Such a delight to discover a widely used Mexican herb, hoja santa or Mexican pepperleaf, that has nearly the same taste as sassafras! It helps me bridge the cultural gap between Pennsylvania, where I brewed this, and Oaxaca, whose mole negro recipe inspired this twist on chocolate stout.
My tasting notes at bottling: Delcious, but sassafras taste is way more dominant than it would have been in the mole sauce that inspired the spice and fruit/veg blend. Also, being a cowardly gringo, I seeded all the peppers, resulting in no hotness (the picante kind) whatsoever. Overall, an interesting take on a chocolate stout.
I’m indebted to Randy Mosher, in Radical Brewing (p. 183), for his tasting notes on chiles for brewing. Ancho: “Deep rich chocolatey flavor.” Guajillo: “Dark fruity chile with medium heat.” Pasilla: “Intense dried chile flavor; dark, winelike, raisiny.”
Recipe Details
Batch Size
Boil Time
IBU
SRM
Est. OG
Est. FG
ABV
5 gal
60 min
31.0 IBUs
37.9 SRM
1.058
1.014
5.7 %
Fermentables
Name
Amount
%
Pale Malt (2 Row) US
7 lbs
60.87
Victory Malt
2 lbs
17.39
White Wheat Malt
1 lbs
8.7
Black (Patent) Malt
8 oz
4.35
Chocolate Malt
8 oz
4.35
Roasted Barley
8 oz
4.35
Hops
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Form
Alpha %
Willamette
1.5 oz
60 min
Boil
Pellet
5
Bramling Cross
0.5 oz
20 min
Boil
Pellet
6.5
Miscs
Name
Amount
Time
Use
Type
Cacao Nibs
8.00 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
sundried tomatoes
2.00 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
ancho peppers
1.50 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
raisins
1.50 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
pasilla pepper
1.00 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
guajillo peppers
0.50 oz
0 min
Secondary
Flavor
whole cloves
6.00 Items
0 min
Secondary
Spice
Mexican cinnamon stick
1.00 Items
0 min
Secondary
Spice
avocado (aguacate) leaves, dried
0.25 oz
0 min
Secondary
Spice
hoja santa (Piper auritum), dried
0.25 oz
0 min
Secondary
Spice
Yeast
Name
Lab
Attenuation
Temperature
SafAle English Ale (S-04)
DCL/Fermentis
73%
59°F - 75.2°F
Mash
Step
Temperature
Time
Mash In
152°F
60 min
Notes
Secondary duration was 12 days. I put all the secondary additions in a mesh bag, added enough beer from the primary to cover, brought it up to just shy of boiling temperature, and steeped for 20 minutes before cooling it down and adding eveything back into the beer.
