1800 mil starter
dissolve cocoa powder with 5 oz corn sugar
in 1 qt hot water to make syrup.Add syrup
45 minutes into the boil.
2-3 vanilla beans soaked for a week
in rum added to secondary.
This beer finished at 1.020 due to the
unfermentables and high mash temp.
The F.G was 5.0 a bit lower than
expected.Efficiency was way off.
In my 14 years of brewing this is my
personal favorite beer.
Head retention and lacing last to the
bottom of the glass.
Batch #2 finished at 1.015 and shows
in final ABV.This is where I want this
beer to finish,it is more to the style.
Brewhouse efficiency was around 62% in first batch.Batch #2 was 73% which is
about right for my system.
ABV 5.70 nice winter beer with some
alcohol warmth.First batch was thin.
Chewy,nice chocolate-coffee flavors
with a touch of vanilla.
Ive made 4 batchs of this and found
that this last batch from 1-2-14 has hit
its peak after 4 months.<br />
The longer it ages the better it gets.<br />
<br />
Batch 3 and 4 I made this year (2014)<br />
Jan. and April.Ive got it dialed in
at 5.70 ABV and recipe is solid at 70%
efficiency.If you try this recipe I hope
you have good luck with it.The rum and vanilla beans are what make this standout
for the final taste and richness.I would
recommend to age at least 2 months.
Great Holiday brew - enjoy-
