Chocolate Stout Made Simple .....

[Ditch]

I've been secretly working away at this one for some time now. Pretty well cracked it!

Sod all this boiling ye nibs in ye bags and crushing ye malts. Am I not the most legendarily lazy. corner cutting, " Craft(y side step) Brewer " of them all? In fact, now I come to think of it? I'm near bloody certain someone, on here, mentioned this stuff to me .....

If so, and ye reading this? Please do step up and take a bow ~ and the lions share of the credit. I don't want it. I get quite enough sh!t from idiots who think I coined the name, " Ditch's Stout ". (Wankers checked the history, they'd see I simply adopted the title so many other people were already using Anyway .....)

Ye need: One pint of excellent stout. One, 1 Ml. calibrated syringe ~ or a standard ear dropper will suffice. And a bottle of Nielson ~ Massey Chocolate Extract <-- Click and check that muvva.

I get mine from the local 'Health Food' Shop. Costs me about a fiver a bottle. Where ye get ye stout and syringes is your business.

Process: Pour pint of stout. Suck up 1 Ml. / 2/3 of ear dropper of chocolate extract. Squirt into pint. Stir. Taste. Consider.

I find a Millilitre of this stuff, in a pint, tastes like a bar of chocolate has been melted into it. Maybe err to the lower side and work ye way up, through the pints, till ye figure out just what level of chocciness You prefer?

Bottom line is though; It's simple. It's cheap. It's instant. And the beauty is? If ye suddenly feel like a straight stout ~ or a Vanilla or Coffee Stout ....? Just pour one. This is a major part of why I honestly haven't even bothered to try to work out the ratio to a full, 20 litre keg of stout. I simply don't know if I'd Want to drink 'Chocolate Stout' all week

Now, obviously, precious few of ye are going to have a bottle of N ~ M's to hand. But, I'll look forward to hearing others reviews of this method, in due course

[eddy31384]

just like i do with cider, back sweeten. just the same method to add extra flavour. to anything.

[Ditch]

Eddy, just out of interest, mate ..... What do ye add to ye cider?

[trucker5774]

I must have blinked...............if I'm reading right Ditch, yer back mate

Good to see you fella.

[Ditch]

Blinked? F**k me, mate; I nearly poked my eye out, the other day and I still haven't missed as much as you!



So saying; Time for my eye drops and anti biotic horse pills again .....

[eddy31384]

Eddy, just out of interest, mate ..... What do ye add to ye cider?

orangeade vimto or limeade

[Pinto]

Same Idea as my monin coffee syrups good on ya for taking the next step and proving it works, ditch

Should you want to scale up, 23l = 40 pints so somewhere between 40 and 60ml of extract should work perfectly in a batch

[Ditch]

Pinto, was it you? I knew that somebody had put me up to this. First I'd only been able to get Coffee Extract, in a hurry. Then I ordered Chocolate and bought a bottle of Vanilla while I waited. So, I'd got some experience of dosing measures.

Now I've just spent a week or so meddling with my stout by the glass full. It'll never even approach the shadow of Aleman's IRS. That was out of this world! Special. But, if ye feeling like a change? It's something ye can try.

Like I say though; I don't think I'd want to do a whole keg. It's more a novelty than a night in, night out thing.

Let's see if anyone else takes it up. See what they make of it.

[soupdragon]

If so, and ye reading this? Please do step up and take a bow ~ and the lions share of the credit. I don't want it.

Is this the gent you're referring to Ditch?

Cheers Tom

[Pinto]

Think there's been a number of people looking at the idea, just lots of routes to the same thing

Think the flavouring will dictate how much of each type you'd want to make - I adore coffee so I could easily modify a whole keg, whilst chocolate might be a bit sickly - horses for courses I guess

[Ditch]

Soupdragon; That's the thread! Now, interestingly, Millemg there uses Essence. Apparently, Extract (What I'm using) is that much more powerful. Might be worth noting that, for anyone who ends up with a different bottle?

Millemg likes coffee too, eh? What a bummer; I have a bottle of Coffee Extract sitting here. Likely to still be here when they drag my stinking corpse out too. Only, it'd probably cost as much in postage as it would to buy over the counter

[millemg]

Ahhhh Ditch, you are a believer at last

I am using about 1ml of choc essence per pint, so it must be similar stuff to the extract.

Since getting hooked on "MIllemg's chocolate stout" I have been trying the polish raspberry cordial in some of my brews, great in a cider !!

[Ditch]

I always wanted to believe, mate. Just needed to be shown the One True Light

[beerlover1983]

I love this idea.Im curious if i did the same but added it to the bottle before capping would it still have the same effect or will it loose its effect when the bottle carbs ?

[Ditch]

Beerlover; I should think it'd retain it's flavour. Can't really see why it shouldn't do. Don't lose the taste of hops or malt when a beer carbonates, do we?