While chocolate and strawberries might make you think of Valentine's day, this delicious stout is perfect for any time of year. It's a creamy dessert beer (that isn't too sweet) with notes of roasted cacao and a hint of strawberry. This one's so good we brought Rachael back to brew it up with us! Best served on a bearskin rug. Enjoy!

Check out the video:

This recipe is for a 5 gallon batch. It is tailored for our 10 gallon 240 volt brewing system. Watch us use it in the video below.

Benchmarks

• SG: 1.063
• FG: 1.012
• ABV: 6.69%

Ingredients Needed 

Grains

• 10 lbs 8 oz Pale Malt
• 1 lb 8 oz Flaked Oats
• 8 oz Chocolate Malt
• 8 oz Chocolate Rye Malt
• 8 oz Crystal, Extra Dark

Hops

• 1 oz Magnum Hops

Yeast

• Dry English Ale Yeast (WLP 007)

Other:

• 4 oz Cacao Nibs
• 8 oz Lactose
• Strawberry Fruit Puree (49 oz, Oregon)
• Campden Tablet
• Whirlfloc Tablet

Brew Day Instructions

Water

Fill your kettle with 8.16 gallons of water. Add a campden tablet to remove chlorine.

Mash

Finely crush your grain. Heat your water to 156F. This recipe calls for a 60 minute mash. Optional: Do a 10 minute mash out at 168F.

Hops

Once your mash is done, pull your grains, hook them above your kettle, and let them drain. While you’re waiting for your grains to drain, set your controller to 100% power to start a boil.

This recipe calls for a 60 minute boil. Add the following ingredients to the boil.

• 60 minutes - 1 oz Magnum Hops
• 15 minutes - Whirlfloc Tablet
• Flameout - 8 oz Lactose / 4 oz Cacao Nibs

Yeast and Fermentation

Once you've added all your hops, chill your wort to 68F, transfer to a fermenter, and pitch one pack of Dry English Ale Yeast (WLP 007). 

After the yeast, add 49 oz of strawberry puree to the fermenter. Ferment at 68F for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, we recommend that you bottle or keg the beer and let it age for at least 30 days.

Tasting

This is a deliciously rich dessert beer. The darker malts really come through, along with the roasted chocolate notes and a hint of strawberry. None of the aspects overshadow the others, and it makes for a complex but not overwhelming stout. 

It's a great beer for any time of year, but we definitely recommend brewing this one up for Valentine's day. Cheers!

We served this beer on nitro, which results in a creamier taste. Learn how to serve your own beer on nitro by reading this article.

If you like this recipe you'll also like:

• Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Stout
• Russian Imperial Stout
• Toasted Marshmallow Milk Stout
• Snakebite: Cider & Stout
• Irish Red Ale