Lavender Chocolate Stout

To celebrate Jacky’s upcoming birthday in September, and her momentary return from Mexico (one week out of a five month trip), I’ve started a Lavender Chocolate Stout.  I’ve been planning a beer with lavender for quite some time – the initial plan, and likely the next brew with Clint, was for a pale ale with lavender and lime – which makes this quite momentous for me.

I initially thought of doing a really strong imperial stout, 9-11% ABV, but revised this based on my ultimate decision to emphasize the lavender and chocolate flavors over alcohol.  And, of course, I simply didn’t have enough time to let a high alcohol beer develop well enough for an early September debut.  (The last joint brew with Clint, for example, a 13% barleywine, is still mellowing out 6 months later.)

So, since I had decided that ABV would not be a primary consideration, and because the lavender was largely an experiment (the information readily available online that I could find is nearly zilch), I decided to not risk anything with the base recipe.  As such, I started with a clone of Rogue’s Chocolate Stout (itself a delicious beer).  Cut in half for a 2.5 gallon batch, and with some tiny modifications, resulting in:

• 3 3/4 lb amber malt extract syrup
• 1/2 lb Crystal malt 80
• 1/4 lb Chocolate malt
• 1/4 lb Flaked oats
• 1/4 lb Roasted barley
• 2 oz Cascade hops (1/2 oz at 60 min, 1/2 oz at 15 min, and 1 oz at 5 min)
• White Labs WLP001 California Ale yeast
• 4 oz Ghirardelli ground chocolate and cocoa (at 30 min)
• 1/2 oz lavender, cut about a week prior (at 10 min)
• Irish moss and yeast nutrient

The smell of the wort right out of the boil is pretty amazing.  The chocolate and lavender seem very well balanced, with a good mix of sweetness and herbal spiciness.  It’s currently bubbling away, and will be racked to secondary in 5 days.  At that point I’ll decide whether or not to “dry hop” with more lavender.  More to come…