cocoa nibs

has anyone used cocoa nibs? i'm doing a mint chocolate stout, its an extract and partial mash.

6 lbs amber dme,
1lb biscuit malt,
1 lb chocolate malt,
1/2 lb roasted barley,
1/2 lb black patent.

1/2 oz northern brewer pellets at 60 min
1 oz northern brewer at 20 min.

at the end of the boil,
1 oz fresh spearmint,
1 life saver mint.

I figure around 2-3 ounces of cocoa nibs. i want there to be a definite chocolate taste, is this enough? along with the dark malts maybe i should stick with 2 oz cocoa nibs and taste after fermentation. if needed i could go to secondary and add crushed cocoa nibs?

I've used them in stouts a few times. My recommendations:
1. Don't use the roasted, in the boil. If you do put them in the boil,use raw. Roasting brings out the tanins and can leave a bitter and astringent quality where its not welcome. I usually use 4oz
2. Best to put them in the secondary. Better smoother flavor extraction. Leave them there for 2 weeks to a month.Also 4 oz
3.Try adding some high quality cocoa powder (not Hershey) to the mash. Like a nice organic ,high-quality variety (Azure is good). Thats worked really well for me. Last time I added about a Cup for a 10 gallon batch.

Cheers!

Thanks. I decided to add lactose to the end of the boil too, as well as cocoa powder. Nibs in secondary. Think ill do mint in boil and secondary as well. I hope to get a milk chocolate mint stout.

The tradeoff is that the fats/lipids in raw nibs will kill your head retention. The oils in the fats occupy the entire surface area of the beer, so there are no nucleation sites for CO2 bubbles.

Roasting the nibs cooks out the mnajority of the fats/lipids.

Chocolate malt doesn't taste quite as chocolately as nibs, but it sure is a whole lot easier to work with!

For 5.5 gl; lightly toast 4 oz freshly cracked cocoa nibs, 1 vanilla bean & enough cheap vodka to submerse for ~5 days. Dry/wet nib for 1 week. I usually add some oats for a creamy mouth feel also.