Mocha Porter

I haven't had this in a beer, but the tasting sample served up at HomebrewCon was promising:
https://shop.brewcraftusa.com/en-cholaca

 

I like the Nielson-Massey products:

 

I would avoid using espresso and go for a cold brewed, non-fruity, medium roast as the espresso tends to add too much acidity. As for chocolate flavorings, the best I've found are the extracts from Amoretti (Oxnard, CA) for both flavor and aroma. They also make something similar to Cholaca (which I have on order but haven't tried yet) but I fear the cocoa from either product will either drop out or leave a very hazy beer. I should also note that I didn't find any extract flavor in their extracts even at elevated levels.

 

No lactose?

I use cocoa powder. The little bit of oil there kills the head tho.

FWIW

 

FWIW, if you add it to your mash, you won't have this issue.

 

Won't anything in the mash get at least partially left behind? I'd avoid that, you might as well just put it in the boil. If you do that, however, you'll boil off some of the aromatics, and lose head retention. If you're going to boil then, add it late. Personally I'd soak cocoa nibs in the cold brew and then add the whole thing at the end of primary. Keep in mind, the cocoa powder or nibs will drop out so you might have to wait a little longer to rack it. If you have an extract then you can test it in small samples until you figure out how much you need and add it before racking to bump any lost aroma or flavor. Don't skip the testing part and just figure it'll be OK, too little and then what was it worth, or too much that gives that extract flavor ruins it and then what was the point? Good luck.

 

I just brewed a porter and split off 2 gallons to try adding this in secondary. Still fermenting, will be adding this weekend.

 

Personally, I avoid extracts, just a personal flaw on my account.

My vote is for nibs, but you will have plenty with the chocolate malts. Second place is coco powder.

 

You'd think that, but it is, very often, not the case. Especially with spices. You do, however, have to use a little more to get the character that you want.

This is a good idea.

As is this.

 

Won't disagree, necessarily, but keep in mind that this means assuming you nail the right blend of coffee and cocoa flavors in your cold brew. adding them separately to the beer gives you a little more control, though the flavors in a porter, cocoa, and coffee may all be similar enough that it's not really worth worrying about that.

 

Go nibs! In secondary, mix of nibs and coffee beans.

 

obviously YMMV - but I have done 2 beers with coffee, and the one that was good was a Mocha Porter made with espresso shots, the one that was 'meh' was a stout made with cold-brew.

IMHO, the espresso brew (which also had lactose) had a fuller and well-rounded coffee flavour & a much more intense aroma. The cold-brew beer was a bit 'flat' and tasted more muddied / dirty. Obviously this is only 1 data point, and the beers compared weren't the same style/recipe/etc, but I was very happy with the espresso addition.