Chocolate Raspberry Milk Stout -- secondary options?

I've only ever used Oregon fruit purees and never raspberry, so I can't really comment on the amount of fruit. I can say, if you're worried about infection, I still wouldn't boil, just pasteurize. It's lower temperature for a longer period of time, but maintains more of the original flavor and aroma. I think 145F for 30 minutes, but don't quote me on that. It doesn't kill quite as much as boiling, but kills most things we're worried about.

For the cocoa, I seem to be a very small minority, but I prefer cocoa powder. I don't know if people just don't think about it or what. I've made a mint chocolate porter three times now, doing the same thing each time. I took a little extra runnings, brought it to a boil in a separate pot, killed the heat, added the cocoa to that, stirred, covered and let cool while I did the rest of brewday. I do this to pasteurize it. (It's overkill for pasteurization temp and time wise, but it's easy and cool by the time I need it again) Then I put the sludge in the carboy before the wort and rack the wort on to of the sludge. I use 0.5 lb per 5 gallons (one normal cocoa powder container). I've found that for my beer, two weeks on the cocoa powder gives the perfect amount of chocolate flavor. It's a noticeable chocolate flavor, but not overpowering. I I've had no problems with it in primary. I still get healthy and complete fermentation.

I prefer the cocoa powder because there is basically no variation. With nibs, there's variation between them. I know that every time I brew my mint chocolate porter, two weeks on the powder at 0.5 lb/5 gallons will get me exactly the flavor I'm looking for. Makes it super simple.

 

I have never used fruit or chocolate in my beers, so take this for what it is worth (and hope some others reply as well).

Don't boil the raspberries, you can freeze them (which will help break them up) and then add to your secondary and rack your beer on top. You don't need to worry about an infection, if you are really worried, give them a spray of starsan.

One issue with Cocoa nibs is the fat in them will hurt your head retention, but lots of people seem to like them. You could soak them in vodka (make a tincture) and then add that at bottling time so you end up with the right amount of chocolate flavor.

good luck

 

used coco nibs often. 4 oz is fine for 5 gal more will give a stronger flavor. I like coarse grinding them before use as well as soaking them in vodka for a few days, then dump the whole mix in. Just fruiting my first beer so others will be more informed on fruit amount. Sounds like a tasty brew.

 

Lots of good advice here so far. I've brewed with raspberries before and have had great success. Most recently, I added 3 lbs to a 5 gallon batch of hard cider. The raspberry character definitely came through... perhaps a bit too much. When brewing this again I'll likely back off to 2-2.5 lbs. That said, cider and milk stout are radically different bases. It may take some experimentation to figure out exactly how much you want.

As people have already mentioned, avoid boiling your fruit. You're trying to avoid letting the pectin in the fruit set. Negative consequences of this include undesirable haze in your beer, or on the extreme end can make your beer quite viscous/jammy. Instead, I'd recommend one of these routes:
1. Freeze your fruit. As @wspscott mentioned, this not only sanitizes your fruit, but it helps to break it down. The ice crystals that form in and around your raspberries will actually rupture cell walls and really help with extraction.
2. If you're in a hurry and can't wait for freezing, heat your fruit mash/puree to about 150F and hold it there for 30 minutes. Add pectic enzyme (available at homebrew supply shops) to break down any pectin that sets.

I've also seen people recommend spraying fruit with Star San or soaking it in vodka. Personally, I recommend going the freezing route, but there are clearly plenty of options that will work.

 

Everything I have read suggests that most "nasties" will not survive long in beer because of the low pH and the alcohol, so adding fruit to the secondary is pretty safe since the yeast has done its work already. If you are really worried, spray with starsan before you freeze the berries, that should get most everything. Then the combination of the freezer and the beer should get the rest.

 

Mix your 5 gallon batch with one bottle of Big Lushious.

Should be more than enough raspberry

 

What were your grain bill, mash temp, yeast strain, and OG?

 

No lactose?

 

Brewcipher is showing this should attenuate to around 1.021, but I could see 1.028 being realistic if this took 3 days to kick off fermentation. Sounds like the yeast may not have been the happiest with the conditions.

Instead of taking gravity readings after 7 and 14 days, make it 11 and 14. If they're the same, you're probably safe to bottle.

edit: Missed this post:

Eh, might not be a terrible idea. It will either help finish the beer or do nothing, but I can't imagine it hurts anything though. US05 does attenuate a bit better than Cali V, so I'd expect you'll drop a few points if you go that route. The sugars in the berries will also help dry the beer out.

 

Actually, warmer temps are great for the yeast, but bad for potential off flavors. It's very possible that your beer is done at 1.028, which is why I said adding dry yeast *may* do nothing.

 

Sounds like you're on your way to a successful batch either way then!