Article

Behemoth Brewing Co.

Dear Replicator,
I feel like the description found on the can is fitting to get an idea of what I’m tasting here: “This beer is an ode to chocolate. For once, I was lost for words while describing it. But, after it won People’s Choice at Beervana 2016, plenty of people helped me describe it. Here we go: Chocolate goodness. Pudding in a glass. Just like a chocolate milkshake only beery. Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate. Much chocolate wow! Chocolate as f*%k. Like drinking melted chocolate from a glass.”

That is exactly the way I felt drinking Chocolate Fish Milk Stout from Behemoth Brewing Company. Now all I can think about is trying to create a masterpiece like this myself.

Jimmy Katsiouras
Auckland, New Zealand

Whether the name “Behemoth” refers to the brewery’s owner, the 6-ft. 5-in. (2-m) tall Andrew Childs or the seven-year-old brewery’s huge beer list (more than 240 beers and counting), one thing is for certain: Behemoth Brewing located in the Mt. Eden district of Auckland is a force in the New Zealand brewing scene. It all started with one man and an idea.

Andrew Childs took the path less traveled on his way to brewery ownership. He began by studying to be a lawyer, eventually attaining his degree and working government jobs. Quickly becoming disillusioned, he decided a life in law was not suitable for him. At a party one New Year’s Eve, he asked friends to give him a New Year’s resolution that he’d be obligated to keep. One friend suggested he pursue homebrewing, something in which Childs had expressed an interest.

In less than a year, Childs moved on from “legal life” and went to work in the hospitality industry, learning valuable lessons that would later be hugely beneficial. While the income was but a fraction of that in the legal profession, Childs was now professionally “in his element.”

With his homebrewing skills ever improving, Childs entered a popular brewing competition known as Wellington in a Pint, with his coffee brown ale taking Best Of Show. In the wake of his big win, Childs was offered a job in Auckland as “The Beer Man” for imake Ltd., a homebrew supplies manufacturer (which has since become part of Bevie). His job involved marketing, product development, and beer recipe creation, as well as connecting with some of his favorite breweries around New Zealand. Childs was now entrenched in the growing craft brewing scene.

Enter Behemoth Brewing

Saving money while learning all he could, Childs eventually took the leap to professional brewing by opening Behemoth Brewing in 2013. Initially contract brewing the beers at local breweries, Behemoth partnered with nine local breweries to brew their beers in the first seven years in business. Behemoth finally opened its own production brewing facility in 2020 with the help of a successful crowd-funding campaign including 635 “chur” holders. (Incidentally, “chur” is New Zealand slang for “sweet,” “cheers,” or “cool.”)

“We were tiny so we used the name Behemoth in jest, but it’s becoming more and more real by the day since we continue to grow so quickly,” said Childs.

Behemoth Brewing’s focus is on brewing big and bold beers that are meant to be fun and enticing. While IPAs are their main driver for brewing production, a quick look at their long list of beers shows just how much they derive pleasure from exploring the greater beer world like homebrewers: The Dude Abides (a white Russian imperial stout), C’s Get Degrees (C-hopped West Coast IPA), and Scotchy Scotch, Scotch Ale.

While the production company operates as Behemoth Brewing, Churly’s is Childs’ 24-tap brewpub where Behemoth brews can be enjoyed. Also, a new taproom has recently opened in Titirangi, a suburb of Auckland, named Churly’s Rise.

Chocolate Fish Milk Stout

Chocolate Fish is a name for a chocolate bar, popular in New Zealand, made in the shape of a fish containing marshmallow covered in a layer of chocolate. It’s tradition to give someone a chocolate fish to signify a job well done.

Chocolate Fish Milk Stout is a three-headed chocolate monster consisting of chocolate malt, cocoa powder, and cocoa nibs. Raspberry puree is added, producing a beautifully tart counterpoint to the chocolate. A hearty addition of lactose and vanilla extract provides the body, creaminess, and additional sweetness. The vanilla also helps bolster the chocolaty-ness.

The end result is a flavorful beer led by chocolate with notes of raspberry supporting. The beer drinks like a chocolate raspberry dessert while retaining all the character and drinkability of a traditional milk stout.

Whether you’re craving something chocolaty, want to brew a taste of the Southern Hemisphere, or just feel like making a Behemoth of a beer, now you can brew your own version of Chocolate Fish Milk Stout and enjoy it wherever you happen to be.

Behemoth Brewing Co.’s Chocolate Fish Milk Stout clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.072 FG = 1.023
IBU = 20 SRM = 41 ABV = 6.6%

Ingredients
7.7 lbs. (3.5 kg) 2-row pale ale malt
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) medium crystal malt (65 °L)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) Munich 2 malt (9 °L)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) malted oats
0.66 lb. (0.3 kg) pale caramalt (10 °L)
0.66 lb. (0.3 kg) pale chocolate malt
0.33 lb. (0.15 kg) Bairds chocolate malt (500 °L)
0.33 lb. (0.15 kg) black barley (500 °L)
0.22 lb. (100 g) cocoa powder (0 min.)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) lactose sugar (0 min.)
4.4 lbs. (2 kg) raspberry puree (primary)
1.8 oz. (50 g) vanilla extract (primary)
3.5 oz. (100 g) cocoa nibs (primary)
8 AAU Columbus hops (60 min.) (0.6 oz./17g at 15% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), LalBrew Nottingham, or an equivalent yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mashing at a temperature of 154 °F (68 °C) produces a reasonably full body but not so full that it takes away from the drinkability of the beer. Mash for 60 minutes or until converted. Recirculate and sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water. Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops at start of boil and the cocoa powder and lactose in whirlpool.

Chill quickly to 66 °F (19 °C). Be sure that you have plenty of headspace in your fermenter for the raspberry addition. Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C) during active fermentation. When fermentation is about 80% complete, add the raspberry puree, cocoa nibs, and vanilla extract. Raise temperature to 68 °F (20 °C) to ensure raspberry puree ferments out and diacetyl is eliminated. Recommend two weeks at this temperature to ensure yeast are properly finished and flocculated. Bottle or keg and carbonate to 2.4 v/v.

Behemoth Brewing Co.’s Chocolate Fish Milk Stout clone

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.072 FG = 1.023
IBU = 20 SRM = 41 ABV = 6.6%

Ingredients
4.37 lbs. (2 kg) extra light dried malt extract
1.3 lbs. (0.6 kg) medium crystal malt (65 °L)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) Munich 2 malt (9 °L)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) malted oats
0.66 lb. (0.3 kg) pale caramalt (10 °L)
0.66 lb. (0.3 kg) pale chocolate malt
0.33 lb. (0.15 kg) Bairds chocolate malt (500 °L)
0.33 lb. (0.15 kg) black barley (500 °L)
0.22 lb. (100 g) cocoa powder (0 min.)
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) lactose sugar (0 min.)
4.4 lbs. (2 kg) raspberry puree (primary)
1.8 oz. (50 g) vanilla extract (primary)
3.5 oz. (100 g) cocoa nibs (primary)
8 AAU Columbus hops (60 min.) (0.6 oz./17g at 15% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), LalBrew Nottingham, or an equivalent yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Use muslin bags for easy removal of the grain. Put the Munich malt and oats in one bag and the rest of the grains in another. Mash the Munich and malted oats in 3 gallons (11.4 L) of water at 154 °F (68 °C) until converted. During the last 10 or so minutes of the mash, add the second bag containing the rest of the crushed grains. Adding this bag later will still deliver all the flavors without risking too much unneeded astringency from the darker malts. Once the mash is complete, remove the bags, draining the liquid without squeezing the bags. Raise temperature to near boiling and slowly stir in half of the dried malt extract (DME). Return to the heat source and raise to boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the beginning, the rest of the DME with 5 minutes remaining, and the cocoa powder and lactose at the end.

Meanwhile, boil and chill about 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water so you can add it to the rest of your wort after the boil.

Chill wort quickly to 66 °F (19 °C). Add pre-boiled and chilled water to top up to 5 gallons (19 L). Ferment at 66 °F (19 °C). When fermentation is about 80% complete, add raspberry puree, cocoa nibs, and vanilla extract. While primary will only take a few days, let the beer sit for two full weeks to condition. Raise temperature to 68 °F (20 °C) to ensure raspberry puree ferments out and diacetyl is eliminated. Bottle or keg and carbonate to 2.4 v/v.

Tips For Success:
To create a water chemistry profile similar to that used by Behemoth Brewing, start with a base of reverse osmosis water and make the following additions: 5 g CaCl2, 2.5 g CaS04, and 4 g CaCO3. For the vanilla addition, feel free to substitute chopped up whole beans; 2–3 beans should be plenty. If using extract, just be sure to use real vanilla and not imitation extract.

Issue: January-February 2022
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