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Chocolate eruption!

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I am also interested to know about any progress on this batch. I think it is very commendable of you to make a batch like this in a way that would be easy for newbies to recreate!

As far as chocolate flavor goes, I recently made a batch of beer with cacao powder and was surprised by how much the flavor hid in the background. It really does not stand out so much in alcoholic beverages as you might think.

In the future I would like to try a chocolate mead, perhaps based on your recipe!
 
Day 118
gravity 1.013

I had racked this at the time of my last posting and I topped up with water (which is probably why the gravity is a bit low). Since that time it has cleared quite a bit forming a layer of fine lees on the bottom, and a layer of chocolate particles on the top. You can read through the mead in the middle, though I think there is more clearing that will occur.

It is a dark golden color in the glass and clear. On the nose there is some honey and orange along with alcohol, though the honey is muted. The aroma of the chocolate is there, but it doesn't come out distinctly as chocolate. It is lightly sweet on the attack with an orange flavor and some bitterness (not unpleasant) in the mid-palate and finish. There is a chocolate flavor that is indistinct but present and which adds to that bitterness in addition to the usual orange "pithiness."

It is drinkable now, but I think it may get better and smoother with more age. Given the extra bitterness that chocolate adds, I think it might do well with a little more sweetness, and starting with 3.75 pounds of honey might turn out a little better so that it would be a bit sweeter after being topped up with water. Alternatively, not topping up with water might leave it sweet enough.

I'd like to taste it done with twice as much chocolate to see if that brings the chocolate out more clearly. As for the baker's chocolate, I don't think it adds any advantage. When melted and mixed in it forms clumps and particles that still take a long time to clear, and which float. I think cocoa powder works about the same.

I'll taste it again in a few months.
 
Now that you have posted your results so far I am going to make up a Mud v1.2. Based on the previous batch and what you have found out with yours there are a couple changes I am going to be making. I will be switching out the cinnamon and clove in the JAO recipe with vanilla extract as you have done.

The other change is going to be with the chocolate. I am still debating whether to up the amount I used, or switching to either homemade syrup (all the commercial brands I have seen are loaded with sorbates) or a homemade hot fudge sauce that doesn't involve milk.
 
You know, a little cinnamon works wonders in hot chocolate (I use it all the time), and that might not be a bad thing to include now that you make me think about it.

Because this is kind of just an experiment, I decided that rather than do the prudent, tried and true, GotMead certified thing (i.e. wait and let it age) instead, I would mess with it. :)

I added another 1/4 pound of honey to sweeten it up.
I also added 5 ounces of bakers chocolate.

The chocolate comes in cubes that break in half making them easy to push through the opening of the jug. I didn't melt them - figured that would just leave a lot of chocolate floating around needing to clear. I just pushed them in and let them sink to the bottom. They work like glass beads raising the level of the mead up so that topping up wasn't needed. I'm hoping they may function somewhat like cocoa nibs and just sit there slowly releasing some chocolate flavor over the next few months.

I'll report back if it becomes more "chocolaty". If it becomes too chocolaty, well.... you really can't get too chocolaty for me. ;D
 
Because this is kind of just an experiment, I decided that rather than do the prudent, tried and true, GotMead certified thing (i.e. wait and let it age) instead, I would mess with it.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha! I know the feeling. Sometimes, spontaneouly wanting to fling open the kitchen cupboards and sprinkle in random stuff!

I can't wait till I have an open carboy.

As far as sub-threshold chocolate flavors, it is kind of nice to have subtle flavor hints that are not so in-your-face and obvious. It can be a very interesting drink. Then it is fun to give it to others and see what they taste when you don't tell them what is in it. (this part is always so surprising to me!!! People taste, or imagine, such diverse things)
 
13 Months
gravity 1.024

I racked this yesterday, and then bottled it. It had cleared nicely however there is a layer of chocolate powdery bits floating on/near the surface and there were the chunks of baker's chocolate with sediment in the bottom. I racked above the chunks down until just below the level of the floating chocolate. All the chocolate means you have a lot of losses due to the particulate matter when you rack. When you make a chocolate batch, plan on this and make it larger to allow you leave more behind.

It is a nice reddish/orange color, and has chocolate, and alcohol on the nose, with a bit of orange in the background. Were I making this again (or tweaking it further) I'd add some orange zest to bring the orange aroma up.

It is somewhat sweet on the attack, and in the mid palate there is prominent alcohol, and the taste of chocolate which is not fully balanced by the sweetness. It tastes somewhat like a semi-sweet, dark chocolate. There is some alcohol and some orange in the finish. I think I would prefer this if it were a bit sweeter. The large amount of chocolate leaves some bitterness and the residual sugar at 1.024 may not be enough. I think if it were 10 points higher I might like it better, so to start this recipe, I think you need a bit more than 3.75 pounds of honey.

I decided to go ahead and bottle it as is. It is drinkable, but I'm hoping that more age will smooth out the alcohol, and round out the rough edges here.

The Baker's chocolate squares did work to give it more chocolate flavor, but they are a real pain to get out of the jug. I don't think I'll use them in the future. I think using cocoa powder or nibs would be easier - though with the powder, you might need to cut back as the increased surface area would give more flavor impact.
 
22 Months
Sent in to the Mazer Cup International competition in the open category.

It received scores of 30 and 33 out of 50.

Comments included:
Bouquet - Full chocolate/light citrus or Sweet orange with hint of chocolate depending on which judge. "cocoa powdery"
Color - Tawny, dull/hazy, orange-amber
Flavor - Chocolate and orange, sweet, with cocoa powder aftertaste that is a tannic/bitter. Some solvent notes. Alcohol is hot. Some sherry character. Honey is masked.

I haven't tasted this lately to compare with the judge's findings, but I think that as I described before, I would like this better if it were a little sweeter. I think that might cure bitterness,cocoa powder character, hot alcohol and other shortcomings here. The sherry notes and question about my aging practices raised by the judges (in some other batches as well) certainly highlight the effect of the crappy storage conditions here at the Fusel Shack!

For a dry batch, using less cocoa would be in order, though apparently the chocolate threshold varies. What one person pick up as strong, someone else finds mild. Since I seem to be one that requires of lot of chocolate for it to make a significant impact, my group-brew project is probably going to be a chocolate bomb.

One particularly helpful comment here was the haze/sediment issue. For my chocolate group brew batch, I think this means that fining will be required to have it clear. I wasn't sure if I would fine it or not, but seeing this convinces me that fining will be needed.
 
I'm trying to remember, I might have actually been at the table for this one. I'm not sure, I don't remember it being orange on top of chocolate though, just the judges making comments about the haze possibly being due to using cocoa powder.

Just looking at my own cocoa batch, I don't have high hopes for it clearing on it's own in anything resembling a reasonable period of time (years) so some fining may be in order.
 
I fined my chocolate batch, and it is nice and clear now. I don't think I lost any flavor either.
 
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