CS3 - Soren's Coco - Wheat Porter

[Soren]

This beer started out inspired by a recipe from Radical Brewing, the aim was a chocolatey roasty porter with smooth as milkshake texture from the wheat and oat. Initially I was going to zest a bunch of oranges and add it at the end of boil, sort of a jafa flavor profile, but I decided against it on the day. After it was brewed I got my hands on some cocoa nibs from work and decided to take the chocolate milkshake concept a step further, 150 g in the secondary for 7 days. There may be a few nibs in some bottles, they were a pain to keep in the fermenter, next time I'll bag'em.

choc wheat porter

A ProMash Recipe Report

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
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23.7 2.00 kg. Wheat Malt Germany 82.90 2
23.7 2.00 kg. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 80.73 3
5.9 0.50 kg. Oats 64.92 0
5.9 0.50 kg. Carafa special 1 64.92 350
3.0 0.25 kg. CaraAroma 64.92 150
23.7 2.00 kg. Munich Malt(light) Canada 72.08 15
5.9 0.50 kg. CaraMunich 80 France 72.08 80
5.9 0.50 kg. Crystal 75L Great Britian 72.08 75
2.4 0.20 kg. wheat bix 64.92 0


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
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30.00 g. Cascade Pellet 7.25 5.8 15 min.
25.00 g. Cascade Pellet 7.25 17.9 First WH
30.00 g. Cascade Pellet 7.25 0.0 0 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
150.00 gm Cocoa nibs Other 7 Days(fermenter)


Yeast
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WYeast 1968 London Extra Special Bitter


Protein Rest Temp : 52 Time: 30

Saccharification Rest Temp : 67 Time: 90

[Reviled]

Wow - this beer was like sucking on a roasted chocolate bar that had been dropped in something super roasty and dry and then consumed!! Super, super interesting, huge dark chocolate/cocoa hit, with a bitter dry roasted finish..

Maybe a bit too much carbonation which thinned out the mouthfeel a bit, but once it warmed up and went a bit flatter it was beautifull!!!

Cheers ;o)

[Soren]

Thanks for all the reviews guys, sounds like most of you enjoyed it:)
interesting to hear the views on the yeast. It definitely was 1968 and it definitely didn't quite seem like it was... it could be all the wheat I had in there maybe? or my fermentation temps were a bit out of wack...

I had one the other day and it has turned in to quite a different beer. When I bottled it, it was overpowering chocolatey, very one dimensional and for a brief second I actually considered dry hopping it with some cascade to break it up a bit, after a couple of weeks in the bottle I was glad that I didn't. The chocolate have definitely mellowed over time and the beer has become more roasty and sharp, the alcohol is also comming out a lot more now and is almost a bit solventy.

the carbonation is definitely too high as well, higher than intended. it was a bit of a toss up though: carbonate highly as a hefe to create a huge pillowy head of lightly for a more classic porter look and mouth feel. In the end I targeted the latter with a bit extra for some head, 2.2 volumes was my aim but I think it went beyond that. I suspect there may have been some bugs in there, I didn't sanitize the nibs but I believe they have anti microbial properties and it should be necesarry...

On the ingeredient side, if I make this again I'll cut back the roasted malts, originally I wasn't gonna nib this so all the carafa was supposed to handle the chocolate side by itself. The gravity will come back a bit too, this one is too alcoholic. I may try another yeast, probably a neutral cal-ale and the late hops will probably get scaled back a bit too.

Thanks for all the comments and thanks for a whole case of great beer!

[Barry]

3rd to last beer for me. I'm taking my time, glad I kept this one around a while.

Beer is inky black, lovely and clear but oh so black. Smooth and creamy tan head.
Whif of cocoa powder and sweet malt.
All cocoa powder to taste, I'm not a fan of cocoa so it's a little off putting. But then this beer is cold, straight from the fridge.

So after letting it warm up, WOW. What a great beer. so complex - there's that cocoa thing, sweet malt, raisins, nutty biscuity, some roasty. Fruityness from the yeast. it's all there. (except the cascade - the bitterness is in fine balance, but I'm not getting much cascadeyness).

This is probably the pick so far for me - a _quality_ drop. Perfect pint. Cheers Soren.