Tweaking a kit to get chocolate stout

[fishsniffer]

Howdy folks,

Been lurking here quite a bit. My cousin gave me everything I need to homebrew for christmas and I have been enjoying the fruits of my labor ever since. I have three brews under my belt now and am really having fun with this new hobby.

I have done three kit recipes from Hombrew Heaven and so far the results have been great and I am at the very least making a consistent product.

I'm eager to try tweaking their stout kit to make a chocolate stout but I don't know if I am doing it right.

The kit includes (no measurements are included, everything is pre packaged).

1 bag Amber DME with bittering hops added (Brewers gold)
1 Package (about 1.5lbs) of "specailty grains" (crystal, chocolate, black patent, etc)
1 package of flavor hops (Kent Goldings)
1 Package of finishing/aromatic hops (Kent goldings)
1 Package Nottingham Ale Yeast (granular yeast)
Some corn sugar for priming (I get some extra DME and prime with that)

Anywho, If I were to add 1 to 2 lbs of Chocolate Malt and some cocoa powder to either the boil or to secondary, would this yield a delicious Chocolate stout? Or would I have to tweak the recipe further to adding more hops or changing out the grain/hops completely?

 

[jester5120]

I personnally wouldn't add too much more in terms of chocolate malt since you already have some. If you insist on doing it I would limit it at an extra .5 pounds. What i would recommend rather than adding grains is throwing a little cocoa powder in the boil and also ageing it on cocoa nibs for about 2 weeks. Those 2 simple modifications will add a lot of complex chocolate flavor

 

[fishsniffer]

I think I am going to add a smidge more chocolate malt.

I brewed this same kit and Nailed the upper end of OG (1.050) and it seems to have finished out around 1.016. A little more malt may help my OG.

I'll add some cocoa and get some nibs to add when I rack to secondary.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Brew day on saturday.

 

[fishsniffer]

Brewed this on Saturday. Will let you know how it turns out. LHBS didn't have any chocolate malt in the quantities I wanted it so I just added some cocoa to the boil and will be aging it on nibs after aboot 10 days or so in primary.

Will keep you posted.

 

[flyingfinbar]

I added 8oz of quality unsweetened bakers chocolate in the boil, then let it sit on 10oz of roasted cacao nibs for two weeks in secondary that were pre-soaked in vodka. I also added a vanilla bean with the nibs in secondary, which seemed to help add a little sweetness to the bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate flavors. I also had a pound of lactose in the boil, which definitely helps with the thick, chocolately mouthfeel.

 

[malevolent]

I have a chocolate stout thats been aging on a slurry of cocoa powder for about 2 months with 2 vanilla beans. Bottling on Saturday. Should be delicious

 

[fishsniffer]

I got the Cacao nibs and will be transferring to secondary this weekend.

Thanks for the responses because I was unsure whether to just put the nibs in secondary, or if I should try to sterilize/sanitize them.

When I soak them in vodka, should I put the vodka in there too?

 

[helibrewer]

I used 1 pound of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder in mine (it had the lowest fat content) and also used 6 pounds of cherry extract in secondary.....it is still in secondary but tasting pretty good.

Chocolate malt doesn't really have a chocolate flavor, it's named for its color.

 

[flyingfinbar]

I got the Cacao nibs and will be transferring to secondary this weekend.

Thanks for the responses because I was unsure whether to just put the nibs in secondary, or if I should try to sterilize/sanitize them.

When I soak them in vodka, should I put the vodka in there too?

Put the whole shebang in there! The vodka will draw out a lot of the flavors that you want in there. Don't go too heavy on the booze though, as it can thin out your final product. Don't overlook the vanilla bean, too...it tames down some of the bitterness of the chocolate.