Racking into secondary with cocao nibs.

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Golbock

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Hey Guys, I just brewed a Milk Stout, now my recipe in particular does not call for cocao nibs but i've seen online that people will put them in their secondary fermenter and rack on top of them.

I was thinking of doing this just to give it a bit of a hint of chocolate.
From what I gathered I would use about 4 oz of cocao nibs, (possibly soaked in vodka/rum to sanitize??) After 2 weeks I would rack ontop of the nibs and leave for another week before bottling?

Any suggestions or input from the more experienced brewers who have done things like this. Thanks!
 
I did exactly what you are describing. Honestly, I didn't get much chocolate flavor out it. The stout was good, but not much of a chocolate stout.
 
I am researching doing the same to my oatmeal stout that's been in the primary for 1.5 weeks.

What I've read is 4oz of nibs and 2 weeks in the secondary is the "standard" practice.

Some say they heat the nibs in the oven to sterilize, some put in vodka overnight, and some just throw them in as is.

I'm going with the vodka route overnight in the fridge and keeping in the secondary for 2 weeks.
 
I'll probably still give it a try. Worst comes to worst I get some practice racking to a secondary.
 
Does anyone else have anything to add? Best practices for adding cocoa nibs? Amount? Bueller?
 
I've found that nibs don't contribute nearly as much chocolate flavor, as either chocolate malt or actual cocoa powder. Nibs seem to provide more of a nuttiness. I've only used them in stouts & porters, though, so perhaps their affect was subdued.
 
CastleHollow said:
I've found that nibs don't contribute nearly as much chocolate flavor, as either chocolate malt or actual cocoa powder. Nibs seem to provide more of a nuttiness. I've only used them in stouts & porters, though, so perhaps their affect was subdued.

How do you introduce the cocoa powder into your beer?
 
Also, has anyone heard of putting the nibs that have steeped in vodka overnight in the freezer to hardened the fatty oils?

I read it somewhere that the fatty oils will solidify on top and u can scoot it off.

Anyone done this?
 
How do you introduce the cocoa powder into your beer?

During the mash. Otherwise, it's hard to filter out. I've also tried adding melted Lindt's chocolate bars to secondary, but found that even at the 90%+ level, they still had enough milkfat to form an unseemly layer at the top of my bottles. Didn't negatively impact the beer, though, just made the bottle look funny.
 
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