So I thought I'd report back. Pulled a pint yesterday and a friend and I also had a bottle of the real thing to compare. Now in all fairness I did put 8 ounces of cacao nibs in the fermenter after a week, and let it sit for two weeks on the nibs. All I can say is wow! This is a really great recipe. You get the milk aroma and taste in the head, it is creamy and has the body of a milk stout. It has chocolate and roast, and then because of the nibs, I get the slight bitter dark chocolate in the finish which is unreal and really balances out the sweetness. This makes this beer not too sweet at all and very enjoyable. We actually both liked it better than the original bottle that we bought at the store! Thanks to the op for the recipe
If anyone is debating on using nibs, I say go for it. I used 8 ounces of nibs for my 11 gallon batch of beer in my fementer, to end up with two full five gallon corny kegs. I crushed the nibs a little with a cooking mallet in a plastic baggie (you could use a rolling pin), and then I put them in a pot. I just used enough water to cover the nibs. I boiled the nibs in the water for about a minute and a half. I then poured the nibs and entire contents into the fermenter (there is a good soupy extract that's made when boiled and you want to use that also) and I let it sit in the fermenter for two weeks. This is another way of doing it instead of using Vodka. Since I can do this in my conical I pumped additional C02 into the fermeter and purged through the pressure release valve several times for peace of mind, as I opened the small hatch to put in the nibs. I will definitely make this stout again!
John
If anyone is debating on using nibs, I say go for it. I used 8 ounces of nibs for my 11 gallon batch of beer in my fementer, to end up with two full five gallon corny kegs. I crushed the nibs a little with a cooking mallet in a plastic baggie (you could use a rolling pin), and then I put them in a pot. I just used enough water to cover the nibs. I boiled the nibs in the water for about a minute and a half. I then poured the nibs and entire contents into the fermenter (there is a good soupy extract that's made when boiled and you want to use that also) and I let it sit in the fermenter for two weeks. This is another way of doing it instead of using Vodka. Since I can do this in my conical I pumped additional C02 into the fermeter and purged through the pressure release valve several times for peace of mind, as I opened the small hatch to put in the nibs. I will definitely make this stout again!
John