Chocolate Stout or Porter

[Planner]

I have been looking for a recipe (kit & bits or maybe extract) for a Chocolate Stout / Chocolate Porter / Dessert Beer call it what you like.
Something along the lines of Youngs Double Choc Stout.

Thoughts so far:

Coopers Lager kit
tin Coopers Amber Malt (because its in the cupboard)
500g DDME
250g Choc Malt steeped
?g Med Crystal steeped
20g Fuggles 20min
20g Fuggles 0min
S-04 yeast

Suggestions anyone?

Q1. Will the choc malt achieve the chocolate taste I am after, or are there other ingredients required? (I have read that Youngs add both chocolate and choc essence)
Q2. Am I dreaming trying to copy this style from a kit.

Thanks
Planner

[drsmurto]

Add real chocolate (dark choc 85% cocoa) for the last 5 mins of the boil and choc essence at bottling

Choc malt tastes more like coffee than chocolate. Choc chit malt is closer and sweeter. Carafa special is dehusked and is quite smooth but still is more coffee than choc.

[Planner]

Thanks DrS

Add real chocolate (dark choc 85% cocoa) for the last 5 mins of the boil and choc essence at bottling

I had thought about adding chocolate but the thought of adding fat to my beer scared me off, I'm guessing the 85% cocoa dark contains less milk fats. Does 250g of chocolate seem reasonable? On the essence, I will try different amounts into bottles and see what I like.

Choc malt tastes more like coffee than chocolate.

My only previous experience with choc malt was into a Coopers dark ale kit, and as you say the taste was more like coffee (not a bad thing.)

Last night bottled the English Bitter from the recipe that you provided a couple of weeks ago, so I have an empty fermenter. Supermarket tonight to collect the chocolate and essence, and this weekend I'll give it a whirl.

Planner

[drsmurto]

If you skim any fat that appears when you boil you'll be fine.

And as you noted, there is much less fat in real chocolate as opposed to that wrapped up turd people call cadburys.

If the first ingredient on the block of chocolate isn't cocoa, its not even close to chocolate.

85% cocoa is VERY bitter.

Be very gentle with the essence, a little goes a long way.

[Planner]

Be very gentle with the essence, a little goes a long way.

Thanks. That's the advantage of additions at bottling, I can try different amounts in different bottles, might even try a few drops in a glass of dark ale just to get a feel for the volume required.

Planner

[banger]

Planner,

How did you go with this one? How much chocolate did you add? And what about the chocolate essence?

Cheers

Banger

[Planner]

Banger

Bottled it last weekend, so I haven't yet tried it. It did taste pretty good from the hydro jar though.
I think I used the following recipe. I'm now at work and brew book is at home:

Coopers lager tin
Coopers amber LME
250g choc malt steeped 60min
20g Goldings 20min
about 200g whitmans dark chocolate 72% cocoa 5min (started with a 250g block but munched through a bit while the wort was boiling).
20g Goldings 0min
S-04
21 lt - 18deg

During the boil I was going to skim fat from the top, but there wasn't really anything to skim. When it was cooled in the sink a little fat rose to the top, so it was removed. During the ferment a bit more fat rose to the top, but when bottling I made sure I finished above the level of the tap.

I bottled into Grolsch bottles and added between 1 and 4 drops of chocolate essence to each bottle and labelled accordingly. Can't remember what brand the essence was. It was from Safeway and has been there for years, I remember mum using the same brand in other flavours for cooking when I was young.

I will let you know how it tastes in a couple of weeks when I crack a few open, I have fairly high expectations for this one. (hoping to avoid paying $9 to to first choice for a bottle of Youngs)

Planner

[Daron1973]

I'm about to put a Cascade Choc Mahogany Porter down this weekend.

Will use a tin of coopers dark liquid malt, 125g choc grain, 25g Cascade hops, a kg of light malt and, after surfing the net for recipes, 100g cocoa....

see how that goes, though i do har many suggest adding honey....

[Wassa]

Daron,

Add 500gm of yellowbox honey as well. Will do wonders for the brew.

Wassa

[Daron1973]

Wassa,

i put it down yesterday. No honey...

I was tossing the idea around (I'm not a fan f honey in my beer though i have used it a lot in my formative years) but i couldnt find the yellowbox honey anyway, so the decision was made at the supermarket.

I had a sip when i was checking the gravity and it was bloody delicious just out of that. I'm keen to get few jars into me sooner now.

I'll have a crack with the honey next time.

Daron

[Planner]

Tried one of the stubbies that contained 1 drop of essence last night. Just short of 3 weeks old, but it was kept inside so was carbed Ok.
Tasted pretty good as a stout, but the choc taste was nowhere near as pronounced as I thought it would, will try another shortly with more essence added and report back.

Planner