chocolate nibs

Ok, so based on everything I read here, I am going to make a coffee milk stout. I am using 16oz of cold brewed coffee right at the end of the boil, then I plan to add cocoa nibs and vanilla bean to the secondary. I think I'm going to combine two strategies used here and soak the vanilla beans in a small amount of vodka and boil 8oz nibs in water. I will then add both slurries to the secondary along with 16oz brewed espresso at bottling. Any opinions?

Primary: strawberry wheat
Bottled: maple wheat, honey Hefenweizen, and apricot wheat,

FWIW, I did a fair amount or research and found people seem to think the nibs work best and in order to extract the best flavor is to soak them in alcohol at least overnight. But I also read people have good luck with powder etc. I guess it's up to personal preference.

I have an oatmeal stout I was planning on racking on 4 oz of nibs in vodka last weekend but when I opened the primary, it still had a thick layer of krausen so I left in another week.

So now today I'm going to rack it on top of my nibs that been soaking for a week in vodka. By now a lot of the chocolate is in the vodka so I'm going to make sure to get all the liquid in. I'm also going to put the nibs in a hop sack.

Mrgreenlee said:

Ok, so based on everything I read here, I am going to make a coffee milk stout. I am using 16oz of cold brewed coffee right at the end of the boil, then I plan to add cocoa nibs and vanilla bean to the secondary. I think I'm going to combine two strategies used here and soak the vanilla beans in a small amount of vodka and boil 8oz nibs in water. I will then add both slurries to the secondary along with 16oz brewed espresso at bottling. Any opinions?

Primary: strawberry wheat
Bottled: maple wheat, honey Hefenweizen, and apricot wheat,

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Personally I would just combine the vanilla and nibs and soak them in some vodka. Easier and just as effective.

Hey guys, not sure if this has been addressed, but I have come across many sources (mainly baking sites) that say that the fats and oils and stuff are still in the nibs. Im wondering if anyone has thought about this and how they addressed it.

This is what I plan to do:
I have been soaking mine for a few weeks in vodka. When the time comes (probably in a few months), I plan on somehow (by somehow I mean, liquid and nibs or just liquid) putting them in the freezer to solidify the fats. I will skim that off and then they will be ready to toss in to secondary.

I want to do this because I think that fats and oils from these nibs will kill the head retention. If I wasnt concerned about the head, then i wouldn't do this, but I love me a nice thick, brown head!

Any thoughts on this?

@Rake Rocko - I had a 4 oz addition at the end of the boil and 4 oz in secondary. I had no issues with head retention. I had the same thoughts that you had about it originally but was pleasantly surprised with the nice, long lasting head that the beer had.

I made Midwest' Choc Covered Beavr Nuts. Took out the peanut butter and added banana extract. Also added 1/2 cup of coco powder and 4 oz of cocoa nibs. It looks really chocolatey and delicious. I'd stick with just the 4 oz package.

same question but different style beer.

am planning on a belgian golden ale with nibs in secondary for Christmas. it is a 2.5 Gallon batch . I have 4 oz nibs but was thinking 2 oz. and save the other two for a stout or porter. or would it be more appropriate to use 1 oz for the style? any suggestions for those who have used nibs? this is the first I will be using them.

So I've written about this under other nibs threads. I have tried the vodka-soaked method, but the effects weren't really apparent anywhere but in the nose.

UPDATE:

The no-boil, no-soak, add-them-suckers-straight-up method has proven to be a better choice.

The flavor change was unexpected and intense and it's only been two day. I may remove the nibs sooner than later, even though I hoped to serve it for dessert for Thanksgiving.

I added 4oz to 5 gallons in the keg two days ago and it has drastically changed the nose and the flavor. I boiled a muslin bag and some non-flavored dental floss. I added the nibs to the muslin bag and tied the bag with the floss to one of the ball-lock posts.

Please note: if your o-rings are old, the floss may cause a slight leak. A dab of keg lube around the top of the o-ring fixed the sealing problem.

From Jeff Bagby (regarding his Coffee Monster imperial porter):
After full primary fermentation, the beer is chilled over a number of days until cellar temp (32-34). Then it is transferred into a bright tank with coarse ground coffee and cacao nibs. The grounds and nibs are set in the tank before the beer is transferred. The grounds and nibs are tied up in straining bags in the tank. The beer is carbonated and while sitting cold on the grounds and nibs for 48 to 72 hours. Then the beer is pushed into another bright tank and is served from there.

Are the nibs that you guys using, raw or roasted? Im about to go pick up some raw (because that is what the store has) and wanted to know if I should roast them in the oven or not.

Thanks!

JayUnt said:

Are the nibs that you guys using, raw or roasted? Im about to go pick up some raw (because that is what the store has) and wanted to know if I should roast them in the oven or not.

Thanks!

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I use raw and roast them off myself. Just 170*f for about 10 min. When the kitchen smells of dark chocolate then I know they are done.

I put them straight in from the package. No roasting.

I've brewed a Chocolate Stout with powder and it was awesome. Seen a few recipes for Porters. I now have some roasted nibs and thinking about what to do with them. Any other beer style suggestions for using nibs?

kaconga said:

I use raw and roast them off myself. Just 170*f for about 10 min. When the kitchen smells of dark chocolate then I know they are done.

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Thanks. Im going to roast them up and then throw them in into 1/2 if the 10 gallons of black ipa that is currently fermenting. Can't wait to try them side by side to see the difference.

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Curtis2010 said:

I've brewed a Chocolate Stout with powder and it was awesome. Seen a few recipes for Porters. I now have some roasted nibs and thinking about what to do with them. Any other beer style suggestions for using nibs?

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Nothing?

I'm now thinking of a Schwarzbier with a touch of chocolate.

Anything that has some roast character would probably benefit from nibs

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AgentHubcap said:

Anything that has some roast character would probably benefit from nibs

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I think so, just recently tapped a very nice homebrew Schwarzbier. Nice roasty taste. Maybe add some coca nibs to the next batch.

This is funny - I had a question about Chocolate nibs and found this pretty good thread. Then I see I answered my question 8 years ago LOL