So I want to add chocolate to my next stout, and I’ve seen this as a method. I tried using cocoa nibs in the final 15 mins of the boil, and got virtually no flavor from it. I don’t want to use a chocolate bar for fear of unwanted preservatives and whatnot. So I’m thinking of going with an organic cocoa powder to add in the boil. So the question is how much should I use for a five gallon batch? Flaked oats will also be used in the mash, and 8oz of ground coffee beans in the secondary.
Thanks for any help!
Using Dutch process cocoa, and adding it at flameout (30 min whirlpool), I’ll go with anywhere from 10-30 g/gal, depending on how much I want to come through. My last cocoa stout used 100 g in a 6 gal batch and I wish it had been a little more intense.
Careful with cocoa if you have any sort of screening/filtering in your process. I have a screen in my kettle and used cocoa once. It absorbed water, turned into sludge, clogged everything up.
I had this issue the first time I used cocoa. Since then, I pull of enough wort to mix by hand before adding to the kettle. I do this with sugar additions as well.
Last time I used cocoa powder it caused all sorts of issues when bottling. Too much sediment, in part, caused gushers that don’t do much for presentation’s sake. Although I’d lean away from powder next time as I didn’t find it contributed anything positive, can this stuff be cleared by cold-crashing or gelatin fining? The sludge was perhaps 25% of my beer.