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tbrown4 · 01-03-2013, 12:41 AM

Got this kit today and will probably be brewing in the next 7-10 days. Here's the basic recipe:

Size: 5.00*gal

Original Gravity: 1.054
Terminal Gravity: 1.013
Color: 23.79 (30.0 - 40.0)
Alcohol: 5.3% (4.0% - 6.0%)
Bitterness: 35.6 (20.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:
0.25*lb Extra Dark Crystal Malt
0.75*lb Pale Chocolate Malt
6.0*lb Dark Liquid
1.0*lb Lactose
1.0*oz Cluster (7.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0*m
0.5*oz Cluster (7.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30.0*m
1.0*ea WYeast 1332 Northwest Ale™
4 oz. Cacao Nibs - added dry to secondary fermenter

I want a very big chocolate aroma and am willing to modify this recipe. Will 4 oz of cacao nibs going to give the finished beer a strong aroma? Would increasing the cacao nib amount for secondary increase this, positively? Would increasing the amount of cacao nibs be a bad idea?

**jcam91** · 01-03-2013, 02:58 PM

You have chocolate malt and cocoa nibs. IMO what you should do is plan to do tgis recipe as is. Then before you add nibs after fermentation is complete. Take a gravity reading. Taste it. Then decide if you need more nibs. But remember your already adding 4 oz so that should give you some definite flavor.

inhousebrew · 01-03-2013, 03:28 PM

Four ounces definitely has an impact. When I used them for the first time last year I got a bunch of recommendations on here to soak them in vodka before adding them so I dumped them in enough vodka to cover them the day I brewed. I let them sit there for three weeks and pitched to the secondary. There was an impact for sure. I'd be careful adding more because they do add a bit of bitterness to the beer as well which could through off your balance if you added more than called for.

tbrown4 · 01-03-2013, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcam91

You have chocolate malt and cocoa nibs. IMO what you should do is plan to do tgis recipe as is. Then before you add nibs after fermentation is complete. Take a gravity reading. Taste it. Then decide if you need more nibs. But remember your already adding 4 oz so that should give you some definite flavor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by inhousebrew

Four ounces definitely has an impact. When I used them for the first time last year I got a bunch of recommendations on here to soak them in vodka before adding them so I dumped them in enough vodka to cover them the day I brewed. I let them sit there for three weeks and pitched to the secondary. There was an impact for sure. I'd be careful adding more because they do add a bit of bitterness to the beer as well which could through off your balance if you added more than called for.

Thanks for the input!

Another thought I had was to split the batch...which I seem to do a lot of as I learn this hobby. Take some of it and sub in vanilla bean instead of cacao nibs. Maybe do a small batch with both cacao nibs and vanilla bean. Thoughts on either of those ideas?

inhousebrew · 01-03-2013, 10:09 PM

Either of those sound great to me. I've never used vanilla bean but had a friend who did for a nice big porter and it was fantastic. I think you need to slice them open before adding them. And find an actual vanilla bean, not the extract.

tbrown4 · 01-04-2013, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inhousebrew

Either of those sound great to me. I've never used vanilla bean but had a friend who did for a nice big porter and it was fantastic. I think you need to slice them open before adding them. And find an actual vanilla bean, not the extract.

Ive done a vanilla treatment for secondary before, split, scraped, vodka'd.

**pentiumone133** · 01-06-2013, 08:02 PM

I just bottled this kit last week. When I transferred to secondary, I added about half of the package of nibs because I did not want a huge chocolate presence. I left the nibs in there for about 3.5 weeks instead of the recommended 2, because I was too busy with the holidays and everything.

The beer has a very strong chocolate aroma and taste, even with only half of the recommended amount. It has not finished bottle conditioning so maybe some of it will age out.

tbrown4 · 01-10-2013, 11:39 PM

Ok. I will not increase the cacao nibs. Thanks for the input, all!

tbrown4 · 02-06-2013, 10:42 PM

So this one has been sitting at 1.020 for about two weeks. Im assuming its not gonna drop any more. I was expecting it to drop a little more.

Tasted about right. Decent body. Not overly sweet. Thinking about moving to secondary for treatments. Any recommendations otherwise?

**jcam91** · 02-06-2013, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbrown4

So this one has been sitting at 1.020 for about two weeks. Im assuming its not gonna drop any more. I was expecting it to drop a little more.

Tasted about right. Decent body. Not overly sweet. Thinking about moving to secondary for treatments. Any recommendations otherwise?

Unless you have to free up primary I wouldnt bother with secondary. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Is it chocolatey enough for you?