"Sugarman" Chocolate Stout

"Sugar man won't you hurry
Cause I'm tired of these scenes
For a blue coin won't you bring back
All those colors to my dreams"

The inspiration for this beer was a song by a fantastic singer-songwriter named Sixto Rodriguez. If you haven't seen the movie Searching for Sugar Man yet I would highly recommend it.

I decided to do a stout for my second homebrew to mix things up a little bit (I will likely make a lot of ales in the future). While listening to Sugar Man, it hit me... why not a chocolate stout?

Brewing a stout was a lot of fun. This is probably the closest I will ever get to making something that could be called a witches brew (see the photo below). The colors and smells that the grains impart are very satisfying.

Stouts use roasted grains to impart the dark, rich colors they typically boast. The roasting process causes two types of reactions to occur in the grains, Maillard reactions and caramelization. A Maillard reaction is the reaction between a sugar and an amino acid. These reactions produce compounds that are dark and have a toasty flavors (guess what else is the product of Maillard reactions!  yes, that is toast... I wonder where the toasty flavors in toast come from???).

Caramelization occurs when a sugar decomposes, releasing gases and leaving behind more carbon-rich residues. This process is called pyrolysis. Burning wood is a good example of pyrolysis. A common misconception about burning wood is that the fire is coming from the wood, itself. In fact, the fire resides just above the wood. The heat created by the fire causes the wood to decompose into ash (mostly carbon) and volatile compounds that react with oxygen (burn), releasing heat and sustaining this process. Caramelization also lends to the flavor profile of many beers (specifically some types of Belgians), but to a lesser extent than Maillard reactions for the case of most stouts.

The roasted grains (crystal 60, roasted barley, and chocolate malt to be exact) were used in conjunction with dry malt extract to make up the total grain bill. The roasted grains are expected to dominate the flavor profile, with the malt extract lending to the body and providing a large food source for the fermentation process.

The hop additions for this brew didn't lend quite as strong a smell as the last beer I made (see links here and here), but they did make the wort look awesome (photo below). Hop flavor is secondary in most stouts, and I don't intend that the hop flavor will dominate in this beer.

I pitched the yeast and put the beer to rest in the bathtub. Here is what the beer looked like after just a few hours.

Such a rapid vigorous fermentation should have been a warning to me, but I did not heed it. Here's what I saw when I woke up the next morning and went to check on the beer.

It was even messier than it looks. Beer had sprayed all over the walls, which was not fun to clean up, but not to worry, this was nothing a little Windex couldn't solve. Oh, that and a blow-off hose.

The beer has calmed down now. I will transfer it to the secondary fermenter tomorrow.

For those interested, here's the recipe:

Recipe Name:         "Sugarman" Chocolate Stout

Recipe Volume:      5 gallons

Yeast:                     White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale

Malt:	Amount	Gravity Points
1. Pale malt extract (DME) in boil	3.3 lbs.	42
2. Pale malt extract (DME) at knockout	3.3 lbs.	42
3. Crystal 60 malt	0.5 lb.	3
4. Roasted barley	0.5 lb.	4
5. Chocolate malt	0.5 lb.	3

Calculated Original Gravity            1.063
Caclulated Boil Gravity                   1.044
Measured Original Gravity             1.068

Hops:	Amount	Boil Time	IBUs
1. Nugget (13.3%)	0.75 oz.	60	37
2. Fuggle (4.5%)	1 oz.	30	13

Calculated IBUs          49

Procedure
- Heat 1 gallon of water to 150-160 F, add Crystal 60, roasted barley, and chocolate malt. Steep for 30 minutes (maintaining temperature is not vital in this stage). Remove grain bag and let drain.
- Add 3 gallons of water, bring to a boil, then turn off heat and stir in 3.3 lbs. DME
- Return to boil and add 0.75 oz. Nugget hops
- Boil 30 minutes, and then add 1 oz. Fuggle hops
- Boil 15 minutes, and then add 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
- Boil 15 minutes, then add 3.3 lbs. extract, let sit 10 minutes to pasteurize
- Add 1.5 gallons chilled sterilized water
- Chill wort to 75 F in ice water bath
- Add wort to fermenter
- Pitch yeast