Black Forest stout idea

[MuckyFunster]

I was going to make a start on that apple IPA idea I had last week, but then read something online about hop pellets deteriorating after the packets have been opened, so I decided to use up some Saaz that I had in the freezer, so dreamt up this after seeing something on TV about the 1970s and how Black Forest gateau was amazing. . .

50g crushed pale malts steeped in 2 litres of water for about 30minutes, while it was brought to the boil, then once boiling, crushed malts removed. 750g dark liquid malt extract added.

30min boil.
8g saaz at 30mins
8g saaz at 15 mins
20g cocoa powder at 15 mins
8g saaz at 0 mins

Cooled, strained, topped up to 4 litres in demijohn, and yeast added.

OG - 1050

I plan on soaking about 200g of cherries in vodka for a couple of days then purée-ing them and adding them to the stout at about day 4.

Any thoughts or tips?

I’m new to this and kind of making it up as I go along! All the above amounts are kind of off the cuff. Having fun though!

Thanks.


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[HTH1975]

I’ve used frozen supermarket cherries before - they work well and take out the extra work since they’re already washed and they will break down nicely once thawed.

Consider cacao nibs steeped in vodka as an alternative. I got mine from Holland & Barratt.

I’d look at adding some lactose to account for that creaminess you get with a Black Forest gateaux.

Also, what speciality grains are you steeping? Chocolate is the obvious one, but a little dehusked black malt and roasted barley would be nice too. Try cold steeping overnight for a mellower taste.

I’d also go easy on the cherries as they’ll overpower everything and give quite a sharp note if you’re not careful. The lactose will help balance this.

[Robwalkeragain]

Blackberries are out at the mo and suit a stout and black forest style perfectly, mayaswell use a hand full and they'll give you loads of colour, same with elderberries.
Small but obvious tip, make sure the skins come into contact with the beer, plenty of colour and flavour in there - pureed is fine.

[sbond10]

Just gonna throw this in i used chambord in my chocolate coconut milk stout

[MuckyFunster]

The grains were just crushed pale malt. I’d bought them to make an ale, and I didn’t have anything else. So I steeped 50g just for a bit of extra body. Is 50g enough? I wasn’t sure at all.

I thought about using cacao nibs. I thought I already had some, cause I used to make tea with them, but when I couldn’t find them I just the 20g stuck cocoa powder in. Don’t know if it’ll make any difference to anything.

How much lactose would you use? Might be an idea for next time.

You reckon 200g of cherries will be too much?

Blackberries are a good shout! We have bramble bushes all over the place round my way. Might go a ramble and pick a few.

I do have some chambord in there. Don’t have a clue where it’s from. Left over from a party sometime, I suppose. Might be a good shout too!


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[MuckyFunster]

I stuck 200g of frozen cherries into a jar tonight and covered them with vodka. I never really thought much of it, but afterwards I realised it’s probably about 100ml of vodka or so. Maybe a touch more. Anyone reckon that might be way too much to add to my demijohn? I suppose it would work out at about a shot of vodka per pint!

I also added 15g of cocoa powder to the vodka cherry mix. I gave the jar a shake and ... oh man ... it smells so good!


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[Robwalkeragain]

13ml per pint, ish. So half an alcohol unit/percent added. Nevermind eh!

[MuckyFunster]

You reckon that’s too too much? Could always just purée it and then add less of the liquid into the DJ. Hmm ... making it up as I go along! Lol.




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[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Sounds good. Want to make a black cherry stout myself.


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[MuckyFunster]

Planning on adding thi cherry vodka liquor tonight and have been googling fruit additions.

The consensus is that cherry is quite mild when added to beer. Folk are talking about adding 5, 6, 7 or more pounds of cherries into 5 gallon bathes! So, I think I might up the cherry addition for this. The bag of frozen is 550g so I reckon I’ll just stick the full bag in. That’ll make it just over 1lb for the gallon.


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[MuckyFunster]

I bottled this beer tonight. There was A LOT of sediment in the demijohn. Could probably have been doing with being racked again and left for another while. I also seriously messed up with my stupid syphon. Ended up with only 6x 500ml bottles from just under 4 litres in the DJ, but as I says, there was a lot of sediment to leave behind too.

The beer itself is a lovely red/black colour. Tastes amazing already! FG was 1013, so about 4.8% abv. Primed it with about 2g white sugar per 500ml bottle.


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