Stones 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Stout - All Grain Beer Brewing Kit (5 Gallons)

I'm not a stout guy, but I wanted to try something new for the winter. Figured I couldn't go wrong with a recipe from Stone. Beer came out great - smooth and tasty!

This is a fantastic stout recipe, easily the favorite recipe that I brew. Just make sure your mash tun can fit all that grain.

Pretty amazing kit. I modified the recipe slightly by adding the nibs to to fermenter (instead of late boil), 6 oz of lactose for sweetness/mouthfeel and a cinnamon stick in the fermenter on the last day. Definitely the best stout that i ever made. I have never had the original Stone stout but definitely will try it after making this recipe.

I've brewed this beer each of the last 4 years, and it's ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. While, I could probably source the ingredients locally, I'm sure it would be a slightly different beer. For me, it's a no brainer....just buy this kit!!

This is the first stout I've brewed and it is definitely very good. Similar to another comment, this beer maxed out my 10 gallon mash tun.

I think most instructions should assume this is your first time brewing. For me this was my second time brewing, and the 'mistakes' I made were solely due to lack of information in the instructions.

**The mash should be 90 minutes long** - after hunting around the web (after I had brewed) I found other clone recipes that all recommended 90 minute mash times. Some of them even had a recommended mash temp. The morebeer instructions had neither.

**You should pitch more yeast** - the original gravity is above 1.090, which can be a pretty hostile environment for yeast (I've now learned after the fact). You should pitch multiple packets or a larger volume from your starter. Again, these were in other instructions on the web, but not the one from morebeer.

**Use a hop bag/nib bag** - already mentioned in another review, but I clogged up my counterflow chiller several times and the racking arm from my fermenter with these lil guys.

I now know that I should have expected these things for a 9%+ beer (and nibs), but this kind of information should be on the recipe in my opinion. As a result I just kegged a 6% beer, either as the result of a 60 minute mash or because of pitching only 1 packet of yeast. Likely both.

With that being said.... the wort tastes amazing and the beer smells absolutely delicious. I can't wait to try it once it's carbonated!!!

Brewed this amazing stout in the fall. Kept in in secondary for about 3 months and Bottled and carbonated about a month ago. All I can say is that it's turned into pure gold! It's unquestionably the best stout I've ever brewed. Even flat out of the secondary I knew this one was going to be special. It's so smooth and so rich and roasty with enough bitter chocolate to round it out. Will savor this one for a while. A must brew if you love stouts.

I brewed this in January, and all I can say is OMG!!! This stout is very smooth, full body, very nice. We are into may now and I'm already planing to brew this one again. If you like full body beer, no off flavor, or a beer that truly sparks your taste buds alive, then this is it. I can't say enough about how great this beer truly is, just try it for yourself...you'll see.

I'd never brewed a stout before brewing this one, and now I'm hooked. It was fun to brew and tasted amazing. Once fermenting was complete, I kegged half and bottled the other half. There wasn't one person who didn't fall in love with this one at first taste. I've got my second batch fermenting now and I plan to add toasted coconut to see what happens.

I brewed this about 3 months ago and kegged after being in primary for 3 weeks. My plan was to wait until my birthday to tap in Oct; but I couldn't wait and decided to give it a try. This is fantastic! Rich, dark, roasted malt, perhaps a faint touch of chocolate at the finish. More like a RIS.

So I just finished brewing this. Literally put it in the carboy 15 minutes ago... I'm sure it will be delicious but I wanted to post a review before it was ready so that I could save another "first time nib user".

Those who have used nibs before, feel free to laugh :-)

If you haven't use cocoa nibs before, let me tell you what kinds of stupid things you can do. I did not use a hop bag, or "nib" bag. I actually never use a hop bag these days and I didn't think about what boiling chocolate would do. Totally my mistake. Anyway, be careful because a mix of melty chocolate and hop mass can clog the spigot on your kettle. I clogged my spigot and had to go back to the old days of pouring my kettle into a funnel (through a strainer that clogged about every half gallon).

I'm not sure what the preferred method is, but it's definitely not letting hops and nibs float free in the kettle haha. Perhaps morebeer can post a response with the best way to handle this mix.

Never had ANY trouble with a morebeer recipe before, and like I said, I'm sure this will be delicious... and of course a great story!

This beer pushed the limits of my equipment: 10gal mash tun and 8 gal kettle. I kegged half and bottled the other half. I'm a convert to Stouts because of this brew. Friends love it. I love it. It starts with a dark chocolate and ends with a hint of coffee: no acid, no alcohol burn. It's like biting into your favorite dark chocolate pastry. I can't think of a better beer to drink after snowshoeing, skiing, biking in the cold, or doing any winter activity. I can't wait to brew it again. In fax,t that's why I'm here... to order another batch.

Filled my mast tun to the brim with this one. Followed the recipe as stated on instructs.Mashed at 154 for 80 mins and sparked at 170 with B3 setup. Chilled to 65 and pitched a starter of Wyeast dry London ale. fermented low 60s for two weeks and secondaried at 68 for two more. Been in the bottle for 8 weeks and it tastes great. I taste more bitter chocolate than roasty coffee. Excellent recipe and a fun brew day. I highly recommend this one.

We're down to our last 6 bottles so I need to make another batch. Take your time and let this age a while and you'll be rewarded with a treat. Is it close to the original? I don't know but who cares, this is great. Try a stout float the next time you've got guests!

I'm sure this is a great kit, so long as morebeer includes all the grain. My wife got this for me as a christmas gift. The recipe calls for 15 pounds of two row but the kit only came with 10 pounds. When i called their customer service no one answered and I was on hold for at least 10-15 minutes. I'll be sticking with my local brew shop from here on out.

I was at the Stone Anniversary party where this beer was released and I was amazed with the flavor. I brewed this kit shortly after More Beer released it and it was practically identical to Stone's release. You MUST try this!