Fourth brew: Chocolate stout

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Hmmm yeah I think I'm going to have to make a plan like that, if it's a bit closer to home next time. I don't really like the idea of drinking and then having to drive home, TBH... :P

As a PS: I was thinking more informal, quick get-togethers where 3 or 4 members each bring 3 or 4 of their brews they want others to test and then swap out. I, for instance, found that Langchop's Morgan's Bitter and Beyond IPA is probably one of my next brews, where I have been wondering what to make for a while. Just need to wrestle the recipe from him

[jakeslouw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jakeslouw]

As a PS: I was thinking more informal, quick get-togethers where 3 or 4 members each bring 3 or 4 of their brews they want others to test and then swap out.

We often have a bring and braai: you bring beer and meat, host supplies glasses and salads and fires........

Then you can have a crash-couch or somewhere to crash if hammered.

[Langchop Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Langchop]

As a PS: I was thinking more informal, quick get-togethers where 3 or 4 members each bring 3 or 4 of their brews they want others to test and then swap out.

Nice idea

Langchop's Morgan's Bitter and Beyond IPA is probably one of my next brews, where I have been wondering what to make for a while. Just need to wrestle the recipe from him

I'm not a great wrestler...
Deciphering the name:
'Bitter': Morgan's Australian Bitter extract kit
'and beyond': way past expiry date!

Buy kit, wait for it to expire by 6 months, use with Brew for Africa light brew blend, dry hop with Southern Aroma hops. Carbonate 2.5 volumes.

T'was one of those "what the hell let's just use this expired kit" brews ��

Vinegar recipe available on request. ��

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Nice idea



I'm not a great wrestler...
Deciphering the name:
'Bitter': Morgan's Australian Bitter extract kit
'and beyond': way past expiry date!

Buy kit, wait for it to expire by 6 months, use with Brew for Africa light brew blend, dry hop with Southern Aroma hops. Carbonate 2.5 volumes.

T'was one of those "what the hell let's just use this expired kit" brews ��

Vinegar recipe available on request. ��

LOL the cider wasn't THAT bad dude, just had that hint of to sour. The rest - man I love your fondness of brewing IPAs. I definitely have to do one as well.

On this brew - I completely too quickly couldn't hold it any longer and opened one this weekend (Friday evening, to be exact). I didn't expect it to be good, but I just had to get the idea on the brew.

To me it's more drinkable than Guinness, but still a long shot from a sweet stout. Chocolate hit is good and centre, with a subtle taste of coffee. It quicky subsides into the dry finish with a proper hoppy kick. It's VERY young so it will definitely need to stand a bit, but so far I'm happy.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

^ Cool

You should seriously put a few under lock for next winter.

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

^ Cool

You should seriously put a few under lock for next winter.

It's quite a "full" beer, so to speak, so it's not the type I'd drink daily and a lot, so I'm almost 100% certain there will be a case left for next winter anyway. Stouts apparently age well, so I hope this one does the same!

[The Flying Brew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Flying Brew]

I thought the same of a recent high abv I brewed. After a month, half of it is gone... So I suggest you start brewing the next very quickly

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

First pour on Friday evening. Head was a little less than I expected and it definitely needs to sit for a bit longer to carbonate:


Saturday afternoon already saw a bit better carbonation:


And a richer, thicker, creamier head closer to what I had hoped for:




On the flavour - I'm not entirely sure. It's an enjoyable stout to me, but I think I might have missed the mark slightly with the combination. I suspect the base I used is simply too dry and too hoppy to really let the chocolate shine, so I'm hoping it'll mellow out a bit to a smoother finish with time.

The nose is dark, dark chocolate with notes of malt, as you can expect with stouts. The taste is still quite dry, even with the lactose added, and quite hoppy. The chocolate is there, and coffee is in the background but this fades away leaving the hoppy finish with the detectable bittersweet liquorice. I actually forgot about the liquorice stick in the beer, and it produced a flavour I could not place until this weekend, but now that I know what it is I'm happy with it being there.

The finish is hoppy, and there's a dryer, lingering hop/chocolate finish. It's a good beer, and lekker chilled it is quite refreshing. It's just a bit too "raw" still, it really needs to sit in the bottles for a bit longer to mellow out. I want to get started with my next batch ASAP that will hopefully be an easier drinking beer off the bat. I need something light and simple in bottles, ASAP.

[Langchop Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Langchop]

I thought my feedback on this deserved a public forum rather than a WhatsApp. Coming from someone who is generally not that taken by stouts:

On opening, a good pop and rich chocolate aroma with some background coffee notes. Giving a slow inhale through the nostrils, got the chocolate notes upfront, then muted by the subtle but not overwhelming coffee. Further back in the nostrils it seems to read it as a more mellow cocoa aroma.

Medium carbonation and a good creamy frothy head of about 2cm with good retention and lacing as the stout (very quickly) went down.

Flavours very similar to the aromas above but more emphasis on the cocoa flavours without excessive sweetness of a chocolate taste. Well balanced with the coffee and roasted malts finish. Probably slightly less bitter than stouts would normally be, but in my mind, just perfect to balance the flavours and to make for enjoyable drinking. I didn't detect any of the liquorice you mentioned a year ago

Well done, you should definately try to replicate this some day. I understand why you were so chuffed with it, and thank you for sparing one of your precious last few of this batch for me.

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

Just got back from aegir project to try out Rory's new marshmellow stout. Yummoh! A bit sweet for my liking, but a delicious example of a dessert stout, 10/10 would recommend!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

I thought my feedback on this deserved a public forum rather than a WhatsApp. Coming from someone who is generally not that taken by stouts:

On opening, a good pop and rich chocolate aroma with some background coffee notes. Giving a slow inhale through the nostrils, got the chocolate notes upfront, then muted by the subtle but not overwhelming coffee. Further back in the nostrils it seems to read it as a more mellow cocoa aroma.

Medium carbonation and a good creamy frothy head of about 2cm with good retention and lacing as the stout (very quickly) went down.

Flavours very similar to the aromas above but more emphasis on the cocoa flavours without excessive sweetness of a chocolate taste. Well balanced with the coffee and roasted malts finish. Probably slightly less bitter than stouts would normally be, but in my mind, just perfect to balance the flavours and to make for enjoyable drinking. I didn't detect any of the liquorice you mentioned a year ago

Well done, you should definately try to replicate this some day. I understand why you were so chuffed with it, and thank you for sparing one of your precious last few of this batch for me.

Hey man thanks for this! I was worried I might have overhyped this one but I was so impressed with it I just couldn't help myself. Glad you liked it. I definitely need to replicate this one in the future. I'm a bit of a stout fan so I had high hopes for this (I remember how many stouts I just had to test before I made this one), so I was super happy with it.

As a PS: I had one of those Moerkoffie Condensed Milk stouts over the weekend. I only managed half, and the rest I dumped next to a tree. For some reason they advertise it as a "condensed milk" stout which is supposed to be sweet, but it's very dry with an overwhelming coffee, not stout, bitterness. Not for me.