Rich, Dark Chocolate

[Fenix26]

Hi everyone,

I am wanting to brew a pale ale, and as the title suggests, I would like the base to be a very rich, and most importantly, a dark chocolate taste. The kind of dark chocolate that you would taste in a rich chocolate candy.

Small thing however, I can only use malt.

Any suggestions how I could pull this off, and the instructions how to do so?

Thanks Brewers!! 🍻🍻🍻
Happy fall

 

[Antzrhere]

I think the terms ''pale ale' and 'chocolate taste' are at odds when your limited to malt and can't use adjuncts such as flavourings or cocoa nibs.

If colour isn't an issue then I've heard chocolate rye has a decent chocolatey flavour - abit less roasty than chocolate malt but more chocolate tasting.

The key to getting chocolate taste from your malts is to add a bit of vanilla afterwards as this seems to bring out the sweet,candy chocolate malt taste from a dark beer, but not sure whether this is allowed in your case.

Having a strong sweetness (i.e. use of light to medium caramalts or Munich ) will also make a beer with roast chocolate malts more reminiscent of candy dark chocolate

Having said that I think getting a true taste of chocolate candy with just malt may not give you what your after as a lot of chocolate tasting beers probably use cocoa/cocoa nibs. It all depends on what your expectations are.

 

[Fenix26]

Thanks for the reply

Hmm... I suppose I misspoke, and to be honest, I don't know the best method of brewing in order to navigate from what I want to what I brew.

More specifically, I can't do all grain. I don't have the equipment for that. All other methods I think I should be able to do though.

Quick background... I used to brew years ago, but sold my equipment when I moved. Now I'm settled, I got all my equipment back, though just equipment you would get in a basic starter set.

So, going from there, what do you think I could do to get that taste? I mentioned I could only use malt above, because I probably can't do any roasting of any ingredients, unless of course, it is a simple oven/stove technique.

Thanks!!!!

 

[Antzrhere]

You don't have to own any special equipment or do any roasting yourself or do anything 'all-grain'. There are lots of specialty grains (like chocolate, caramel etc) that can be steeped (sit them in 70C/158F water for 60min) to extract the flavour and colour. The liquid is drained, then added to your extract kit/malt when you boil it up. All you need it a pan and a stove, no special kit. It's simple and works well. These malts are usually purchased pre-crushed and pre-roasted for a few £s/$s so you don't have to do anything yourself (very few people roast their own malt).

As far as getting more of a chocolate flavour using non-malt ingredients, you can buy pre-roasted chocolate nibs online which you can chuck in your boil or sanitise in spirits and add to your primary or secondary stage of fermentation. Again no roasting or equipment.

Vanilla pods can be bought from a shop or online quite cheaply to enhance any chocolate flavour, just sanitise them in spirits and chuck them in.

 

[madscientist451]

More specifically, I can't do all grain.

You can do all grain for less than $10 by getting a BIAB bag. The brew pot is used for mashing.
Spend $20 more and get a 5 gallon round cooler at Walmart and put the bag in that for mashing.
You can add a spigot or use the one that comes with the cooler.

If you want a beer that has a chocolate flavor, I would suggest a chocolate stout recipe with chocolate flavor concentrate added at bottling.
A pale ale with a lot of hops would be too bitter for the flavor you are describing.
Here's an example of the flavor concentrate you could use:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EMU5KG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[GHBWNY]

Just a thought... You could use a SMALL amount of chocolate flavoring extract at bottling and add it [literally] with an eyedropper to a pre-scaled sample to get an idea of the final taste in the batch. That said, I know there are those who are opposed to using flavor extracts, and I don't use them routinely, but I have from time to time with good results. But extreme care has to be taken in using them; it is very easy to overdo and I've done it! With a real fruit addition in secondary, a few drops of extract at bottling can enhance the fruit effect with out tasting of the typical medicinal flavor extracts can impart. I've never done chocolate, so I can't speak for its effect. Again, just a thought...