[speedy1701]

I'm thinking about adding fresh spearmnt to chocolate stout.  I read about adding it in the last 5 minutes of the boil, after flameout, and during secondary racking like dry hopping.  I also saw a message about some "bad" things concerning spearmint.   Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[morticaixavier]

not sure what 'bad' things you are refering to but boiling any mint will make it bitter and tannic. at flameout would be fine and dry-minting would probably also be fine. the first would be like a mint tea (although with fresh herbs you would likely get a little more vegetale character) and the dry-minting would by like adding a sprig of mint to a glass of water, fresh and mostly in the aroma.

This is all speculation as I have not done this. I do know you can use mint as a bittering agent although it's different than hops bittering obviously.

[denny]

The only bad thing I can think of would be the flavor....just doesn't sound appealing to me in the least.

[morticaixavier]

The only bad thing I can think of would be the flavor....just doesn't sound appealing to me in the least.

Really? chocolate and mint of any kind goes really well to me. spearmint has a slight chocolate like flavour component anyway. Hmm. to each their own I guess.

[denny]

I'm barely a fan of chocolate and mint (hey, why destroy good chocolate), but I'm definitely a fan of beer flavored beer.  As you say, to each their own.

[Hokerer]

I'm barely a fan of chocolate and mint (hey, why destroy good chocolate), but I'm definitely a fan of beer flavored beer.

...and bourbon flavored beer, and vanilla flavored beer, ........   

[morticaixavier]

I do like good plain really dark (90+%) chocolate. it is an experience that should not be mixed with anything. But a 76% with mint or chiles or ginger... many flavours play very well with chocolate IMHO

[denny]

I'm barely a fan of chocolate and mint (hey, why destroy good chocolate), but I'm definitely a fan of beer flavored beer.

...and bourbon flavored beer, and vanilla flavored beer, ........   

Surprisingly (or maybe not), I kinda burned out on that a long time ago.  When I brew it now, I give 99% of it away.

[skyler]

I'm barely a fan of chocolate and mint (hey, why destroy good chocolate), but I'm definitely a fan of beer flavored beer.

...and bourbon flavored beer, and vanilla flavored beer, ........   

Surprisingly (or maybe not), I kinda burned out on that a long time ago.  When I brew it now, I give 99% of it away.

That's understandable. I have never oaked a homebrew because I got burned out on commercial "bourbon barrel" beers back in 2007 or so. And I am already tired of American sour ales and mixed fermentations.... My focus has definitely shifted chiefly to 4-6.5% abv all-malt beers.

[speedy1701]

Thanks for the advise!  details about the 'bad' weren;t mentioned but I have to belive you got it right about releasing bitter an tannics in a boil.

[jivetyrant]

Sometimes I think there's a collective unconsciousness amongst us homebrewers.

I just did a mint chocolate stout a few weeks ago, it's in secondary with 4oz of cacao nibs as we speak.  I used 1oz of dried peppermint (I prefer it to spearmint, the latter tastes too much like chewing gum to me) at 5 mins.  I have not dry-minted it yet, I'm going to taste it after another week or two in secondary and evaluate further.  The last time I tasted it was just before transferring to secondary and the mint character was exactly what I wanted, light and noticeable but definitely not overwhelming.  It tasted much more like beer than mint, exactly what I was going for.

It probably won't be ready until around xmas, but that's what I was shooting for anyway.   Now if I could just decide on a brown ale/nut brown recipe to brew next....  any suggestions?

[speedy1701]

Well I just tasted the batch.  I added about 1/2 to 1 oz of fresh leaves at flameout. It mostly tastes like beer and I really can't taste the mint.  Maybe a good thing.  Beers good anyway!