Sanitizing Cocoa Nibs?

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Aunt_Ester

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I recently brewed the Chocolate Milk Stout from Northern Brewer. They supplied 4 oz of cocoa nibs with the recipe kit. I was unsure how to sanitize these so I looked up the PDF online for the extract kit (I'm using the AG kit), and it just says to add them to the secondary. No mention of sanitizing them.

I've heard from others to soak in vodka, but I don't get paid until Friday and I'm kinda on a timeline. Would boiling render these nibs less flavorful? Anyone have any experience with them? What about a long soak in Starsan?

All suggestions welcomed!
 
I've just added them directly into whatever they were going into. As long as the nibs are sealed up in a bag (vacuum packed?) you should be safe. If anything, sanitize the outside of the package, tear it open and dump into the brew (just don't go from on high). IF you wanted to sterilize them, use a small amount of boiled water, place the nibs into a glass jar (sanitized, along with a sanitized lid), cover in the boiling hot water, then cover the jar. Let cool to room temp and pitch everything in. Anything that gets pulled out with the hot water gets dumped into the brew too. So chances of losing anything is pretty much nil.

So far, I've not done this with anything but oak (when I used oak chips)... Even with my last use of oak cubes, in a mead, I didn't bother. I simply put them into the carboy before racking the mead (18%) onto them.
 
I say just add them. There is little risk of infection when adding them to your fermented beer. Nobody I know sanatizes hops when they dry hop in the secondary. Its really the same concept.
 
I used to just dump the nibs in the secondary fermenter and never had any problems with that. But on my latest batch I soaked them for a couple of days in vodka to see if it enhanced the extract. And I think it does - this batch of my triple chocolate honey stout is the best ever. It's freaky good...

Cheers!
 
The whole caboodle, of course! I used only a few ounces of unflavored vodka in eight ounces of nibs, kept it in a small sealed T'ware container, and gave it a good shake whenever I passed through the kitchen. It definitely upped the cocoa voltage!

Cheers!
 
Thanks - Chocolate Milk Stout is my first brew ever - been in the primary for 2 days. I'm going to have to get some vodka before I go to secondary then.
 
I say just add them. There is little risk of infection when adding them to your fermented beer. Nobody I know sanatizes hops when they dry hop in the secondary. Its really the same concept.

The difference here is that hops are antimicrobial. I cannot vouch with any certainty that nothing is living on the cocoa bean.
 
I agree with most people here: if your source is reliable and you don't mind the risk, dump them straight in; but if it were me, I'd soak them in a little vodka overnight first.
 
The difference here is that hops are antimicrobial. I cannot vouch with any certainty that nothing is living on the cocoa bean.

That is some what of a myth. Yes, they are a natural preservative and have anti bacterial properties once they are in your beer. However it would be virtually impossible that your hops are not covered in bacteria and wild yeast. It's the low PH, alcohol, and the hop compounds that are already extracted in your finished beer that make dry hopping or throwing in nibs safe.

Added protection would be lack of O2, but is not always a given in your fermenter.
 
The nibs are typically roasted so they should be free of bacteria, but you don't know how they were handled post-roasting. I soak mine in vodka overnight then add them, when I do a chocolate beer it's usually one I'm not willing to take risks on.

You can get a small bottle of quality vodka for about $4.50, that shouldn't break the bank.
 
I made a chocolate stout recently using cacao nibs from Northern Brewer and I just racked on to them in the secondary. No sanitizing of them nibs used. I won't say they are bacteria free or anything inside their vacuum packed seal, but the quantity of any potential bacteria on them I feel is small enough that the alcohol in the fermented beer should be good enough to eliminate any infection. This certainly isn't gospel. I haven't done research on this. Maybe the few times I've done it with cacao nibs and other such additives I've been lucky, but I've yet to have any issue caused by racking directly on to them.

Generally I find far more creative and boneheaded ways to ruin my beers! :D
 
I was going to do the same thing for my chocolate stout - I was thinking of using a bit of bourbon instead of vodka and soaking both the chocolate and the vanilla bean. Just to add a bit more flavor.
 
I've only used them one time, but I just crushed them with a rolling pin while they were in the bag and racked on top of them. If I remember correctly I didn't really notice any chocolate flavor or aroma. I would probably try soaking them.
 
I used 8oz's of nibs in a chocolate stout batch. I crushed them while inside of a bag and just dumped them right into the secondary and racked the beer on top of it. I left the beer on the nibs for about 5 days and had a nice noticeable chocolate flavor.
 
I ended up giving them a soak in starsan for about 12 hours. I then poured the entire solution with the nibs inside the fermentor. No adverse reactions. Tasted after 11 days and bottled. Most the chocolate contribution tastes like it came from the chocolate malt instead of the nibs.

The vodka soak is supposed to work because of its acidity. My logic in using starsan is that its an acid-based sanitizer. It's possible I didn't give the beer enough time on the nibs, but I wanted to bottle in time for Thxgiving. I just brewed the recipe again, and I will try again in a week using a soak in vodka. (What can I say I'm a huge milk stout lover.)

Thank you everyone who responded! I took all of your comments under advisement. I'll update on the next batch.


@Teal, How did yours turn out?
 
Vodka has two benefits: 1) it sanitizes because it is 40% (or higher) alcohol. There is no acid in vodka. 2) The high alcohol will extract alcohol soluable flavor compounds that won't extract as well in beer at 5-6% alcohol.

Star-San will certainly sanitize the surface of the nibs, but when you pour the whole thing in (including the star-san) it will make the resulting beer more acidic...and will change the flavor somewhat. How much depends on how much acid was actually added. Its not necessarily bad (phosphic acid can be used to adjust mash pH), but it will have some flavor impact. Should be interesting to see the difference with the vodka version.

I have 3 gallons of a robust porter with 4 oz vodka soaked nibs in the secondary as we speak. I used 4 oz nibs, and 4 oz vodka..soaked for an hour. I could have gone longer, but the vodka was already VERY chocolaty.
 
Just thought I would update my experiences.

I did one batch soaking 4oz nibs in starsan for about 12 hours; I then added the nibs plus the chocolately starsan solution to the beer. I let the primary sit with the nibs for 2 more weeks . The chocolate taste was very subtle.

I did another using 4oz nibs soaked in cheap vodka for about 12 hours. I let the primary sit with the nibs for 2 more weeks. There was considerably more chocolate aroma and the flavor was much bolder.

Either way proved sanitary. I would suggest using the vodka method and possibly bumping up the amount of nibs or allowing it to rest longer in the ferm.
 
Why Vodka - how about using something like Kahlua??

That'd probably work, but as Kahlua is made from coffee beans, you'd be adding coffee to your chocolate. Not that that's a bad thing, as long as that's what you're looking for.

When I do my triple chocolate honey imperial stout, I use unflavored, cheap vodka just 'cuz it's cheap and really boosts the chocolate intensity way above just dumping the nibs in the fermenter...

Cheers!
 
I went with Vodka because of the acidity and 40% ABV. Kahula had only 20%. I did think the coffee would be nice but . . . .

I soaked the nibs in a about 2 shots of vodka over night - then dumped them into the secondary and put the wort on top! They will sit a week and then I'll pig the batch and TRY not to drink it. This needs 4 months of aging to get GREAT but is only really really go before the two months so it's a struggle.
 
I used some in a stout and microwaved them for 5 sec . Worked fine and released a little of the oils wich I think helped the flavour come out in the beer a little
 
vodka for sure, first for sanitation, but second because the alcohol extracts the flavor better. my chocolate kona porter is super chocolaty!
 
I used to just dump the nibs in the secondary fermenter and never had any problems with that. But on my latest batch I soaked them for a couple of days in vodka to see if it enhanced the extract. And I think it does - this batch of my triple chocolate honey stout is the best ever. It's freaky good...

Cheers!
Hey day-trippr! Did you throw the vodka in with the nibs, or strain them and add?
 
Holy cow, that post goes waaay back!
fwiw, I switched from vodka to dark rum maybe 10 years ago - it's a perfect match for a 1.107 chocolate stout, totally sells it.

Anyway...yes, I dump the marinated nibs and the spirit extract in a fresh carboy and rack the stout on top as gently as possible. I also add a pair of split/scraped/chopped/smushed vanilla beans to the marinating process - if you're adding chocolate to a stout you simply must add some vanilla, too!

Cheers!
 
Holy cow, that post goes waaay back!
fwiw, I switched from vodka to dark rum maybe 10 years ago - it's a perfect match for a 1.107 chocolate stout, totally sells it.

Anyway...yes, I dump the marinated nibs and the spirit extract in a fresh carboy and rack the stout on top as gently as possible. I also add a pair of split/scraped/chopped/smushed vanilla beans to the marinating process - if you're adding chocolate to a stout you simply must add some vanilla, too!

Cheers!
Yes, I love resurrecting old posts 🤣
Thanks for this! I’m doing a stout but not imperial so I’ll do vodka this time, but am definitely making your recipe next month and will use dark rum (vanilla, too!)
 
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