Brewing up a batch of NB’s St. Paul porter and I want to melt some unsweetened baker’s chocolate to add during the boil to kick up the chocolate tones a bit.
Any opinions on time to add and/or quantity?
I’ve had bad luck with the solid bars leaving an oily residue. I’ve had good luck adding unsweetened cocoa powder at beginning of boil or last 15-20 minutes of boil. some folks have had good results during a secondary or bulk age.
Thanks!
Though I realize this is subjective: what’s a ballpark range on quantity of cocoa powder?
ON one of the latest BTV episodes, Chip makes a stout (I think) with bakers chocolate. He melted it, added some hot wort to it to get mixed up and runny and poured the chocolate in at the beginning of the boil. Was it the “all about stout” eppy? They have tasting notes too that might be helpful.
Best results I have had when making chocolate beers is adding cocoa nibs to secondary, just make sure you decrease your bittering addition because the nibs will add what I estimate at about 25 IBU on their own. Gotta remember with nibs that when you think dark chocolate, you’re talking about maybe 70% cacao but nibs are 100%.
Man. It seems like everyday I have to add something new to my wishlist.
I see a Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Stout in my future.
I have an oatmeal stout bubbling away in the closet now. I bought a package of coco nibs to add to the secondary but have never used them before. The beer has about 33IBUs from a couple ounces of Fuggle so I hope the coco doesn’t make it too bitter. Like I said, I’ve never used them before; guess we’ll see.
I’ve had good luck using unsweetened cocoa powder as well. I usually add it at the 2 min. mark.
How much would you normally add on a 5 gal batch?
My goal is some subtle chocolate tones, if possible.
How much would you normally add on a 5 gal batch?
My goal is some subtle chocolate tones, if possible.[/quote]
I typically use 8oz. of unsweetened cocoa powder.
Groovy. I think I’ll give the cocoa powder a shot in this porter batch.
I added 8oz unsweetened cocoa powder to my last porter. Two issues I had were (1) oily residue, and (2) very little carbonation/poor head retention. I’m not sure if these problems were because of the cocoa, but it still turned out okay.
[quote=“ickyfoot”]Man. It seems like everyday I have to add something new to my wishlist.
I see a Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Stout in my future.[/quote]
I did a Porter up like that and it’s still really tasty. 7%.
Used 2# of flaked oats in the mash and racked onto 1# of chocolate coffee beans and 8 oz of cocoa nibs in secondary.
Sat on that stuff for 3 months because it turned spring and I was busy doing This Old House stuff.
Powerful stuff, has mellowed nicely though.
If you really want to add a chocolatey flavor try putting them in a small container and filling it with just enough vodka to cover them and let it soak for a couple days. Then add the whole thing to your beer to age. There are volatile components to the chocolate that are not soluble in water but are soluble in alcohol. So if you use a neutral alcohol like vodka you will get better extraction of the flavor and aroma qualities of the nibs. I have had great results with this method.
I’ve used 6 ounces cocoa powder in 5 gallons on a few occasions with very good results. I add mine with 5 minutes left in the boil. It will all settle out in the fermenter and then you can rack off and it will taste great.
Thanks for making the “settle out” comment. I completely freaked out when I added the wort to the primary, so I’m hoping it will settle during the ferment.
I’m a little concerned, however, that it kicked up the NB St. Paul Porter OG to 1.060 (from the expected 1.052 range) and that I’ll have a problem with strong yeast activity. I’m using the Wyeat 1187 Ringwood Ale.
I used half a container of Hershey Extra Special Dark cocoa powder with 15 minutes left in the boil for a 2.5 gallon batch. I haven’t tasted it yet so I will update soon.
Thanks for making the “settle out” comment. I completely freaked out when I added the wort to the primary, so I’m hoping it will settle during the ferment.
I’m a little concerned, however, that it kicked up the NB St. Paul Porter OG to 1.060 (from the expected 1.052 range) and that I’ll have a problem with strong yeast activity. I’m using the Wyeat 1187 Ringwood Ale.[/quote]
what you’re looking at is saturation as long as the cocoa or chocolate you used had no added sugars in it. as dmtaylo2 pointed out, it will settle in fermentation. just keep your ferment temps in range and you’ll be fine. you using an airlock or blow off?
[quote=“Edward Teach”]
what you’re looking at is saturation as long as the cocoa or chocolate you used had no added sugars in it. as dmtaylo2 pointed out, it will settle in fermentation. just keep your ferment temps in range and you’ll be fine. you using an airlock or blow off?[/quote]
The cocoa was unsweetened, so I’m assuming that means no added sugars (more or less).
No blowoff, just an air lock on a 6-gal primary.
