Coopers Stout and Chocolate Malt

[ChairmanDrew]

I've got a can of Coopers Stout and 250g of Dark Chocolate Malt to use. Previously with Coopers Stout I've added coffee and a little lactose and this comes out pretty nice. I was thinking to add the chocolate malt to make a chocolate coffee stout.

Will I be OK to just add the malt, or will it unbalance the flavour? I'm looking at this Belgian Chocolate Stout recipe as a baseline as an alternative... https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/belgian-chocolate-stout.html but if I go down that route I will be using the Basic Coopers Stout instead of the Thomas Coopers Devil's Half Ruby Porter, as well as a lot less fermentables (looking at around the 5-5.5% rather than 6.4%).

Any suggestions appreciated.

Edited February 8 by ChairmanDrew

[Back Brewing]

7 minutes ago, ChairmanDrew said:

I've got a can of Coopers Stout and 250g of Dark Chocolate Malt to use. Previously with Coopers Stout I've added coffee and a little lactose and this comes out pretty nice. I was thinking to add the chocolate malt to make a chocolate coffee stout.

Will I be OK to just add the malt, or will it unbalance the flavour? I'm looking at this Belgian Chocolate Stout recipe as a baseline as an alternative... https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/belgian-chocolate-stout.html but if I go down that route I will be using the Basic Coopers Stout instead of the Thomas Coopers Devil's Half Ruby Porter, as well as a lot less fermentables (looking at around the 5-5.5% rather than 6.4%).

Any suggestions appreciated.

Do a cold steep overnight add any hops in the boil the next day and mix it in it will be a nice stout 

[ChairmanDrew]

22 minutes ago, Back Brewing said:

Do a cold steep overnight add any hops in the boil the next day and mix it in it will be a nice stout 

I wasn't thinking to add any extra hops; I reckon the pre-hopped can is enough for a stout. But besides that, you reckon keep it simple?

I was just concerned about the malt adding extra bitterness (I haven't used it before). A lot of recipes use vanilla and cacao nibs, but maybe just a little lactose will balance it out? That I already have.

Edited February 8 by ChairmanDrew

[Back Brewing]

1 hour ago, ChairmanDrew said:

I wasn't thinking to add any extra hops; I reckon the pre-hopped can is enough for a stout. But besides that, you reckon keep it simple?

I was just concerned about the malt adding extra bitterness (I haven't used it before). A lot of recipes use vanilla and cacao nibs, but maybe just a little lactose will balance it out? That I already have.

I did the same brew you are doing but I used chocolate malt not dark chocolate malt and it was a nice stout I also used l kilo of dark LDME the flavour was a mix of coffee and chocolate 

I reckon keep it simple 

[ChairmanDrew]

4 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

 kilo of dark LDME

do you mean LME?

[Back Brewing]

2 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

do you mean LME?

Yeah that's it dark dried extract

[Shamus O'Sean]

10 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

I've got a can of Coopers Stout and 250g of Dark Chocolate Malt to use. Previously with Coopers Stout I've added coffee and a little lactose and this comes out pretty nice. I was thinking to add the chocolate malt to make a chocolate coffee stout.

Will I be OK to just add the malt, or will it unbalance the flavour? I'm looking at this Belgian Chocolate Stout recipe as a baseline as an alternative... https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/belgian-chocolate-stout.html but if I go down that route I will be using the Basic Coopers Stout instead of the Thomas Coopers Devil's Half Ruby Porter, as well as a lot less fermentables (looking at around the 5-5.5% rather than 6.4%).

Any suggestions appreciated.

Hey Chairman, Can you be a bit more specific about your proposed recipe to get 5-5.5% instead of 6.4%?  Are you dropping the Amber Malt Extract or the Light Dry Malt?

The Ruby Porter + Amber Malt Extract probably = Original Stout + Light Dry Malt (or Liquid Malt Extract).  The good thing with stouts is they are very forgiving.  So it will taste good either way.

[ChairmanDrew]

21 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey Chairman, Can you be a bit more specific about your proposed recipe to get 5-5.5% instead of 6.4%?  Are you dropping the Amber Malt Extract or the Light Dry Malt?

The Ruby Porter + Amber Malt Extract probably = Original Stout + Light Dry Malt (or Liquid Malt Extract).  The good thing with stouts is they are very forgiving.  So it will taste good either way.

Yeah, I'll be using just the Coopers Stout and a 1.5kg of Maltexo. At this point I'm thinking just that and 250g dark chocolate malt and 100g lactose.

You reckon it will have an extra chocolate taste, if only a hint?

Edited February 8 by ChairmanDrew

[Shamus O'Sean]

18 minutes ago, ChairmanDrew said:

Yeah, I'll be using just the Coopers Stout and a 1.5kg of Maltexo. At this point I'm thinking just that and 250g dark chocolate malt and 100g lactose.

You reckon it will have an extra chocolate taste, if only a hint?

I think you plan is good.  It will have more than a hint of chocolate, but will not be too much.

[ChairmanDrew]

So my chocolate stout is done fermenting I reckon. But I was surprised at the hydrometer readings. OG was 1.044 and now it is 1.012. That seems a bit weak on the ABV for what I put in I would have thought. The OG was taken at probably around 23d and FG maybe 15-16d, so that could have an effect but from my research probably only a 0.1 or 0.2.

This is my recipe here.

If any wizards out there could correct me on what I should be expecting that would be much appreciated.

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

10 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

So my chocolate stout is done fermenting I reckon. But I was surprised at the hydrometer readings. OG was 1.044 and now it is 1.012. That seems a bit weak on the ABV for what I put in I would have thought. The OG was taken at probably around 23d and FG maybe 15-16d, so that could have an effect but from my research probably only a 0.1 or 0.2.

This is my recipe here.

If any wizards out there could correct me on what I should be expecting that would be much appreciated.

 

Hi CD,

Based on your quoted recipe:

• 1.7kg can Coopers Stout
• 1.5kg can Maltexo
• 250g dark chocolate malt steeped in 2l or water
• 1.5tsp vanilla essence
• 100g lactose
• 20l, OG 1.044

I would have expected your OG to be higher.  Around 1.053, particularly if you mixed it to 20 litres instead of 23 litres.

Final Gravity of 1.012 seems reasonable.

The actual Coopers Belgian Chocolate Stout recipe also has 1kg of Light Dry Malt, and it is also mixed to 23 litres.  Done to their recipe, the OG should be around 1.063, FG around 1.017, and ABV once primed in bottles 6.4%.

[glivo]

The obvious question for me is, where and how did you take your initial gravity reading (1.044)?  Did you pull a sample from the tap or float a sanitised hydrometer in the FV?  I'm not suggesting you did anything wrong, but false hydrometer readings for OG can occur, particularly with extract brews.  If you have some undissolved extract in your tap you can get a high false in a test tube. If you don't have a fully homogeneous mix in your FV, you get a low false at the surface.

[ChairmanDrew]

2 hours ago, glivo said:

The obvious question for me is, where and how did you take your initial gravity reading (1.044)?  Did you pull a sample from the tap or float a sanitised hydrometer in the FV?  I'm not suggesting you did anything wrong, but false hydrometer readings for OG can occur, particularly with extract brews.  If you have some undissolved extract in your tap you can get a high false in a test tube. If you don't have a fully homogeneous mix in your FV, you get a low false at the surface.

From the tap. I always pour a half tube and dump it first, before filling my sample. But I guess there could still be undissolved lumps.

 

[glivo]

That would possibly give a high reading if you had concentrate at the tap, but you were expecting it to be higher than you had.  There must be something else at play here. 

I rarely bother with an OG reading with extract kits, as even with really hot water to dissolve and then topped up with cold water, you can actually see the variance from top to bottom unless you give it a really good stirring.  For me, I just use the amounts recommended (or what I want) and don't bother worrying about the percentages of ABV, calculated or achieved.  Who really cares anyway?

Edited April 3 by glivo

[glivo]

I always use less than a kilo in the kit and kilo anyway.  More like kit and 330 g or kit and 250 g.  Low ABV in theory, but I'd not try to explain this theory to the PO who pulls me over for a RBT.

[ChairmanDrew]

53 minutes ago, glivo said:

That would possibly give a high reading if you had concentrate at the tap, but you were expecting it to be higher than you had.  There must be something else at play here. 

I rarely bother with an OG reading with extract kits, as even with really hot water to dissolve and then topped up with cold water, you can actually see the variance from top to bottom unless you give it a really good stirring.  For me, I just use the amounts recommended (or what I want) and don't bother worrying about the percentages of ABV, calculated or achieved.  Who really cares anyway?

Most of the time these days I don't mind a beer with a lower ABV, but with a stout I prefer them to be at least around the 5% mark. A bit more alcohol brings out the other flavours I reckon.

Sounds like my estimates for the expected ABV with these ingredients is about right, but maybe the hydrometer is just not giving a good reading? IDK.