Chocolate Coffee Milk Stout

This is my latest batch. In fact, I just opened the first bottle yesterday. A friend of mine and his girlfriend gave me some grains and lactose for Christmas with the hope that I would make a stout. I had to collect the rest of the materials (malts, yeast, hops) on my own because they wanted to plant the idea, not tell me how to do it. I really appreciated that. This is my own creation that I put together from several different recipes.

Anyway, this beer turned out nicely. I'll have to play with it in the future, but it's not bad for a first attempt. Hopefully, they only get better the longer they sit in the bottles. It has a nice smooth texture, and tastes pretty much the way a stout should. It has a nice bitter punch (but not too bitter) up front, but it actually doesn't have a terribly bitter aftertaste that a lot of people complain about with  stouts. My first complaint was that although I added actual chocolate and coffee to the brew, I couldn't really taste them. As I continued drinking it, however, I noticed that these flavors were present as an aftertaste, which was actually very nice. I am not completely satisfied, but that in no way means I won't try again. Also, I am probably my own worst critic, since I made the beer. My wife, who doesn't like stouts at all, says that this wasn't too bad. The true test will come tonight: we're having a group of friends over for dinner tonight, and I usually try out my new creations on them. They love beer just as much as do and will tell me whether or not this is any good. I also can't wait for my friends who planted the seed to come over so they can try it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound Coffee Malt
• 1/2 pound Chocolate Malt
• 1/2 pound Crystal Malt (40 L)
• 1/4 pound Roasted Barley
• 6.6 pounds Dark Malt Extract
• 1 ounce Fuggles Hops (bittering)
• 1 ounce Tettnanger Hops (aroma)
• English Ale Yeast
• 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa 
• 1/2 cup good quality ground coffee
• 1/2 pound Lactose
• 1 1/4 cup dry Dark Malt Extract (for priming)

Instructions:

• Steep grains and barley at 150F for about an hour.
• Stir in extract. Bring to a boil for one hour.
• At 60 minutes (beginning of boil), put in Fuggles Hops.
• At 15 minutes, put in Tettnanger Hops.
• Stir in the cocoa at 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat after one hour.
• Once the wort has cooled a little, steep the coffee for 15 minutes.
• Pour into primary and pitch yeast.
• Primary for 7-10 days.
• Boil Lactose in 1 1/2 cups of water for several minutes and pour into secondary. Transfer beer to the secondary.
• Secondary for 7-10 days.
• Boil dry dark malt extract in 1 1/2 - 2 cups of water. Pour into bottling bucket. Transfer beer to bottling bucket and bottle the beer.
• Let stand in bottles for 10-14 days.

There are a few things I want to try differently next time. The local brew store did not have Irish Ale Yeast, so I settled for English, but I would like to get my hands on Irish Ale Yeast before I make this batch again. Also, I forgot to put the lactose in the boil at the last 15-20 minutes, so I put it in at the secondary process. I might try putting it in during the boil next time. A lot of recipes I have read say to put the lactose in with the priming sugar during the bottling process. I'm not sure what this would accomplish since lactose is not a fermentable sugar, and you're only adding it for flavor. Also, I think I might try adding a full cup of cocoa next time, and maybe some more coffee, even. I really want these flavors to be present in the beer, but not overpowering, so it will be a balancing act. I can't wait to try it again!

OG: 1.058
FG: 1.038
ABV: 3%

Until Next Time,
RHSC