Cacao Nibs: How to prepare for secondary?

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rshwayder

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I'm about to make my 5th batch of beer. I'm going pretty experimental this time, and I'm planning on adding either 4 or 8 oz of cacao nibs during secondary fermentation.

The question is, how do I prepare them? It seems like there are three options:

  1. Do nothing. Assume they are clean enough when packed to go right into the beer. Problem: Seems scary. I don't want to destroy a batch.
  2. Heat 'em up. Either boil them in some water or put them in the oven. Problem: Seems like they would melt and become a syrup.
  3. Use alcohol to clean them. Maybe swish around a little bourbon to sanitize them so they can be tossed in. Problem: I'm not 100% sure this would sanitize them, and I also don't want to impart too much additional flavor with the bourbon.
  4. Other. Any other thoughts you have are more than welcome.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!
 
I'm about to make my 5th batch of beer. I'm going pretty experimental this time, and I'm planning on adding either 4 or 8 oz of cacao nibs during secondary fermentation.

The question is, how do I prepare them? It seems like there are three options:

  1. Do nothing. Assume they are clean enough when packed to go right into the beer. Problem: Seems scary. I don't want to destroy a batch.
  2. Heat 'em up. Either boil them in some water or put them in the oven. Problem: Seems like they would melt and become a syrup.
  3. Use alcohol to clean them. Maybe swish around a little bourbon to sanitize them so they can be tossed in. Problem: I'm not 100% sure this would sanitize them, and I also don't want to impart too much additional flavor with the bourbon.
  4. Other. Any other thoughts you have are more than welcome.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks!

I just added them to the secondary when I made a chocolate Milk stout. There were no issues with an infection of any kind. I tried one of the brews and the cacao bitterness is still there a little bit but I am sure it will mellow with time
 
Those things are fermenting on the forest floor when they're harvested. I've also heard of people getting infections when using those untreated in secondary.
 
Those things are fermenting on the forest floor when they're harvested. I've also heard of people getting infections when using those untreated in secondary.

I had no infection in my stout. I guess it is possible. I also added real raw bananas to the Banana Bread Ale I made and no issues their either
 
i made a banana milk stout with nibs and real bananas

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no infection, but beer was REAL acidic
 
I would suggest maybe adding some cocoa at the end of the boil maybe 4oz and then maybe no more than 4oz of nibs in secondary to balance things out. They are real deal dark chocolate flavor. Go ahead and try one.... you'll see.

I didn't get an infection with mine by just throwing them in but a little vodka soak wouldn't hurt anything.
 
This is how I did it.

Put them in a coffee grinder and busted them up a bit. I know they are already cracked, but I thought this might extract more of the stuff from the center. Roasted in a 350 oven for about 30 min.

I brewed a Russian Imperial stout with these back in January of 2008. Just had the last bottle a few months ago. Cocoa flavor was still very noticeable.
 
Thanks all. It looks like I should at least plan on sanitizing them to be safe. I'll decide between the oven and a little vodka/bourbon later.
 
the bananas stayed suspended... i think if i was to try it again, i would underpitch the british yeast, pitch some hefe yeast halfway through and finish the ferment warm (in the 70's) rather than add the bananas.. the cocoa nibs, no prob as is
 
Can the cocoa nibs be dipped in Star-san?
Stan-san doesn't hurt the beer so it shouldn't hurt the nibs, or is this just a dumb thought?
 
Also wondering - can you use baker's chocolate (100% cocoa) instead of the nibs? Primarily interested because I wouldn't know where to get real cocoa nibs, and baker's chocolate is mad cheap.
 
Also wondering - can you use baker's chocolate (100% cocoa) instead of the nibs? Primarily interested because I wouldn't know where to get real cocoa nibs, and baker's chocolate is mad cheap.

if it is 100% cocoa then yes you can. I added 8 oz @ flame out and used the Cacao nibs in the secondary. I have also used cocoa powder and pure chocolate extract. I think cacao nibs just take longer to mellow out.
 
Those things are fermenting on the forest floor when they're harvested. I've also heard of people getting infections when using those untreated in secondary.

I can't say this for all nibs, but the ones that we sell are NOT fermenting on the forest floor when harvested. They are pulled and the pods are fermented in a controlled environment and cared for each step of the way.

I've used them for about a year now and I've never sanitized them or had a contamination issue that I or judges have been able to detect. I would guess that the nibs are acidic enough to not let things grow on them. But that is a guess.

Currently I have a beer with nibs in it for about 8 months with no contamination issues and a HUGE coco-like flavor.
 
+1 to Bill. Been looking all over for nibs and haven't been able to find any.

Don't know where you've been looking but the LHBS I visit has them in stock (Strange Brew, web site is www.home-brew.com)... Also seen them on Amazon.com from a few sources (just be selective when you go through the results)...

I have three 4oz packages in my inventory of brewing supplies right now... I've been formulating the next recipe to brew for about a week now and I think I'm going to add a package (or maybe 1/2 a package) of course ground nibs (I have a good coffee grinder I can use) to a porter or stout... Or maybe make a chocolate cream ale... :drunk:

So many choices...

So few primaries...
 
I use the ones at morebeer, as they have the best flavor and aroma that I have seen.
 
I was interested in the cocoa nib info but now I'm dreaming and salivating over some banana bread ale:D

Thanks a lot Zman, now I'm obsessed with that idea.
 
This is how I did it.

Put them in a coffee grinder and busted them up a bit. I know they are already cracked, but I thought this might extract more of the stuff from the center. Roasted in a 350 oven for about 30 min.

I brewed a Russian Imperial stout with these back in January of 2008. Just had the last bottle a few months ago. Cocoa flavor was still very noticeable.

I tried this and ruined my nibs. I very roughly crushed them in a mortar and pestle and put them in the oven at 350 for about 15min. I took them out and they were a little smoky... tasted like burnt popcorn, very gross... and I love the flavor of nibs on their own.

I went out and bought another can of nibs (goodbye $10) and am soaking them in vodka overnight instead. I can't say I'm shocked as nibs are already roasted but I figured it'd work to sanitize them... typically they're roasted at a low temperature to preserve as much of that nutty fruity chocolate character as possible as well. I think the vodka method will be more flavorful anyhow.

Just thought I'd post my experience in case it helps anyone.
 
Just got a bag of nibs. Man.... They taste terrible! People put these in beer?

Anyway...

What's a good amount to add to secondary in an Imperial (8.3%) stout? I was thinking the whole 8 oz but I see people are having luck with 4?
 
Whole foods market bulk section is a gem for cacao nibs as you can get them by the pound instead of buying a whole bag.I got 4oz for about $3 Just started soaking them in Vodka. I'm assuming they should be soaked at room temperature?
 
Soaking mine in some grey good right now. I hope this works well! I also sanitized my glass measuring cup as an extra precaution.
 
yup, room temp is good. you could throw them in the fridge if you wanted, but room temp will likely aid with extraction. i wouldn't heat them about ambient temp tho.

My vodka was in the freezer, so I covered my nib-vodka concaction with some plastic wrap (in a glass measuring cup) and microwaved for about 40 seconds: a little warmer than room temp.
 
If it's a sealed package, why would you feel the need to "do" anything to them? They're meant to be eaten. We don't sanitize every bit of food we consume do we? We figure there's some level of sanitization involved in the food preparation industry, right? And these are food, right? So why would anyone feel that the contents of a SEALED package needs to be handled in any special way. I could understand if they were sitting in a jar or it was an opened bag, that there might be some concern, but a SEALED package?

I did spray the package and the scissors I opened them with with some sanitiser, but I just dumped them directly into my fermenter.
 
I tried this and ruined my nibs. I very roughly crushed them in a mortar and pestle and put them in the oven at 350 for about 15min. I took them out and they were a little smoky... tasted like burnt popcorn, very gross... and I love the flavor of nibs on their own.

I went out and bought another can of nibs (goodbye $10) and am soaking them in vodka overnight instead. I can't say I'm shocked as nibs are already roasted but I figured it'd work to sanitize them... typically they're roasted at a low temperature to preserve as much of that nutty fruity chocolate character as possible as well. I think the vodka method will be more flavorful anyhow.

Just thought I'd post my experience in case it helps anyone.

Suggestion: Consult with your brew shop when in doubt. My experience is they love helping and they are a quick phone call away. Better than ruining a batch of nips, or worse, 5 gallons of beer and hours of your time.
 
Oh crap...I fell for the old necro thread thing. :rolleyes:

I think it's really great that people search and find and post in old threads, but there are NEWER old threads out there. There was a cocoa nib discussion that was active until just before the holidays......How come the newer threads don't show up on top of the old ones...or why do folks a renaminate older threads if there are newer ones there? Doesn't search default to newer threads first?
 
i have used nibs for a chocolate coffee porter. they were in raw form when i purchased them. i roasted them whole(no crushing, no vodka) in the oven at 250 for 15 min. then i turned the oven off and let them sit for another 10 min. took them out and let them cool. whoa, they smell amazing!! then i put them into a paint strainer bag with some marbles. put into secondary for 2 weeks and i got a subtle chocolate component. exactly what i was going for. i used 8 oz.
 
When using vodka, do you dump the vodka into the brew as well? How much vodka do you use?

I had some great success with a bag of Cocoa Nibs purchased from a Sprouts grocery store. I just dropped them into secondary without any sanitizing. My rationale (completely flawed or not) was that it is a food product and in theory has to meet some kind of sanitation guide line. Also, the combination of the alcohol and ph of the beer should ward of any issues. I would not have simply dropped them into primary without sanitizing.

Again, this was all my own theory, but the the one-time result quite nice. It was a mocha stout.

Another thought on how one may kill of any baddies would be to pasteurize the nibs. I have used a double boiler (just a metal bowl sitting in a pot of boiling water) for pasteurizing fruit puree prior to putting into secondary. You could sanitize the bowl.. throw the nibs in there with just enough water to keep everything in contact and bring it up to just over 160 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cover, cool, and pitch the whole mess into your secondary.

I am curios to hear more on how people hand this.
 
I never soaked my cacao nibs in anything before dumping them into the batch. Zero issues with this method. Of course, I tend to add them to high ABV mead batches, not beers. :D Talking about 18%+ mead. :rockin:
 
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