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Chocolate Stout

emirz

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I'm in the process of brewing a batch of chocolate stout.  I recently transferred from primary to secondary fermentation and added Godiva chocolate liqeur for the chocolate flavor but the liqeur is just floating at the top of the glass carboy.  Anyone have thoughts as to if this is normal or how can I mix?
 
Get one of these and use a cordless drill to stir it.  Be sure to flood the carboy with CO2 before stiring. Go slow so you don't splash you just want to get the beer moving to mix in the liqueur.

Did you put the liquer in first or second?  The usual approach is to put it in FIRST and then rack on top of it.  This usually works to mix it fairly well just as you rack. 
 
Thanks for the response.  We actually added the liquer first then added the beer, but the liquer floated to the top.  I'll try the cordless drill idea as you suggested. 
 
Ive been told that chocolate contains fat and or oils, not sure if your chocolate liqueur does but may be the cause for not wanting to mix, if after you try and mix, and it just beads up into tiny beads and then over time pools back together and settles back to the top this is probably the cause. I believe this it why coco nibs are used, as they contain no fats or oils.
 
You are correct that chocolate contains fats (cocoa butter).  But, cocao nibs are where the fat comes from.  So, they have it too.  As long as you don't put heat nibs (for example in the boil) the fats are (msotly) not extracted). 

I don't know if there is any fat in Chocolate Liquer (Kalua, etc).  But, I would kind of doubt it...as they could be at risk of going rancid and then render the drink NASTY!
 
I make a chocolate Raspberry imperial stout and with that strength it was initially hard to get both the flavor and aroma to come thru.  My LHBS pointed me to the fruit flavorings section where there is a chocolate extract specifically for brewing (LD Carson or Brewers best brand).

It is not cheap but is concentrated enough that a 4oz bottle is enough for a normal 5G batch.  If you put it in just before bottling/kegging, then mix gently, it will carry through very nicely to the final serving.

I have tried other methods like cocoa and nibs, but they tend to cloud the final product or the flavor is lost with whatever fining/filtering is done.

If you search the web, there are also several tutorials on making your own extract with nibs/cocoa and vodka to extract it.  The extract is filtered so there is no fat to worry about. There seems to be a sweet-spot in the vodka-water ratio used, so read up on a few sites before you try it.
 
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