From The Homebrewer’s Companion by Charlie Papazian
First of all, I must confess: I cannot take credit for this sensuously creative and wonderfully balanced beer. I didn’t brew it. But I watched it being brewed. I took care of it a little bit. I bottled it. But my brewing pal Tracy, inspired by her love of chocolate, waved the charismatic wooden spoon and created something that would endear itself to any chocolate lover: a chocolate-flavored porter.
Careful to take into consideration the bitterness of one pound of Baker’s chocolate (unsweetened), the formulation compensates by adding a moderate amount of hops for bittering and using a not ordinary amount of crystal malt and a dose of wheat malt. The caramel-like sweetness of crystal and the maltiness of wheat malt enhance the chocolate.
The results filled the kitchen with the aroma of chocolate brown ies baking in the oven. Five weeks later I had in hand a chilled mug of deep, velvety, rich chocolate porter. Slanting Annie’s Porter, that is.
Slanting Annie? Oh yes, she’s a legendary character out of the old West from the small town of Creede, Colorado. One leg was shorter than the other, but she sure could deal a deck of cards. Or so the story goes.
Ingredients for 5 gallons (19 1.)
1 3/4 lbs. (0.8 kg) pale malted barley
2 1/4 lbs. (1 kg) crystal/caramel malt
2 1/4 lbs. (1 kg) wheat malt
1/3 lb. (0.15 kg) black roasted malt
1/3 Ib. (0.15 kg) chocolate roasted malt
3 lbs. (1.4 kg.) light dried malt extract
12 oz. (0.34 kg.) unsweetened Baker’s chocolate*
1 1/4 oz. (35.5 g.) Williamette hops (boiling): 7 HBU
1/2 oz. (14.2 g.) Williamette hops (flavor): 3 HBU
1/2 oz. (14.2 g.) Williamette hops (aroma)
1/4 tsp. (1 g.) powdered Irish moss
Ale yeast
3/4 c. (178 ml.) corn sugar or 1 1/4 c. (296 ml.) dried malt extract (for bottling)
BUS: 26
Color: >30
OG: 1.063-1.067 (16-17)
FG: 1.019-1.023 (5-6)
Using a protein-developing step mash, add 1 gallon (3.8 1.) of 130-degree F (54.4 C) water to the crushed malt. Stabilize at 122 degrees F (50 C) and hold for 30 minutes. Then add 2 gallons (7.6 1.) of boiling water. Stabilize at 154 to 157 degrees F (67.8-69.4 C) and hold for 60 minutes. Add heat and mash out to 165 degrees F (74 C).
Sparge with about 3 to 3.5 gallons (11.4-13.3 1.) of 170-degree F (77 C) water. Add more water (do not oversparge) to brewpot to make an initial extract volume of 6 gallons (22.8 1.). Anticipate evaporation of about gallon (3.8 1.).
Prepare the chocolate by microwaving it in a saucer. This will soften the chocolate, making it easier to dissolve in the boil. Add the softened chocolate, malt extract and boiling hops and boil for 75 minutes. Then add flavor hops and Irish moss and boil for an addi tional 15 minutes. Total boiling time is 90 minutes. Turn off heat. Add aroma hops and let steep for 2 to 3 minutes before removing hops and chilling the hot wort. Pitch the yeast when cool. During the primary fermentation you will notice very little if any kraeusen (those mounds of fermentation foam). You will also note globs of ugly cocoa butter floating on the surface. The cocoa butter has congealed, resulting in an oily surface that inhibits bubble formation. Don’t worry. After about five or seven days of primary fermentation, transfer the fermentation to a secondary fermenter, siphoning naturally, below the surface of the beer. Let the brew sit in the secondary until fermentation has stopped and signs of clearing appear.
Bottle when fermentation is complete. When bottling, you will have siphoned a second time into your bottling vessel and a third time into your bottles, effectively siphoning oil-free beer from under the floating cocoa butter slick. Slanting Annie’s Chocolate Porter will have a wonderful thick head, the rich aroma of chocolate, the subtle charm of hop flowers and the taste of porter-a wonderful porter.
* You might substitute 3 level tablespoons of Baker’s cocoa (powder) for each ounce of Baker’s chocolate to avoid the concern about cocoa butter
