Chocolate in beer

has anyone used cocoa nibs? i'm doing a mint chocolate stout, its an extract and partial mash.

6 lbs amber dme,
1lb biscuit malt,
1 lb chocolate malt,
1/2 lb roasted barley,
1/2 lb black patent.

1/2 oz northern brewer pellets at 60 min
1 oz northern brewer at 20 min.

at the end of the boil,
1 oz fresh spearmint,
1 life saver mint.

I figure around 2-3 ounces of cocoa nibs. i want there to be a definite chocolate taste, is this enough? along with the dark malts maybe i should stick with 2 oz cocoa nibs and taste after fermentation. if needed i could go to secondary and add crushed cocoa nibs?

 

There are a lot of threads on this forum about the use of chocolate. I know because I'm planning to do a vanilla chocolate stout this weekend and I have been trying to figure the best way to incorporate vanilla beans and chocolate into my recipe.

I've used cocoa nibs before and found them to be pretty bitter. I unfortunately don't remember the amount I used. This weekend I think I'll be boiling cocoa powder into a paste and adding it to my boil and/or fermenter.

A lot of people have different opinions whether to use nibs or powder, and when to add them. You best option is to experiment, and then let us know how it works out.

 

I don't get any bitterness from nibs. A package of nibs should be 8-12 ounces, and that's how much you should use. It's a pretty subtle chocolate flavor. I like to boil cocoa powder for about 5 minutes, and then do the nibs in secondary.

That doesn't look like much mint- you won't be able to taste the one mint saver, and plus that has sugarfree sweetner in it. I definitely wouldn't want that in my beer. I'd add some sanitized mint or mint extract to your secondary with the nibs, or extract at bottling.

 

Cool. Im going to do chocolate powder at the end of the boil and nibs in secondary. Mint in boil and secondary, and im going to add lactose to the end of the boil. Hopefully ill be somewhat close to a milk chocolate mint stout.

 

I had asked the local homebrew supply store about this after seeing a mint chocolate stout mentioned at a local craft beer store. I'm still pretty much of a kit guy, so am planning to use the Imperial Stout kit, and they suggested the powdered coco method and mint extract, but I'm keeping my eyes open to other ideas for now. I want to start this in early February so it's ready for St Patty's Day.

 

Yeah, im going to scower the grocery store for mint extract, see what they got. Def still want to use fresh leaves.