using cocoa nibs and vanilla beans

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Righlander

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hey guys, i'm getting ready to brew a stout and i'm going to want to use cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. im just curious as to the proper methods of using them. i was thinking to add the cocoa nibs at the last ten minutes of the boil. is this a bad idea? also i was thinking with the vanilla beans i would bring them to a boil in some water to sanitize and then add them like a dry hop addition. your thoughts please :confused:
 
I will tell you about cocoa nibs, if you siphon you will have so many problems. For me, they all just clogged my siphon. Anyway, add them at knock out and let them sit. For the vanilla... you don't want boil them. I have heard of them washed in vodka and added to either the primary or secondary but I have never done this.
 
Righlander said:
hey guys, i'm getting ready to brew a stout and i'm going to want to use cocoa nibs and vanilla beans. im just curious as to the proper methods of using them. i was thinking to add the cocoa nibs at the last ten minutes of the boil. is this a bad idea? also i was thinking with the vanilla beans i would bring them to a boil in some water to sanitize and then add them like a dry hop addition. your thoughts please :confused:

Most people put cocoa nibs in secondary, and I'd recommend putting them in a bag like dry hopping.
 
I put 4oz of cocoa nibs in the secondary and the flavor didn't stand out very much. I was advised to soak them in vodka for 24 hours prior and dump the entire solution in. I have plans to do it this weekend. I'll let you know in a week.
 
I've done both in a stout (which took gold in specialty category and silver for best of show in NJ state fair comp) - in the secondary - 2oz of HIGH quality nibs and 2 vanilla beans - all flavors came through nicely after 7-10 days
 
I add both the vanilla bean guts and cocoa nibs directly to the secondary without any sanitation issues. 4 oz of coco nibs for 2 weeks really came through nicely.
 
I was at my LHBS the other day, buying ingredients for a Choc. Milk Stout. As I was talking to Paul (The owner and long time brewer) about me recipe, I mentioned that I was thinking about adding Cocoa nibs in the secondary. He mentioned that one thing to be aware of is that Cocao nibs have fat in them, and will kill the head in your beer. I have some and also have some Chocolate extract. The beer is still in primary (3 weeks) and can't decide to rack to secondary on the nibs or keg from primary next weekend and use the chocolate extract. Any others want to weigh in on this?
 
sure todays my official tasting day of my first ag beer a "Chocolate Oatmeal Stout" i added 2 oz to the boil 1oz at 10 and 5 then another 2ozs mostly crushed up and marinated with some grey goose, not much goose at first just enough to soak all the nibs..cover the cup with foil and swirl let it sit for at least a day and you ll notice the nibs have soaked up the booze , at that point added a bit more goose to reach a slurry like consistency. popped open the fermenter and poured it...2 weeks later bottled and had zero syphoning issues..3 weeks later in the bottle today and the beer has a decent head that lasts and an amazing chocolate taste
 
3 weeks later in the bottle today and the beer has a decent head that lasts and an amazing chocolate taste


Thanks....I didn't put any in the boil, but I will try the vodka method and see how things turn out. Maybe, I'll soak them in vodka, strain and then add as I transfer to the keg.
 
Dont boil the vanilla beans! No need to sanitize them, just simply chop them up and place in about 1/2 oz of vodka for a day or so, and put them in the secondary, might want to put them in a bag that you can remove later when you think you have the vanilla flavor you are seeking. I suggest 1-2 depending on the strength/body of the brew.

Try www.beanilla.com I suggest the Madagascar vanilla beans.
 
I recently brewed a Chocolate Milk Stout with coco nibs. I added them at flameout and the beer turned out great, good chololate after taste. The thing to remember with coco nibs is, they float, so any worries about clogging is non existant.

You could add them to the secondary, or float them in the keg. Either works.

Cheers
 
Because I'm so awesome, I'm going to resurrect this thread. I'm sorry. Well, not so much. Anyway.....I'm going to be brewing an AG Chocolate Milk Stout from Northern Brewer. I am going to add some vanilla beans to the primary after a few weeks along with the nibs. I know everyone says to soak them in vodka. Well, I've been looking around and I found some chocolate vodka and vanilla vodka. I was thinking of soaking each in their respective flavored vodka and then dumping the whole mix in. Any thoughts for or against this?
 
The only issue I see with adding the chocolate vodka is that unless the chocolate flavor is natural, artificial chocolate flavor is lackluster if not downright awful. I believe the idea of using vodka is to create super concentrated flavor that would be undrinkable on its own but once diluted in beer it is quite pleasant. I just don't know if I would risk my beer with the flavored vodka + spices mixture. You could always mix A LITTLE with a 12 oz. dark beer to test it. I just don't know how much it'll change when it's aged. If the vodka mixture sucks you could always ditch it and try regular vodka.

Best of luck,
-Brian
 
I will tell you about cocoa nibs, if you siphon you will have so many problems. For me, they all just clogged my siphon. Anyway, add them at knock out and let them sit. For the vanilla... you don't want boil them. I have heard of them washed in vodka and added to either the primary or secondary but I have never done this.

Whenever i add anythign solid to my fermenter, on bottling day, I put disposable grain or hop sack over my siphon to filter out anythign and it works wonderfully.
 
I don't soak vanilla beans at all. I get mine from Mexico (Veracruz is the second largest producer of vanilla in the world) and they are fresh vacuum packed whole. I simply make sure my hands are sterilized, my good knife is sharp and sterile and I slit them lengthwise and drop them in the fermenter....I also transfer them to the keg. Since I went to these beans and this method, the same recipe has won awards that it never did before....not saying it's all in the beans, but......

I prefer the Mexican beans because I know they are fresh and the taste is just a bit rounder to me....
 
On brew day I put my cocoa nibs in a small jar and add just enough vodka to cover them, then screw on the lid. I take the vanilla beans and slice them in half lengthwise. Then scrape out the seed goop in the inside (this is where the flavor is). I put that into another small jar. I chop up the scraped bean pods and add them to the jar too. Add enough vodka to cover them and cap it. Both jars sit in a dark place for the 3 weeks while I primary ferment. I shake them occasionally but that's it. I then add them right to primary by putting them into mesh paint strainer bags that have been sanitized. Do this over your primary so the vodka goes into the beer. This is important as the vodka has extracted a ton of flavor. I put them in separate bags so I can pull one and leave the other to adjust the favors individually. I taste at 3days and have never needed to keep them in for more than 5 days. Freshness and quality of the beans and nibs will really impact flavor amount. Removal is simple since they are in the strainer bags. Then proceed to bottle or keg as usual.

My chocolate milk stout scored 36.5 and mini best of show.
 
I would suggest you read this article. It has been extremely helpful to me. http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/formulating-and-brewing-winning-chocolate-porter

I have used cacao nibs and used cocoa powder. I followed the advice in this article above and been happy with the results.

Cheers

Great discussion here and thanks kcpup for the site recommendation! It was succinct and weaves into this conversation nicely.

I have nothing else to contribute other than a thank you!
 
As others have said, definitely don't boil the vanilla beans or add them or the cacao nibs when at flame out.

I've used vanilla a couple times, and lately I've been drinking a vanilla swirl porter I brewed a couple months ago. I used 3 vanilla beans and 4 oz. cacao nibs. They both soaked in vodka in separate mason jars before adding the beans/nibs/vodka all to the fermenter. With those amounts you shouldn't have to worry about the flavor overwhelming your beer regardless of how long it sits in the fermenter.

Also, eBay is a great source for vanilla beans. Search around and you can find great quality and better prices than anywhere else.
 
As others have said, definitely don't boil the vanilla beans or add them or the cacao nibs when at flame out.

I've used vanilla a couple times, and lately I've been drinking a vanilla swirl porter I brewed a couple months ago. I used 3 vanilla beans and 4 oz. cacao nibs. They both soaked in vodka in separate mason jars before adding the beans/nibs/vodka all to the fermenter. With those amounts you shouldn't have to worry about the flavor overwhelming your beer regardless of how long it sits in the fermenter.

Also, eBay is a great source for vanilla beans. Search around and you can find great quality and better prices than anywhere else.

how long have you had the beer on the beans?
 
Thanks....I didn't put any in the boil, but I will try the vodka method and see how things turn out. Maybe, I'll soak them in vodka, strain and then add as I transfer to the keg.

Don't strain! The chocolate flavor will be in the vodka. You need to the liquid as well as the nibs. Just dump the whole lot in.
 
how long have you had the beer on the beans?

It sat on the beans for at least a couple weeks. Might have been more. I don't have my notes at hand to check.

Also, definitely add the vodka as well as the nibs/beans. Otherwise you'd be throwing out a good bunch of the flavor.
 
I brewed an all grain BIAB chocolate stout three weeks ago and added the cocoa nibs to the primary a week ago ... i didnt soak them in vodka or anything. Didnt rack to secondary either ... should I have anything to worry about?
 
Well, the aronas will be a little muted I would expect. If they were in for the primary fermentation then lots of aroma will have bubbled out the air lock. But that doesnt mean you won't have a chocolate beer. Next time I would definitely recommend the vodka and vanilla additions. A little vanilla enhaces chocolate, and a bit of chocolate accentuates vanilla. Please let us know how it turns out.
 
If you waited until after fermentation was done, it will be fine. There is no reason to rack to a secondary vessel unless you wanted to harvest the yeast cake or something like that.

If you were worried about possible infection from not 'sanitizing' with vodka first, I think it's been well established that plenty of people have done it the same way you have without any issues.

RDWHAHB!
 
I'm interested in your results. I was told that the alcohol in the vodka extracts more of the flavor than just dumping the nibs in dry. Let us how you like the effect.
 
I'm interested in your results. I was told that the alcohol in the vodka extracts more of the flavor than just dumping the nibs in dry. Let us how you like the effect.
I just tasted my first beer from this batch ... its pretty good. I do not taste the cocoa like I thought I would, so I think next time I would soak in vodka for sure.
 
I had great success with mine and friends and I have gone so far as to make mean stout floats with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Next time I will soak the 4 oz of nibs and scraped bean pod in vodka longer, perhaps 2 weeks. My vanilla extract left over is perfect after a long soak. What I would also do differently is keep the nibs and bean in the beer no longer than a week. If was a bit too chocolaty for me. I could see a long secondary workibg well for a winter ale with spices and cayenne but not a simple stout.
 
Has anyone tried roasting the nibs before use? I was wondering if that would improve the flavor any. My 5 lb bag ordered from amazon arrived today so I think its a good time to experiment.
 
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