Stouts cop a lot of hate for their black and burnt flavours, with some people so put off from the get-go they won’t even try a dark beer. But those roasted and chocolate characters can be so delicious if done right, so let’s brew a smooth and rich chocolate plum stout to show them what they’re missing!
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Back when I was working for a brewery, on my tasting afternoons in bottle shops I would try and get as many people as I could to try our oatmeal stout. This beer was so smooth and velvety on the palate. The rich, usually burnt flavours or the roasted barley and black patent malt were mellowed beautifully by the oats and it made for the most luxuriously smooth chocolate beer. The amount of people whose eyes opened wide while they took their first sip was amazing. My catch line was “do you like chocolate? If so, you’ll probably love this beer”. It always worked a treat.
I love a stout: rich, complex, bold and roasty. Brewing one right is a great achievement as they can very easily be overdone and hard to drink. I like to start out with a straightforward recipe – and the key here is to get the water right for the style as with most beers, and then to let the beer mature and let all those harsh tones mellow out over time.
Brew day
This is an old recipe of mine that I first brewed many years ago when I first started brewing. I was initially skeptical at the addition of plum jam, but it really was/is a ripper.
It’s a pretty basic stout recipe with plenty of dark grains, some less roasted ones and oats to help mellow it out. But the plum jam is the star here. You could use any jam or conserve but raspberry also goes very well in this recipe.
Firstly, adjust your water to London specs and get some good quality London Ale yeast or your favourite yeast. Belgian ale yeast can work too if you want to add some bubblegum and peppery characters. Make sure you look after your yeast and remember to aerate or oxygenate to get the wee beasties off to the best start in their (very short) life!
This is the perfect dessert beer, so get some warm chocolate brownies and fudge sauce ready.
Mashing in music should be either The Darkness with Black Shuck, Spiderbait with Black Betty, or the ultimate black song – Venom with Black Metal! Now go brew!
Jake’s Chocolate Plum Stout
All grain recipe (expected figures)
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.013
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 36
Volume: 19 litres
Ingredients
3.25kg Marris Otter malt
1.25kg Munich malt
250g Crystal (60L) malt
250g Chocolate malt
200g Flaked oats
150g Black patent malt
40g EKG hop pellets
40g Northdown hop pellets
500g Plum jam
3tbsp Cocoa powder
London ale yeast
Method
- Mash all grains at 67°C for 60 minutes.
- Sparge and transfer to kettle, and bring to boil.
- Once boiling add 40g EKG hops for a 60 minute boil.
- With 10 minutes left on the boil, add 40g of Northdown hops.
- At 60 minutes, flameout, add plum jam and cocoa powder, then whirlpool.
- Transfer to the fermenter and cool to 18°C, then pitch yeast.
- Maintain ferment temp at 18 to 20°C.
- Once FG stabilises, keg or bottle condition.
- Give this beer a little while to mature and let the malts mellow.
Extract with specialty grains recipe (expected figures)
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.013
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 36
Volume: 19 litres
Ingredients
2.275kg Pale malt extract (Maris Otter if you can get it)
875g Munich malt extract
250g Crystal (60L) malt
250g Chocolate malt
200g Flaked oats
150g Black patent malt
40g EKG hop pellets
40g Northdown hop pellets
500g Plum jam
3tbsp Cocoa powder
London ale yeast
Method
- Steep cracked grains in 5 litres of 67°C water for 30 minutes, then drain.
- Slowly dissolve the extract in 5 litres of water along with the 5 litres of wort from mini mash whilst bringing to the boil.
- Once boiling add 40g EKG hops for a 60 minute boil.
- With 10 minutes left on the boil, add 40g Northdown hops.
- At 60 minutes, flameout, add plum jam and cocoa powder, then whirlpool.
- Add fresh clean cool water to a volume of 17 litres, checking the temperature.
- Top up with fresh warm or cool water to hit 19 litres at 18°C.
- Transfer to the fermenter, check the temperature then pitch yeast.
- Maintain ferment temp at 18 to 20°C.
- Give this beer a little while to mature and let the malts mellow.
This recipe appeared in a previous issue of Beer & Brewer. To access multiple recipes every issue, from pros and homebrewers alike, subscribe to our magazine here.
