed my W-33 harvested from a one gallon test batch and 4 hrs later the air lock is bubbling.

The sample for the hydrometer tasted good without being too sweet which is what I was worried about.

So i don't have access to my fermenting fridge in the basement (all my deck and lawn stuff got thrown down there in a hurry) so i'm using the coldest room in the house.
It's 63-65 degrees.
Got up this morning and she was bubbling like crazy and 70.
Put her into my 55 degree basement.
When it's temp drops a few degree's i'll start moving it up the stairs as the air is warmer mid way than on the floor.

Going to get my lawn stuff hung up and stacked later today so I can get my ferm chamber back.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

1.034 after about a week of fermenting.
I don't really taste anything but a slight alcohol flavor. (could be from the temp hitting 70)
No chocolate or sweetness at all.
it's 7% now so i'll leave it for another week then keg, purge and let it sit for a few weeks before fully carbing and see if the flavors come out.

 

[Abrayton]

1.034 after about a week of fermenting.
I don't really taste anything but a slight alcohol flavor. (could be from the temp hitting 70)
No chocolate or sweetness at all.
it's 7% now so i'll leave it for another week then keg, purge and let it sit for a few weeks before fully carbing and see if the flavors come out.

IMHO wait to judge until it’s been in the keg for a few weeks. I’ve brewed this recipe with a few alterations 3 times and have always had big chocolate flavor with no alcohol bite and my most recent batch hit 10% ABV. Also OP suggests letting it sit on the “sludge” for 4 weeks before packaging.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

IMHO wait to judge until it’s been in the keg for a few weeks. I’ve brewed this recipe with a few alterations 3 times and have always had big chocolate flavor with no alcohol bite and my most recent batch hit 10% ABV. Also OP suggests letting it sit on the “sludge” for 4 weeks before packaging.

4 weeks in the primary?
I can do that.
Room temp I assume?

 

[Abrayton]

Yep. I pull from fermentation chamber at about 10-14 days and it sits at room temp after that. I cold crash for a couple days at 4 weeks and keg.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Yep. I pull from fermentation chamber at about 10-14 days and it sits at room temp after that. I cold crash for a couple days at 4 weeks and keg.

Stuck it in the corner and litterally forgot about it until now.
LOL!
Getting ready to keg, took a sample and it's not bad at all.
The sweetness and chocolate are there but subtle.
You'd never know it's almost 7%
Can't wait to carb it up.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

This is a damn good stout.

 

[BornTrucker]

I brewed 5 gallons of this this Friday night, got the temp to 72 and pitched the yeast. OG was 1.085 and after 2.5 days I'm still only getting a little noticable fermentation. I have a blowoff on the bucket but no bubbles are coming out (I think my lid has a small leak but when I push on it, air does move through the blowoff).

There is no real krausen, some bubbles on top of the wort but that's about it. Should I be concerned about this? Fermentation temp is 62 to 65F.

The photo is 72 hours after pitching 2 packets of dry yeast.

Chocolate Milk Stout

• BornTrucker
• Jan 15, 2019

 

[thehaze]

S-33 is a low attenuating yeast, which ressembles Windsor. To get at least 70% attenuation, you need to mash low and add sugar to boil, to replace some of the base malt. S-33 will finish fermentation in 2-3 days, just like Windsor. Most threads on the Internet about this yeast, contain information on people that used the yeast and got 60-65% apparent attenuation, which is low. I always got between 68 and 72% with S-33 because I mash low and use sugars, but it wont go higher unless you get an infection or some diastaticus in there.

2 packets of yeast for 5 gallons of 1.085 is low even by dry yeast standards. You needed 3 packets for that OG. You opened the lid after 3 days, and the yeast seems to be finished, so there is nothing else to do. 62 to 65F is low for an english yeast and also for any other yeast fermentation schedule. If you don't want esters, you start low-ish for 24-48 and then raise the temperature to help the yeast finish and clean after itself. Next time using S-33, try starting at 66F the first 24 hours, 68 F the next 24 and then raising it above 70F for the remaining of the fermentation, which for this particular yeast would be another 24 hours.

Cheers.

 

[Abrayton]

I’ve had this beer not create a Krause during fermentation and if I recall, the cocoa powder might be a factor in that. It fermented out just fine and turned out great.

 

[BornTrucker]

As a follow up, my fermentation was stuck hard at 1.044. No amount of heating (to 70-72) and stirring fixed that. I received a TILT about that time and had half a pack of US-05 so I pitched that dry, tossed in the tilt. You can see from the chart below that the fermentation quickly resumed and got down to 1.032 (from OG 1.084).

I bottled for a couple of weeks and to my delight, this beer is delicious, possibly overcarbed slightly for the style. I ended up bottling about 1/5 with cold brew and those turned out delicious as well. The picture doesn't look very carbonated but it is.

I will be making this recipe again next winter!

 

[NitrogenWidget]

So jan 10th when i tapped the keg it was a damn good stout that was sweet and chocolaty.
By end of january it was super sweet and super chocolaty.
too much.
by end of february it mellowed out and now as i'm finishing the keg it has a hint of sweetness and a hint of choc and a little coffee at the end.

this is now fantastically amazing.

I'm def. brewing this again and i'm definitely doing it in towards the end of summer so it has a few months to get to where it is now by dec.
I'm also brewing a 10 gallon batch.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

double post

 

[Abrayton]

Have had this in the fermenter for 2 weeks. Just tossed in 8oz cocoa nibs, 2tbs Vietnamese cinnamon and 2 dried ghost peppers. Planning to add vanilla at kegging. Absolutely no idea how this will turn out. Will update in a few weeks.

 

[NinjaMedic]

My keg kicked just now, This baby was just getting into its prime, and tasting even better Darn it.

Definatley brewing again but instead of the Cocoa powder, i have bought unsweetened Cholaca, how much would you use.

How did it turn out with the Cholaca vs the Cocoa powder? How much did you use and when did you add it?

Edit: That sounded very demanding and dickish - apologies. It's what I get for posting on here in between work and school.

 

[redarmy990]

How did it turn out with the Cholaca vs the Cocoa powder? How much did you use and when did you add it?

Edit: That sounded very demanding and dickish - apologies. It's what I get for posting on here in between work and school.

I have not brewed this stout since that post, Full bottle of Cholaca still sat in the fridge. Unfortunatley life got in the way, we sold our apartment and moved into a house, where i am currently building an all electric basement brew house.
In fact i havent brewed for nearly 9 months arrrggghhhhhhhh.

 

[Abrayton]

One week in the keg. This turned out awesome!

 

[txnnok]

Made this recipe back up in December, but unfortunately lost the original gravity reading. I also added 3lbs gold malt syrup I had left over and used Magrovejack m15 yeast,hoping for cherry notes that I had read were obtainable. Unfortunately, discovered to late that part of the yeast in m15 is safale 04 and has taken till now to lose that 04 taste, blah. Now the chocolate taste is distant, but still is a good stout. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[yoop89]

Unfortunately, discovered to late that part of the yeast in m15 is safale 04

Wish I would have known this too. I brewed up a 10 gallon batch of a creme brulee stout and split between MJ15 and Nottingham. Still have most of the MJ15 half.