Chocolate Covered Cherry

[Baacktoberfest]

I was considering making a chocolate cherry sweet stout for an upcoming brew. I was thinking about using a bottle of chocolate extract and a bottle of chocolate extract. Is that a bad move? I have heard remarks about Cherry Wheat Sam Adams tasting like Ludens cough drops and that's something that I'd like to avoid. Is there a general rule of thumb in regards to this sort of thing?

[vance71975]

I was considering making a chocolate cherry sweet stout for an upcoming brew. I was thinking about using a bottle of chocolate extract and a bottle of chocolate extract. Is that a bad move? I have heard remarks about Cherry Wheat Sam Adams tasting like Ludens cough drops and that's something that I'd like to avoid. Is there a general rule of thumb in regards to this sort of thing?

Yes there is, use a small amount of chocolate extract and a small amount of cherry and taste, if its right leave it alone, if not add a lil more and taste again. Your gonna wanna do a standard sweet stout and then add the extracts at bottling/kegging time.i would start with 1/2 teaspoon of each and add 1/2 teaspoon at a time till you end up where you want the flavor to be. Here is a Basic Sweet Stout recipe for you. The yeast is kinda important to hit the lower attenuation you want for a sweet stout.


Basic Sweet Stout
Sweet Stout


Type: Extract
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs LME Pilsen Light (Briess) (2.3 SRM) Extract 73.68 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 13.6 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
8.0 oz Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 5.26 %
1 Pkgs Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.58 %
Bitterness: 21.0 IBU
Est Color: 33.0 SRM


Mash Profile



Steep grains in 150 degree water (30-60 minutes)







Hope you like it!

[Baacktoberfest]

How long for overall fermentation time?

[Mikegobrew]

I'm not sure if it"ll work in this case, but a couple weeks ago I had a KBS Stout brewed by Founders, which was excellent. It's brewed with chocolate and coffee. In the July/August issue of Zymurgy, there"s a clone provided by the head brewer at Founders. It uses real Belgian bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa nibs 15 min left in the boil. It might help cut down on the "artificial" flavor with 2 flavor extracts. Just a thought.

The KBS clone is one I'm definitely brewing this fall.

[vance71975]

How long for overall fermentation time?
until the gravity doesn't move for 3 or more days.

[Baacktoberfest]

I'm not sure if it"ll work in this case, but a couple weeks ago I had a KBS Stout brewed by Founders, which was excellent. It's brewed with chocolate and coffee. In the July/August issue of Zymurgy, there"s a clone provided by the head brewer at Founders. It uses real Belgian bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa nibs 15 min left in the boil. It might help cut down on the "artificial" flavor with 2 flavor extracts. Just a thought.

The KBS clone is one I'm definitely brewing this fall.

That sounds delicious.

[beerking]

My own rule of thumb for flavored beers (especially fruit flavored): NEVER use extract.
Get some cocoa nibs (roasted) and some cherry puree (Oregon, usually carried by most homebrew shops) and do it right. You won't be disappointed that way.

My $0.02.