I tried brewing a chocolate stout and ended up with a grain bill that was too high of a percentage of chocolate malts. My grain bill was 19lb and about 25% was a mix of pale chocolate and flaked chocolate. Rookie mistake, I’ll admit. The beer is 2 weeks into fermentation and it definitely has a great dark chocolate roasted flavor but I think it is a little tart due to what I assume is a pH that was/is too low. pH is something I haven’t gotten much into testing. The tart character is not totally awful but definitely noticeable. Are there any strategies to mask that flavor? I currently have vanilla beans and cacao nibs soaking in a bit of bourbon in hopes that would work. My recipe had a lb of lactose which is already in there. I’d rather not brew another beer with less chocolate malt to combine if I don’t have to. Thoughts?
Take every batch all the way thru bottling or kegging. THEN decide. If it’s not a major issue now, then you’ll probably be fine. RDWHAHB. FWIW
There are times when it makes sense to course-correct, but a lot of the time I think it's better to take @Bryan12345's advice. What you describe as a "tart character" could just be acetaldehyde, which will age out, or it could be your mind looking for flaws because you've decided your recipe was flawed. (By the way, it doesn't sound that flawed to me, but I admit it depends a little on the answer to @GreenKrusty101's question.) If this were my beer, I would let it ride and revisit my view of the beer after it has been packaged for a few weeks or months (stouts tend to age pretty well). The cocoa nibs and vanilla sound pretty good, so I'm not necessarily advising against adding them. But I wouldn't expect them to address any tartness, I would expect them to do their own thing.
I’m sorry...I meant pale chocolate and chocolate wheat. I had flaked wheat on the brain. OG: 1.082 current: 1.026. Supposed to be closer to 1.020 for fg but I don’t know if mashing at 155 and the lactose will keep it higher. I definitely understand the RDWHAHB mentality but I also don’t want to be chasing it with the vanilla and cacao after the fact, if that would even help. The flavor that is coming across is almost like the dark fruit aspect of some stouts but it’s just a little more...sour? The batch isn’t infected so I don’t like using that word. Not a green apple flavor though.
The above Brewers responses are perfect. Finish it off, keep notes, make it different next time if you want changes. Brew on.
I thought about calcium carbonate for pH adjustment but I believe it has poor solubility so I wasn’t going to the route. Baking soda might help but I’m just hesitant to add salts post fermentation. I’ll do some research though
I have added baking soda to beers that finished a little sharp to taste. Pour a measured amount to a glass. Add a small measured amount of baking soda, stir it in, adjust addition to taste, scale up your preference for the full batch.
1.026 just sounds like you should ignore it for another couple weeks and let the yeast finish up. Dark fruit flavor sounds like you have some malt character coming through that you weren't expecting. It's still young at two weeks, and it's still got some sweetness left to ferment out, if you decide that's what you want. What's on your grain bill? DId you do water treatment before hand?
Grain bill was primarily golden promise (12lb) with pale chocolate & chocolate wheat (~4.5ish lb total) , 8 oz black patent, lb of oats, and a bit of C90 and C120 (0.5lb each IIRC) . Total bill was 19lb Water was 150ppm Chloride (from CaCl) and 50ppm So4 ( from gypsum) Also should I wait the few weeks before adding the adjuncts?
I would say let it age. Either by bottle aging or just a longer secondary. I made a Belgian dark strong ale and when I put it in secondary, I couldn't drink the SG sample I took as it was WAY to tart/sour for me ( I hate sour beer). But after a couple months in secondary it was awesome. Give it time.
Wait at least 1 week, take hydrometer reading, if it's done. Taste hydrometer sample, add adjuncts if you think it needs it.
There is a great RIS recipe in Gordon Strong’s Modern Homebrew Recipes book based on Weasel Boy Brewing’s Anastasia Stout that uses 9% Pale Choc and 9% Roasted Barley for a total of 18% dark grains. I have brewed it and it was very coffee forward to my taste even though there was no coffee in it but it was fantastic. So, like others have said, wait and see.
A pound of caramel malts in that range is definitely going to give you some dark fruit flavors. As others have said, let it ride a little longer.
