Should I add cacao nibs and coffee to this oatmeal stout recipe?

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SDouglas82

SDouglas82

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I was wondering if you guys thought it would be a good/bad idea to add 4oz of coffee (at flameout) and 4 oz cacao nibs (add a week before bottling to primary after fermentation is finished) to the below oatmeal stout recipe from Jasper's.
I'm kind of new to all grain brewing and didn't know if these additions would screw up the recipe too much. I love beers with oatmeal, coffee and chocolate flavors. Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.boomchugalug.com/downloadables/recipes/mush_all_grain.pdf
 
Last edited:
I always add my coffee at bottling time. I use 8 oz of cold brewed coffee to 2 gallons. Not sure you would taste 4 oz in 5 gallons.
 
I will be making my first chocolate coffee stout next week, so I cannot attest to how well my process would work yet.. but my plan based on some research on here is to add 8oz of nibs to the secondary (or primary after fermentation is complete, but I will likely do a transfer) and probably 16oz of cold brewed coffee to the secondary too.
 
I use one once of unsweetened Coco powder in the boil added at 5 minutes. Again this is for 2 gallons. I've done this brew about 4 times and have had no complaints.
 
I'd also suggest soaking your nibs in vodka for a week and then straining the nibs out and only adding the chocolate infused vodka.

And if you want it to be even better, before adding your nibs, take a vanilla bean and split in half, scrape all of the seeds out and add the seeds and split pod to the vodka for 7 days. Then add your nibs for another 5-7 (leaving the vanilla in there too). Strain it all out and you've got some delicious flavor addition. Here's the ratio I use. It makes enough for about 10 gallons of beer, and once strained will keep on the shelf for over a year.

6 oz vodka
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 oz cacao nibs

Something about the vanilla adds a slight sweetness to the bitter chocolate flavor that you get from the nibs. In the end you don't really notice the vanilla, but the difference in the chocolate aroma is incredible!

Also, +1 for using cold-brewed coffee and adding at bottling.
 
MagicMatt said:
I'd also suggest soaking your nibs in vodka for a week and then straining the nibs out and only adding the chocolate infused vodka.

And if you want it to be even better, before adding your nibs, take a vanilla bean and split in half, scrape all of the seeds out and add the seeds and split pod to the vodka for 7 days. Then add your nibs for another 5-7 (leaving the vanilla in there too). Strain it all out and you've got some delicious flavor addition. Here's the ratio I use. It makes enough for about 10 gallons of beer, and once strained will keep on the shelf for over a year.

6 oz vodka
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 oz cacao nibs

Something about the vanilla adds a slight sweetness to the bitter chocolate flavor that you get from the nibs. In the end you don't really notice the vanilla, but the difference in the chocolate aroma is incredible!

Also, +1 for using cold-brewed coffee and adding at bottling.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to try the cold coffee at bottling idea. How many ounces of coffee beans should I use and how much water? I have a coffee grinder and just want to make sure I use enough coffee beans.
 
MagicMatt said:
I'd also suggest soaking your nibs in vodka for a week and then straining the nibs out and only adding the chocolate infused vodka.

And if you want it to be even better, before adding your nibs, take a vanilla bean and split in half, scrape all of the seeds out and add the seeds and split pod to the vodka for 7 days. Then add your nibs for another 5-7 (leaving the vanilla in there too). Strain it all out and you've got some delicious flavor addition. Here's the ratio I use. It makes enough for about 10 gallons of beer, and once strained will keep on the shelf for over a year.

6 oz vodka
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 oz cacao nibs

Something about the vanilla adds a slight sweetness to the bitter chocolate flavor that you get from the nibs. In the end you don't really notice the vanilla, but the difference in the chocolate aroma is incredible!

Also, +1 for using cold-brewed coffee and adding at bottling.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to try the cold coffee at bottling idea. How many ounces of coffee beans should I use and how much water? I have a coffee grinder and want to make sure I use enough coffee beans. It's going to be a 5 gallon batch.
 
It depends on how much coffee flavor you want to get into it. Obviously you don't want to pour a gallon of coffee (water) in the beer, but too little water and you won't extract as much flavor necessarily.

Others may differ, but when I make mine I like to use about 8oz of whole bean, very coursely ground (just a couple of pulses in my grinder) and about 20oz of water. Let it sit for 24-48 hours and then strain through a filter.

The main thing to remember is to taste the coffee before dumping it in the beer. If it doesn't taste good by itself (too bitter or astringent), it'll only make the beer bad.
 
Cold pressed coffee makes the best addition in my experience, and if the cocoa nibs aren't already roasted, roast them first. There is a huge difference in the flavor of roasted nibs v. unroasted. The un roasted nibs taste like "chocolate candy", and roasted nibs taste like a chocolate bar. IMHO
 
MindenMan said:
Cold pressed coffee makes the best addition in my experience, and if the cocoa nibs aren't already roasted, roast them first. There is a huge difference in the flavor of roasted nibs v. unroasted. The un roasted nibs taste like "chocolate candy", and roasted nibs taste like a chocolate bar. IMHO
Click to expand...


Awesome!!! I'll keep you guys posted with the end results.
 

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