AHS Double Chocolate Stout (13D) - MINI MASH Homebrew Ingredient Kit

This was my first stout and hoping to mimic Young's Double Chocolate Stout. This was also my first attempt of personalizing the recipe. I followed the recipe mostly but added 1 lb of lactose milk sugar at the end of the boil. I also added 3/4 of 1 dram of English Toffee flavor oil just before kegging it with beer gas. It really came out great and would highly recommend it. It's not overly sweet and has a nice balance of coffee and chocolate undertones with just a hint of the toffee. Next time I would use a little more chocolate and the full dram of toffee flavoring.

I made this expecting a milk chocolate taste, but it had more of a bitter chocolate taste. It just wasn't for me. I will try a milk chocolate next time and hopefully get the taste I was after.

I brewed this beer about a month and half ago. It is one damn good tasting beer! Everyone I've given it to (even those who didn't like Stout) has fell in love with the chocolate coffee finish and smooth taste. If you want a great holiday beer or a winter's snack this is a great choice.

This beer was just okay initially, but has aged very well. Definitely will do again and lock all of it away for a couple months. The time really allows the flavors to mellow and it becomes a very smooth brew. Aditionally, the beer looks great and holds a great head.

I agree this is a beer one should keep on tap year round. It turned out great. I began drinking after three weeks of bottling and it tasted great. A crowd pleaser.

Though I expected the chocolate flavor to be a little more prominent, this beer was absolutely fantastic. Hands down the best recipe I've ever gotten my aforementioned hands on. This is the only beer I've ever considered keeping on tap year round.

Very good beer. I modified the beer by adding 1 pound of lactose in the last 15 minutes of the boil to make it a milk stout. I have been trying this beer since it was carbonated, and about a month of aging it started to mellow out. At the two month point of aging it has become very smooth. Malt, slightly sweet, with a very smooth and rich flavor. Would buy this kit again.

rich and delightful, unbelievable beer now that it has mellowed. Had a commercial double stout this weekend, this is far superior. added the extra chocolate and when it aged it is nice and pronounced at the end. Had one with some roast pork picnic and it complimented it perfectly....

I brewed the extract version of this a while back. Aside from the Belgian cocoa I also added a total of 4 extra ounces of cocoa nibs to the beer (2 in the boil and 2 in the secondary) and there is very little chocolate flavor. I've had many other chocolate stouts and this is very similar, but I think that by reducing the black patent malt and black roasted barley the chocolate flavor might come out a bit more while still retaining the color. I know the chocolate name refers more to the color than the flavor, but I feel with the title of "double" it should have more chocolate character.

This is my second kit from Austin. I took a six pack to a poker game last night and it was a serious hit. This is a very rich stout and to my taste, the chocolate retains a nice bitterness, not sweet. I'm really porud of this beer!

This is one of the best we have ever made and the most difficult to leave alone. This is a good second brew to keep around the recommended 2 -3 months to fully appreciate what this divine mixture can become. You also will be asked to make if for your friends all the time. We have learned to keep this one to ourselves and savor it in our home.

Absolutely loved this one, and definitely the best kit beer I've made. The chocolate flavor developed a little more over time, and was really there at about 3 months. Next time I will be adding more chocolate to it, but that is just for personal preference (it is great as is).

Follow the advice of others. Let this beer age at least 3 months. If you are patient you will be rewarded with an outstanding stout. One of the best beers I have ever made.

Mini-Mash. Could taste the chocolate on bottling day, but not now. Still, a really good stout. May try it again and add a little more chocolate.

I have made this mini-mash kit a couple times and agree with everyone else about the smooth and balanced flavors. Last time I added a pound of coffee malt to the recipe and after it aged for 2-3 months it was another wonderful beer. I'm not a coffee drinker (except coffee mocha) but the flavors in this beer are subtle and wonderful, unless you have a really sensitive palate which my wife seems to have since she does not like this beer.

Only 2 weeks from bottling and I have to make a comment - be warned - I have made BAD comments on some kits. This is a GREAT beer and it's still green. I was expecting more chocolate but it's young and they say it needs a few months but after two weeks it's good. A friend who does not like dark beers AND my wife who is an amber drinker tried it. Friend said "This is good". Wife said "WOW, that; is smooth". The Malto Dextrin help but you need flavor adn you have it but not the over the top aggressive stout burst. It's a keeper.

Everyone that tastes this beer absolutely loves it. The first taste from every bottle is the best as the chocolate hits the tounge! Some of my friends usually skowl when I offer them one of my dark brews, but now they all ask for the DCS! Looks like I will age my beer a bit longer based on comments posted!

This was absolutely delicious, but it didn't peak until 2-3 months. Really tasty. I was comparing it to a couple store bought ones and I have to say I really preferred this one. Easy to recommend.

Great beer recipe. I brewed this but added about a 1/4 lb of oatmeal and a little bit of Hershey's chocolate syrup in the secondary. Boy what a treat!!! The chocolate really comes through in the finish with a big roasty coffee flavor. I have made stout drinkers out of several people with this brew!

Believe the hype. Its as good as they say if you just follow the recipe with no mods. Only my second batch and I was amazed at how well the foam head and the flavor turned out. Will be making some more when I get a chance. Young's Double Chocolate whatever... make this.

Just got this in the primary on Saturday. After reading all the reviews I am super excited to try this. It is going to be a long month or so until they are ready. This is my second batch, first kit purchased from AHS. Young's Double Chocolate is one of my all time favorite beers! Has anybody done any modifications to this kit with good results?

This is my favorite of all the beer I've made to date (approx 16 batches) and a favorite amongst my friends. I've made this twice using the mini-mash recipe (I hogged the second batch after the first went down most of my friends' throats). I've since changed to all grain so will be brewing all grain and kegging this third batch. I expect it to be the best yet and will likely keep this as a staple in the household.

Great stuff, but you really need to be patient. Week 7, and it's finally perfect! I made the extract version with the dry yeast. I'm hoping the chocolate flavor will come out even more in the coming weeks (if there's any left!)

Great beer. But does get better with age. Opened a bottle that I brewed close to 8-9 months ago and it's even better now than it was at one month.

Made the liquid mini-mash and aged it to the exact date as recomended by the recipe. Used the coca powder with no nibs. VERY strong coffee flavor, virtually NO chocolate. After 8 weeks, the coffee flavor mellowed out substantially to a very tasty coffee flavor with a very subtle chocolate after taste. Over all it is a fantastic brew that I would make again, just don't open it for two months after bottling to avoid being disapointed. The wait is totally worth it!

Great beer! This was my first homebrew and after four weeks of conditioning it tastes great. I actually enjoy it more than Guinness and Young's. I plan on making it again.

I added a few tablespoons of hershey's cocoa powder because I was worried by the people saying the chocolate didn't come through. This ended up being the perfect amount of chocolate for me. It has a strong presence, but not overpowering to me. The beer has fairly low sweetness for a chocolate stout and lots of roastiness. This is not a dessert beer. This is a stout lover's stout, not an introduction into the style. I enjoyed the mouthfeel, but I understand the people who chose to make it a milk stout. If you like a very thick stout, you might consider an addition to give it extra body. That said... I have really enjoyed this beer.

Awesome beer. Did the extract version and added an extra oz. of Hershey's cocoa powder. Pitched Irish Ale yeast and fermented in primary for 2 weeks. 3 weeks in the bottle it had a sharp astringent finish. 5-6 weeks it started getting good and the flavors mellowed out and now it is excellent. Give it plenty of time to condition. I would call it a chocolate stout, not a double chocolate stout as the chocolate just isn't pronounced enough to merit the description. Outstanding beer though, I will certainly be brewing again!

Excellent chocolate stout. Brewed the mini mash, Primary 10 days, secondary 10 days. Added Cocoa nibs to secondary with 6 days left. Cocoa nibs soaked in vodka for three days. After taking a sample I was a bit worried about the mouth feel and contemplated adding lactose. Not necessary. After it was kegged and carbed it was just fantastic. Rich chocolate overtones. Nice med thick mouth feel. Perfect head that had that great stout cascading head. I kegged 2.5 gallons and letting the other 2.5 sit in the secondary for another couple of week minus the cocoa nibs. 100% will brew this one again.

This is good stuff! I am starting my 4th batch soon, and I have to say, I love it. I actually added two alcohol boosters to the last batch and was pleased that I got pretty good attenuation (I double-pitched my yeast - WLP013 White Labs liquid London Ale). It ended up about 7% abv & tasted great!

Going to start a batch of this stout tomorrow. Adding 6 plus pounds of cherry puree to the secondary. Will give updates on the results when finished, but I expect this to be one fine brew.

NAILED IT!...brewed this 4 times. Latest version I gave to neighbors and family and friends and 100% of people wanted more!~ 6-Gal Mini Mash, addition of 1-banana, 1-Shaved 100% Cocoa chocolate bar, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Hershey Syrup plus I doubled the Belgian Cocoa powder and added 1-Holiday Chocolate Stout pack in last 10min of boil. 2wks prim. 2wks second. 1 month bottle cond. Stick to this and people will come crawling back for more! cheers.

Just Brewed LME for the first time, easy recipe, will post results in 3 months

Fantastic. Pitch black, lasting tan head, modest chocolate notes, slightly sweet (I'll explain). I did the partial mash kit. I was let the mash temp get a bit high, hence the high final gravity of 1.026 and sweetness. But to be honest I wouldn't change it. I'm sure it is great as a dryer beer but I'm very happy with how mine turned out. I brewed it on 10/13 and stirred up the cake two weeks later after the gravity failed to drop. I emailed AHS and they assured me it would be fine... they were right. BTW, I kegged mine, I recommend that your jump to kegging it makes all beers even better. Cheers!

Brewed the extract version and agree with some of the other reviews. This beer is awesome! I have tried a few bottles after a month of bottle conditioning and think it will continue to get better with age. Right now there could be better mouth feel. Had good notes of chocolate that was not overpowering. Great color and aroma. Everyone who has tried it loves it and it is not even at its peak yet!

Bottled this one 3 weeks ago and it is more than I could have asked for. Added cocoa nibs to the secondary.... Has a wonderful bitter sweet chocolate aftertaste.... Would like to come up with a way to get more carbonation, but that may come with a bit more age.... Would also like better head retention so I will add the head retention supplement next time... It is best enjoyed at about 55 degrees.

Brewed 1/29 1.060 Extract kit with addition of Milk Chocolate Stout and Spiced Chocolate Stout flavor packs. Pitched White Labs London Ale. Kegged 2/25 1.019 Tapped 3/16 A: pitch black, two finger head, light lacing S: cinnamon, other biting spices. T: spicy, a little bitter M: smooth and full bodied but not too malty

brewed this on 2/15. Kegged it on 3/10 with the full amount of priming sugar and pulled a 12 pack (for sharing/saving) from the keg before purging and sealing it. Let let it condition for a couple weeks and hooked up the CO2 for serving. Had a pint last night, 3/26, and it is awesome. Will have to think long and hard about sharing those bottles now.

Good beer, but mine doesn't compare well to Youngs... how is it supposed to? Chose this recipe as the only beer my wife likes is Young's DCS. Brewed the DME version ... came out as a great beer in its own right - but my batch doesn't compare to Youngs. It has more bitterness and not as much coffee/chocolate flavor as the Youngs. Plus the "mouthfeel" is a tad thinner. So I wonder if 13D is supposed to be more bitter than Youngs? Regardless, I liked this beer enough that I'll brew another batch after gaining more experience to see if there's any difference.

just tapped a keg of this beer and it's truly fantastic. great body and head, perfect amount of bitter chocolate shines through. this was my first ahs kit (have an ahs warrior hops pale ale in primary too) and i'm sure there will be more. if you like choco stouts give this one a try.

This is a tasty kit. It's been a big hit with all my friends, and I'll definitely be making another batch.

I recently put this on my nitro tap and wanted to give a review. This is a great beer, one that even my fiance' enjoys. We were driving home the other night and stopped and got a Frosty from Wendy's. When we got home, I poured a pint and asked my fiance' if she wanted to try the stout. She said she could really taste the Frosty in the beer. I'll definitely make this one again.

Very impressed with this chocolate stout. This was my first AHS kit -- I'd tried a couple others from Midwest with respectable results but nothing that blew me away like this one. Brewing went off without a hitch and the beer is chocolicious, very smooth, very drinkable and very chocolatey.

This tasted great just two weeks after bottling...I tried a Young's Double Chocolate Stout to compare, and this recipe is so much better than Young's, even without a 2-3 month rest period. Next time I make it, I'll try to keep my hands off of it for a couple of months to see if it gets even better.

Brewed the liquid extract kit using dry yeast. I'm at about 4 weeks of conditioning now and the beer tastes great. Very creamy, great head retention, nice subtle chocolate/coffee flavors. I imagine it will keep getting better as it ages more.

Very good stout! Im new to brewing and this was my second batch ever and was one of the best stouts i have had in a while and its only been in the bottle for 10 days. I let it primary for a month though with no secondary. Partial mash this time doing the all-grain next time i order.

All I can say is that this beer is awesome. It took about a month to carbonate, but was perfect. This stout only got better with age.

I just tried this and it was amazing. I added one pound of dark DME to the entire batch and coffee to half of it. I tried the half with coffee but have not tried the other because it's only been bottled a week and was still that good that I had to post right away. I will update when I try the other half but am certain it will be just as good, will definatly keep on hand.

This is the best beer I\'ve brewed yet. It\'s been bottled for about two months and gets better every week. I followed some commenter\'s advice and doubled the chocolate. That\'s probably not necessary if you can wait a few months to let the flavors develop. This is so good, I can\'t even drink Guiness anymore, at least from a bottle. First batch was a partial mash, now I\'m waiting for my AG batch to mature. I\'ll brew this many more times.

Batch #88 - third batch of Dbl Chocolate Stout - Award Winner - 1st Place in the Stout Bracket Challenge Of the Worthog home brew club. The one thing I might do next time is add a little more Malto Dextrin and instead of the cocoa powder go back to Chocolate Nibs which seem to give a deeper chocolate flavor. This is a stout for stout lovers, no messing around with getting all fancy. In your face deep dark and rich like a REAL stout should be. This is ALWAYS a favorite for by dark beer friends.

MAKE IT A MILK STOUT! Good brew. I selected the white labs WLP013 and did liquid mini-mash. No starter and no yeast fuel. Similar to reviewer Kevin G., I nixed the maltodextrin and instead added 1lb of lactose at 15 minutes. At 8 weeks, the result is a super smooth and slightly sweet stout. It is delicious. I think I will use this milk stout as the base for a coffee stout in the near future. Should be awesome!

Brewed this in September to prepare for Christmas. Pitched White Labs 002 on 9/8/12. Fermented at 64F until 9/23/12. Bottled and aged at 72F until 10/28/12. I have to say this is one of the creamiest,smoothest, chocolatey stouts I have ever had. I have been homebrewing for 34 years and this is one of my favorite recipes. I don't enjoy Christmas beers with spices and or holiday flavorings. This beer is chocolatey from the grains and the tiny bit of cocoa powder included in the kit. A very nice winter beer - well suited for holiday tasting.

I brewed the extract version and this is delicious. I doubled the chocolate and the flavor is still very subtle even after several months in the bottle.

Just cracked my first one after 27 days in the bottle. My first homebrew. Wow exceeded expectations. Nice and roasty and the chocolate is definitely there in the background. Excellent thick creamy head. Smells outstanding. Very similar to bells double cream especially the mouthfeel. Very creamy but a tad roastier than bells. In a very good way. Would absolutely brew again and highly recommend. AHS nailed it. For me this sits somehwere between bells double cream and founder's breakfast stout. Seriously good. When i bottled FG was about 1.020 a little higher than expected but tastes like around 5% which is right where i like it.

Brewed the LME Mini Mash kit and used the liquid yeast and added a TBSP of Hershey's dark cocoa to it and a small amount of lactose. Taste at two weeks is very good and a very good stout color and taste . Can't wait to try this after it sits for a couple of months!