Dry Hopping Cocoa Nibs

The Northern Brewer Chocolate Milk Stout calls for Dry Hopping Cacao Nibs.

Chocolate Milk Stout Extract Kit w/ Specialty Grains : Northern Brewer


1. Assuming a fermentation period of a few weeks, adding the Nibs after 2 weeks (for a 1 week dry hop) seems risky as it will let in Oxygen.
Is this a concern?


2. What would be the effect of adding the Nibs along with the Yeast and letting them sit for 3 weeks? 2. Will it make the beer too chocolatey?

Also - I thought - perhaps mistakenly - that chocolate taste was possible from the various grains, so in a way its "cheating" to not get the chocolately flavor from them, and instead using cocoa beens.

3. Any comments on the recipe kit?
KIT INVENTORY:
SPECIALTY GRAIN
-- 0.25 lbs English Extra Dark Crystal
-- 0.75 lbs Fawcett Pale Chocolate Malt
FERMENTABLES
-- 6 lbs Dark malt syrup
-- 1 lb Lactose
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
-- 1 oz Cluster (60 min)
-- 0.5 oz Cluster (30 min)
-- 4 oz Cacao Nibs (add to secondary for 2 weeks)

I aged a porter on cacao nibs for 6 weeks last year so I would say IMO, 1 week isn't enough.
The Co2 produced by fermentation is heaver than air so theoretically, it would separate your wort from air getting in via the open lid.
Adding during fermentation you would lose some of the aroma. That's why it's after primary fermentation.
The cheating thing is relative to how you look at.

I used cocoa nibbs in a Porter and left it for 2 weeks it gave a nice chocoalate flavour almost as an after taste, but still more pronounced that without the nibbs. I just brewed this beer again and will do the same thing.

Cocoa power provides much, much more flavor than nibs... and has very little fat besides.

Yeah, but you don't have to wait as long for the beer to clear with the nibs. But the point is really moot, since you either have to wait for it to clear or wait for it to age long enough.

Double_D said:

Yeah, but you don't have to wait as long for the beer to clear with the nibs. But the point is really moot, since you either have to wait for it to clear or wait for it to age long enough.

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True, but most beers that chocolate are appropriate in do well with some aging anyway, so you're only doing your beer a favor with the extra wait time.

My point exactly. It would probably just cost more for the nibs. I took the bag I have from work because I got tired of looking at them. But I remember a porter I tried to make when I was first starting out. I put way to much powder in.

I would add the nibs to a secondary, then rack on top of them. I don't usually use secondaries, but probably would for adding things like this. I wouldn't be concerned about oxygen.

I racked on top of 4 oz of cocoa nibs for about 4 days and got lots of nice chocolate flavor. Like IrregularPulse. I added the nibs to the bottom of my secondary bucket, then racked on top.

I am also a fan of chocolate malt. It definitely adds a nice chocolaty flavor but for my chocolate porter I prefer using the malt, a few tablespoons of cocoa powder in the last 5 min of boil, and 4oz + of nibs for 4 days to a week.

i think cocoa powder is too likely to just dissolve in and form hot chocolate. plus the high surface area means you could pull out undesireable flavors sooner.

on a second note, has anyone tried aging over cocoa beans?

Cocoa beans are what nibs and powder are made from, they just have less surface area and I would expect it to take longer to get a significant flavor from them.

Double_D said:

Cocoa beans are what nibs and powder are made from, they just have less surface area and I would expect it to take longer to get a significant flavor from them.

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yeah i'm just not sure if they have gone through enough processing to really start to have that chocolate taste, or if they have other flavors that haven't been removed yet that might not jive well

If they're roasted I'd expect them to be ready for use. It didn't dawn on me that you might have gotten unroasted beans. That would be easy enough to take care of in the oven though.

Double_D said:

If they're roasted I'd expect them to be ready for use. It didn't dawn on me that you might have gotten unroasted beans. That would be easy enough to take care of in the oven though.

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Some of them are. I know my local health food store sells 1lb bags of cocoa beans for the raw foodies. They are a pretty good deal too, but I haven't bought any. I hadn't considered them being less chocolatey. I think I'd me more steered toward cocoa.

actually there is a good reason to use cocoa liquor solids, instead of whole beans and/or nibs. both of those are approximately 50% cocoa butter, which is pure veggie fat, and is processed to remove strong undesirable tastes before being turned into white chocolate. plus i remember hearing that fats are generally unwelcome in beer