Flavoured stout experiment

[abacab666]

Morning brew gurus

Looking through these forums there seems to be a massive wealth of knowledge, sometime for me to tap into that methinks

I'm relatively new to the brew game - last 6 months - mostly extract kits, although I've had a go at a couple of the Brooklyn brew shop grain kits for a giggle, with mixed results.

I've just started a 23l stout kit off, with a view to experimenting with different flavours, the idea being that I'll rack off up to 3 one gallon carboys for different flavours. I'm thinking chocolate, cherry, possibly a bitter orange options, but am open to other suggestions.

First question is...best way to get those flavours in secondary? I've seen somewhere soaking cocao nibs in vodka? 100g in 100ml? Frozen cherries in the bottom? Amount? Could I also add lactose to get a "creamier" flavour?

The possibilities are almost endless, but what would brew world recommend? Let me hear your experiences folks [emoji482]

 

[cactusgarrett]

Depends on what you're trying to do. Tincture works well with zests and cacao nibs. You could do vanilla extract right into your packaging bucket/keg. Cherries right into your fermenter.

Best approach is pick a flavor, then determine the method for that flavor/addition.

 

[aeviaanah]

Milled nibs (high quality) in late kettle and FV. Cold steep roasted malts. A bit of lactose would give the creaminess your after. Do everything in the kettle or primary unless your talking an aged beer

 

[abacab666]

Milled nibs (high quality) in late kettle and FV. Cold steep roasted malts. A bit of lactose would give the creaminess your after. Do everything in the kettle or primary unless your talking an aged beer

if anything it'll be in the fv, as it's a kit with no boil. what i'm looking for is a way of trying different flavor variations using the same base, hence my theory of adding to different carboys of lower volumes than the base kit - don't mid wasting a gallon if a particular flavour bombs, but don't fancy ditching 5gals in one go because i got it wrong.

 

[Beernik]

Hazelnut: use 1tsp to 1 Tbsp of extract depending on how strong you want it. Add at bottling/kegging.

A chocolate-orange milk stout sounds really good right now, like a chocolate orange flavor. Too bad lactose is now on my dietary “forbidden list.”

 

[Beer666]

Toasted coconut flakes is a good one but a nightmare in a demijohn. The syphon got blocked so much better in a bag. Have another with tonka, vanilla and roasted cocoa nibs. Thought about racking some onto raspberries next.