Cocoa Stout Beginner Brainstorm

[11bcollins11]

Greetings, excellent drones.

I'm still a novice, started brewing when the pandemic first hit. I use the the easy kit recipes from BrewDemon and Brewferm. I'm looking to add a chocolate element to the BD Irish Stout.

My wondering is: How about adding a packet of hot cocoa mix to the wort? I figure; the sugar would boost the abv a bit, and the rest would have the chocolatey flavor I'm going for. Horrible idea? Let me know, I can take it. – If it is a lousy idea, what would you folks suggest? Thanks!

[bpgreen]

I would do it first without adding anything just to ser how it's supposed to taste. Once you know there base taste, you'll know worst your changes bring to the table.

If I were in your shoes, I'd probably add cacao nibs or powder.

But experimentation can sometimes lead to good beers. So I'd say go for it, but try it as is first.

[mashani]

I agree with BP, but for whatever it is worth:

I have used actual chocolate in a chocolate stout with good results. But what you should use is not hot cocoa mix, it will have milk and salt and extra fat and/or other things you most likely do not want and/or will likely not improve your beer.

Instead you should use plain Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder. Why? It is lower in fat so it won't murder your head retention or cause your beer to even possibly get a rancid flavor over time. It is just chocolate and PH neutral (where other forms of chocolate tend to be acidic), so it won't do anything to your beer besides add chocolate flavor.

For a 2.5 gallon batch, ~1/8 cup or so of that stuff is OK and will lead to decent results.

Nibs can work, but they will add a lot more fat, and fat is not good, so if it was me, I would go with the Dutch processed powder. They are also going to fall into that more acidic category, and that can affect the balance in unexpected ways. It may just be minor, but minor things add up.

[MadBrewer]

I have brewed a bit with different methods of adding chocolate character. I have to say adding cocoa to the end of the boil like mentioned above is what you want to do. It's easy, you can find the cocoa in the baking isle. Plain old Hershey's unsweetened cocoa has been my go to. If you like, you can add a few drops of Vanilla or even Hazelnut extract just make sure they are quality extracts, they dont' have to be the $15 bottles, McCormick is fine just has to be pure extract not imitation. Either really helps to bring out the chocolate character in my experience, just go easy with such a small batch. Keep the additions near the end of the boil, like the last couple minutes near flameout. If you add cocoa, it will turn the wort into a sludge, but that's how you will get the chocolate flavor, it will settle out after fermentation. For reference, I always add the whole 8 oz can of cocoa to a 5-6 gal batch.

[John Sand]

I use chocolate malt (barley) to add chocolate flavor.

[HerbMeowing]

I'd brew as-is ... dose at bottling ... and keep track of which bottle got how much then you can figure out how much to add to the bottling bucket on a re-brew ...

[11bcollins11]

Thanks all! I went with unsweetened hersheys cocoa powder and a liter of cold brewed coffee into the wort and it is maybe the best thing I ever made. I appreciated the advice!

[John Sand]

So glad it worked well!