So I'm thinking about a pale beer to which I would add cocoa powder (maybe near the end of the boil) to get a chocolate flavor (without much color). I'd prefer not to use nibs (dry nibbing) because I have had some head retention issues due to their massive fat content. Questions: Anyone ever done this in a pale beer? How much powder did you use and how would you rate the strength/quality of the chocolate flavor? Part of me is thinking that I should use more cocoa than I would with, say, a Porter, because I'm not building on a backbone that already has chocolate notes.
I would consider using ancho chillies. They are dried out poblano peppers, which are what give mexican mole sauce its chocolate flavor. They can add a chocolate character to your beer without browning the srm. While I haven't used them in the boil myself, I have made a neutral spirit tincture with them and added it directly to the keg. Chocolate bomb!
I've had good luck with 4-6 oz of cocoa powder in the fermentor. Just rehydrate it with some hot water to form a paste first, then rack the beer onto it. I could see using more chocolate for a pale beer, but you also don't want to overwhelm the base. Start normal, you can always add more if it needs it. I recently did a coffee blonde and enjoyed the result. I'd suggest using a characterful base malt, say Maris Otter to play with the chocolate.
You can add it to primary after fermentation is complete, I just find it easier to mix the hot water and cocoa powder in an empty vessel and then transfer the fermented beer onto it. You can mix them first and then add them to the primary if that makes more sense for you.
Mexican mole sauce typically has actual chocolate in it, and I would imagine that this is what gives it it's chocolate flavor. As to the OP, I've never used chocolate in any form in a pale beer but Dogfish Head Theobroma comes to mind and I do like the subtle effect that it has in that beer.
This sounds like a great idea. What is the flavor profile of the base beer? You say pale, but are you talking pale ale or something like a tripel? I have no actual advice to give but that ancho idea sounds fantastic. If you seed and stem them, they really shouldn't add too much heat, either.
Many moles have chocolate, but many don't. Anchos are crazy delicious, and can impart a chocolate flavor much in the way as chocolate malt can -- a chocolatey essence despite no actual cocoa.
Perhaps, regardless though, if the goal is to add chocolate flavor to the beer, then why add chilies that may give "a chocolatey essence" rather than just adding actual chocolate? It does't seem logical to me.
I've never used cocoa in a pale beer. I''ve been sipping on an oaked cream ale, and I shit you not, it tastes like a vanilla milkshake. I may fill a growler with nibs this weekend. You have my interest!
