Double Chocolate Coffee Stout, Extract – Makes 5 Gallons

I recently purchased a double chocolate stout extract kit to which I made a few modifications. Though I’ve brewed a number of wines & meads this will be my first time with beer. Does everything look right/good? Any tips/suggestions? What S.G. (or bubbles per minute) should I look for before racking to secondary and how long do you think that'll take? Before bottling?

Thanks,
evenstill

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Double Chocolate Coffee Stout, Extract – Makes 5 Gallons
Ingredients:
• ¾ lb Chocolate Malt
• ½ lb 2-Row Malt (Rahr)
• ¼ lb Crystal 40L
• 1/8 lb Black Patent
• 1/8 lb Roasted Barley
• 5 oz ground coffee
• 2 oz unsweetened Cocoa
• ½ lb Malto Dextrin
• ½ lb Lactose
• 2 lb Amber Liquid Malt Extract
• 5 lb Dark Liquid Malt Extract
• 1 oz Galena Pellet Hops
• 1 oz Real Vanilla Extract
• 4 ½ oz Priming Sugar (corn sugar)
• 1 capsule of BrewVint Yeast Fuel (nutrient)
• Yeast: White Labs London Ale WLP013

Directions:
2 days prior to brewing the beer you need to prepare some cold brewed coffee. Do this by adding 6 cups of water to 5 oz coarsely ground coffee beans and 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder then allow it to soak for about 48 hours.

In a 16 – 20 quart stainless stockpot, bring 2 ½ gallons of water to 155°F and turn off the heat (leaving the pot on the hot burner). Put the crushed ¾ lb Chocolate, ½ lb 2-Row, ¼ lb Crystal 40L, 1/8 lb Black Patent, and 1/8 lb Roasted Barley into a grain bag and soak in the hot water for 15 minutes. Lift the grain bag in and out of the water as if it was a tea bag. After soaking the grains, lift the grain bag out of the water and allow most of the water to drip out then discard the grains and turn the heat back on until boiling.

Turn off the heat once again and move the stockpot to a cool burner. Add the malt extracts, malto dextrin, and lactose. Stir constantly until completely dissolved then return heat to the mixture stirring occasionally. Heat until boiling then reduce the heat in order to maintain a roiling boil without boiling over.

Add 1 oz of Galena hops and set a timer for 60 minutes.

Add 1 capsule of BrewVint Yeast Fuel for the last 10 minutes of boiling.

Add 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder for the last 5 minutes of boiling.

After 60 minutes of boiling, remove the wort from the heat and cool down quickly to about 80°F. Once the wort has cooled, pour it into your primary fermenter (6.5 gallon glass carboy) and add cool water to make 5 ¼ gallons. Check the specific gravity. Aerate well. Shake the container of yeast then pitch (note: allow the yeast to warm up to 72°-78°F for about 24 hours prior to pitching). Aerate again.

Attach your airlock/blow-off tube. After 12-36 hours you will see signs of fermentation. If you do not see any signs of fermentation within 24 hours then remove the airlock/blow-off tube and aerate again.

After about a week the fermentation should have significantly slowed down and the excess proteins and dead yeast will settle at the bottom of the carboy. Rack to secondary (5 gallon glass carboy) and let clear for about another week.

Rack to tertiary (5 gallon glass carboy) and check the specific gravity. Add 1 oz real vanilla extract. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add 4 .5 oz priming sugar (corn sugar), stirring until completely dissolved (about 1 minute). Remove from heat and cool to about 80°F or cooler. Pour the sugar water unto your beer and mix gently but thoroughly.

Bottle and age 3-4 weeks.

Brew Log:
03/10/2008
Initial Fermentation: 12:30am Monday morning 03-10-2008
Original Gravity: 1.0951
Sugar by weight: 22.67° Plato
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Here is my BeerSmith entry (still figuring it out):

Double Chocolate Coffee Stout #1
Sweet Stout

Type: Extract Date: 3/10/2008
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Brewer: Nathan Konzelman
Boil Size: 2.50 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes:

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2 lbs 1.3 oz Coffee - Cold Brewed (500.0 SRM) Adjunct 18.77 %
5 lbs Dark Liquid Extract (17.5 SRM) Extract 45.13 %
2 lbs Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 18.05 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.77 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.26 %
4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.26 %
2.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.13 %
2.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.13 %
1.00 oz Galena [12.20 %] (60 min) Hops 24.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cocoa Powder - Unsweetened (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Real Vanilla Extract (Bottling 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
8.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 60.0 min) Misc
8.0 oz Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 4.51 %
1 Pkgs London Ale (White Labs #WLP013) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.095 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.050 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.18 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.91 %
Bitterness: 24.5 IBU Calories: 461 cal/pint
Est Color: 75.5 SRM Color:
Color


Mash Profile
Mash Name: None Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
Sparge Water: - Grain Temperature: -
Sparge Temperature: - TunTemperature: -
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: -

Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)

Mash Notes: -
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.5
Pressure/Weight: 4.5 oz Carbonation Used: 4.5 oz
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 70.0 F
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ucflumberjack said:

You might toss some nibs into the secondary too, I’m pretty sure that’s how Sam Adams makes their chocolate bock.

Click to expand...

I don’t have any nibs on hand . . . should I add some cold brewed coco to the secondary? I’m a little concerned that the chocolate won’t be pronounced enough with just the 2 ounces of cocoa powder. How many more ounces do you think I should use?

AKueck said:

Maybe I just missed it, but when did you add the coffee?

Click to expand...

I added the cold brewed coffee (which was brewed with 1 oz of unsweetened cocoa powder) in the primary.

AKueck said:

Check the gravity at 2 weeks and then again at 3 and if it's stable, you can bottle or transfer to secondary.

Click to expand...

Really? I’ve read that with most beer you don’t want to leave it on the yeast/trub very long when in primary. What gravity should I be looking for before racking it? I read you want to wait until about 75% attenuation before racking it to secondary for conditioning . . . but I’m not sure how to calculate that (especially with all the un-fermentable sugars in it).

evenstill

Ok, here’s my updated brew log. I use the brewing calculator found at http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/bre...ets/intro.html.

Brew Log:
03/10/2008
Initial Fermentation: 12:30am Monday morning
Original Gravity: 1.0951
Sugar by weight: 22.67° Plato

03/16/2008
Racked to secondary 11:00pm Sunday night
Added 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder to secondary.

03/21/08
12:15pm: I re-suspended the sediment using a home made Lazy Susan table.

03/23/08
8:15pm: Specific gravity is 1.0259. Smells pretty good.

03/30/08
10:00am: Final Gravity reading was 1.0352.
Racked to bottling carboy and added the priming sugar and vanilla extract as stated in the recipe above.
O.G.: 1.0951
F.G.: 1.0352 (8.82° Plato)
Real Gravity: 1.0464 (11.52° Plato)
Apparent Attenuation: 61%
Real Attenuation: 49%
ABV: 8%
ABW: 6.1%
Calorie Content for 1 oz = 28; for 12 oz = 332
Residual Sugar Content for 1 oz = 3.27g; for 12 oz = 39.2
Freezing Point: 25°F

The kit had an expected OG of 1.056 and FG of 1.012.

The only changes I made to the kit’s recipe are:
1) I cold brewed 5 oz of ground coffee and 1 oz unsweetened coco powder in 6 cups of water which was added to the primary.
2) I added 8 oz of lactose to the boil.
3) I added 1 oz of unsweetened coco powder to the secondary.
4) I added 1 oz vanilla extract before bottling.

I’m pretty sure that the fermentation had stopped since I haven’t seen any activity in the airlock for several days.

I bottled it this morning and had a couple of questions:
1) I show that the gravity actually went UP between the last time I checked it and today . . . What’s up with that? (no pun intended)
2) What’s the difference between the measured FG and the “real gravity”?
3) When figuring the residual sugar should I use the FG I measured “1.0352 (8.82° Plato)” or the “Real Gravity: 1.0464 (11.52° Plato)” (which is the one I’m currently using)? I’ve been calculating it like this: 28.35g x 11.52% = 3.27g sugar per ounce . . . is this correct?

Thanks,
evenstill

So given all the above information:

1) Any idea why the gravity went up?

2) What’s the difference between the my measured FG and the “real gravity” the calculator gives?

3) When figuring the residual sugar should I use the FG I measured “1.0352 (8.82° Plato)” or the “Real Gravity: 1.0464 (11.52° Plato)” (which is the one I’m currently using)? I’ve been calculating it like this: 28.35g x 11.52% = 3.27g sugar per ounce . . . is this correct?

Thanks,
evenstill

Oskaar said:

I must have missed this in the brewlog below, but how long were the mash and boil respectively?

Did you step or decoct?

Cheers,

Oskaar

Click to expand...

This recipe was an extract with some specialty grains. I steeped the grains for 15 minutes followed by a 60 minute boil.

Also, The reason I asked about the residual sugar is because I'm diabetic and was trying to calculate the approximate amount of carbs. Is the way I'm doing it right or would you suggest another method?