Chocolate Stout Update!
After taking my first gravity reading (currently at 1.035) from 1.066 original gravity) for the chocolate stout I just had to take a sample and I must pat myself on the back on this one, it is pure chocolaty goodness! I was a bit worried about the flavor profile for this batch as I used about a 1/4 of a White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) due to the vial exploding all over my hands when I opened it! (shake gently and open slowly!!) To be sure of proper yeast cell count I added the only yeast I had on hand at the time, the Safale US-05 which is a basic, nutrual ale yeast. Mixing two different yeast should in theory create a funky flavor profile that is not desirable in your beers. Although I may be missing some of the Irish Ale Yeast smokey flavors, the beer tastes great with a huge chocolate backing. I think I will save some of these for the upcoming 2009 Valentine’s Day goodness!
I will update once flocculation is complete and I am ready to bottle, which should be soon. Pics from the brew day have been uploaded here!
Also, just a quick note regarding the self adhesive duct insulation (Frost King) that I wrapped around my 5 gallon mash tun, it worked like a charm! Held the temp steady for an hour with no additional water additions. Highly recommened as a cheap solution to buying a whole new cooler for your mash!
one comment so far »
Copy link for RSS feed for comments on this post
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Very nice my friend. A chocolate stout will be one of the brews I’d like to make.
Comment by Dave — August 20, 2008 @ 9:50 am