Notes from tasting night. And questions

barneygumble · April 7, 2012, 3:32am

OK, I got back into this to tighten up procedure. My results of the first two batches after @ 48 hrs in the keg. Sampling night! :cheers:

My strong pale ale biab proven recipe has never been more balanced or better in any way (except for clarity. still hazed with whirlpool, 3 weeks primary, two weeks secondary, a week of cold crash with gelatin and its still hazy, but thats the mineral laced water that is my source, I think?) I cant wait to see how this one turns out! I nailed it. 8)

Then I bought a milk chocolate extract recipe kit from NB. I added 4 oz of melted Lindt 100% at 15 mins along with 2tbsp matigascar vanilla. Other than that I followed the recipe. This beer tastes good. Not great. The chocolate is still a bit in the background. Very little complementary coffee flavor. And the body is thin. All vessels are calibrated. Great head, thick foam, and its a good beer. Dont get me wrong. But it strikes more of a porter than a stout.

Questions: Should I add a # of dark DME, more Lindt and some instant coffee crystals to this to enhance it next time? I dont own beersmith or other programs, but I do not believe the single # of the extract will throw this out that badly. Thoughts?

boulderbrewer · April 8, 2012, 8:12am

a dry hopped pa will be hazy for a long time, so tell them to chill.

So what are you making a chocolate coffee porter, guessing more stout, judging on what you have used I would add coffee I would go for cold coffee concentrate and vanilla beans. vanilla will add to the body of your beer, maybe upgrade the amount of roasted barley.

tom_sawyer · April 9, 2012, 2:22pm

Milk chocolate stout recipe wouldn’t have a big coffee or huge roast flavor. I think you want to try their Peace Coffee Porter kit, its excellent.

You can add some oats (steeped with specialty grains) for body, that would be compatible with the chocolate stout.

barneygumble · April 9, 2012, 7:04pm

[quote=“Boulderbrewer”]a dry hopped pa will be hazy for a long time, so tell them to chill.

So what are you making a chocolate coffee porter, guessing more stout, judging on what you have used I would add coffee I would go for cold coffee concentrate and vanilla beans. vanilla will add to the body of your beer, maybe upgrade the amount of roasted barley.[/quote]

Yeah, the hops add haze, but I am pretty sure this is a problem with my water source. Its loaded with ca, mg =hard as a rock. Funny thing is, the pH is only around 7.2 to 7.4. Maybe all that acid rain is neutralizing the alkalinity. lol. Makes a nice hoppy beer tho. The minerals just accentuate the hops nicely. I use 5.2 in the mash to correct pH but there isnt much hope to get a clear beer with this water, I think.

I was making a NB chocolate stout kit for the ms. It finished more porter than stout, and missed a bit of the complementary coffee that makes a good chocolate great.

barneygumble · April 9, 2012, 7:12pm

[quote=“tom sawyer”]Milk chocolate stout recipe wouldn’t have a big coffee or huge roast flavor. I think you want to try their Peace Coffee Porter kit, its excellent.

You can add some oats (steeped with specialty grains) for body, that would be compatible with the chocolate stout.[/quote]

Thanks. Yeah, but a good chocolate needs that mocha counterpoint. I like the oats add. Thank you both for input. I will prolly use some coffee, and oatmeal next time. The beer is very good, and very sessionable as it sits with just my vanilla and extra chocolate adds. I set the keg press today for the styles, vented off the extra, and took another taste of each. Both beers are not going to last very long once the taps are open for service. lol.

Its good that I have two more to replace them going into secondary tomorrow.

And two more to replace them in primary to be brewed on Wed.

And the lambic sitting on raspberries awaiting a late summer drinking.

barneygumble · April 14, 2012, 4:17am

I opened the taps tonite! Woot! :cheers: Have fam. here for the weekend.

We started with the milk choc. stout. Its body has rounded off nicely. I didn’t think that body and mouthfeel would or could do that! But its there within stout range, but still a bit light. The aging in the keg exposed the chocolate big time! The vanilla showed up as caramel, like I hoped and the coffee did appear, but a bit too subtly for my tastes. The girls loved it! They raved that it was as good as a chocolate stout from the pub. I took the compliments, but know I can do better. Next batch will be better than the pub. Overall, still a great beer. it wont last long.

Then we moved on to the strong pale ale that I brewed as a BIAB, from a very staid recipe. It was never quite right for me, tho it was a crowd pleaser. After reading here, and elsewhere, about water and chemistry and stuff, and “borrowing” some calculations on line, I tweaked it. I thought on tasting night I nailed it.

I underestimated. I wanna enter this one! I need a beer gun asap! This recipe is the stuff I dreamed of brewing. The haze will never leave, I know that now. But its not a bad haze, just not crystal clear. After the stout, the fam got to clense their palate on a balanced malt and hop fiesta. They even asked me if it was the same beer. This beer will be gone too soon. Its on deck again after I come back from my summer haitus. I might bring just some RO water in, but leave the well water there too for the minerals, or I might just say kinda clear is fine if it tastes like this!