how much is too much? cocoa nibs

I am brewing a chocolate porter. I know a lot of people have strong opinions on using powder or nibs to get the chocolaty taste. i have decided to go with nibs but now I am trying to determine how much to use. I plan on blanching the nibs and then adding them to the secondary for 7 days, but I have not figured out how much. I see a lot of recipes calling for 4-6oz. for a 5 gal batch for a nice subtle chocolate taste. but I am wondering what 8-10oz would taste like. has any one ever tried that much in a porter? what were the results? i figure anything over 10 oz would probably turn it in to cocoapuffs beer. I want the chocolate flavor to be upfront but not ridiculously over the top. below is my recipe.

Thank you for any and all responses.

4lb 6 row
4lb 2 row
.5lb munich
.5lb crystal 40
.5lb crystal 80
.5lb crystal 120
1.5lb british chocolate wheat malt
.5lb roasted barley
.5lb cararoma
.25lb oats flaked
.25lb lactose

1oz northern brewer at 60
.5oz fuggle at 20
.5oz fuggle at 10

1332 northern ale yeast

 

fwiw, I always use 8 ounces of nibs that have soaked in alcohol for a few days then dump the whole thing into a carboy and rack a 5 gallon batch of stout on top for at least a couple of weeks before kegging and setting aside for as long as the pipeline allows (I always have a stout on nitro).

I used to use unflavored vodka but switched to dark rum and the character is deep and amazing. For a porter perhaps the vodka would be a better choice, but either way the extract is much higher than just dumping nibs in beer...

Cheers!

 

If you really want the "chocolaty" flavor from the nibs, roast them, and then soak in alcohol, and crush the nibs in the alcohol for a few days at least. If you don't roast them first the flavor they add is not chocolaty... YMMV

 

Awesome, thanks for the advise.

 

How would you suggest roasting them?


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Roasting is a good idea. Four ounces is plenty to start with.To accentuate the chocolate taste rather than the bitterness (try a bite of bakers chocolate) many people will also add a couple of vanilla beans. Split them, cut them up and put them in the alcohol with the nibs.

 

Just a side note on the alcohol you use to soak them in - I brewed a big mole stout and soaked the secondary additions (dried peppers, cacao nibs and crushed beans, cinnamon, and vanilla bean) in a quantity of vodka. Unfortunately, I used too much vodka and you could feel the heat of it in the finished beer. And your mouth would start to go numb after a couple. You might want to let the alcohol evaporate some or use something better suited for beer, like whiskey, as your sterilizing agent on your nib additions.

 

Jeeze...With all that going on, how could you be sure the heat was from the alcohol?

Cheers!

 

Whiskey will alter the flavor of beer. I don't know if your issue was the vodka.

 

So what is the suggested roasting technique? Time & temperature please.

 

Nibs are produced from roasted cocoa beans, so I'm not sure what benefit re-roasting them would provide. I've never roasted nibs though, so it's possible there is something to it.

I should try that some time...

Cheers!

 

Sorry man, I hate to bust your chops, but nibs are also Un roasted cacoa beans. Roasting them brings out the oils (cocoa butter), and would have a very limited shelf life if sold roasted, as the oils would go rancid. Nibs, they come in their "shells" and have a very long shelf life kept out of air and heat. Check the package you purchase yours in. They are sold both ways.

 

I use nibs not only for beer, but also for cooking and baking quite often. All the nibs I have ever bought have been roasted already as are any nibs that are used to manufacture chocolate. The only way I would forsee nibs not being roasted would be as a health food purchase from a store like whole foods. I think a half a pound is great in a stout of moderate to high gravity.

 

Also roasting the beans, as with roasting nuts, helps preserve the oil from going rancid. If you need proof roast a cup of almonds and leave a cup raw. Try them after a month in the pantry. The raw ones will go rancid much faster. Also jibs do not come in any sort of shell. They are crushed cocoa beans. You may be able to buy un crushed beans, but they are not called nibs.

 

Bad choice of words: "shell" was the wrong word, not shell like a walnut. What I meant to say is, the outside of a raw cocoa nib is pretty resilient.

 

I have never, ever seen the nibs sold unroasted. It is almost always the case that the beans are roasted before winnowing. Some chocolatiers or brewers may elect to roast their nibs again, but I don't know of any source of winnowed, unroasted nibs.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ELL9GI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

These are what I buy. Raw should mean unroasted, no?

 

Those are a health food product designed for direct human consumption. Nibs used in the production of chocolate are roasted as whole beans and then crushed to make nibs. It is true roasting brings out the chocolate character. When I want nibs for beer I buy them from the chocolate section of bulk foods store or order them from Callebaut chocolate. Sorry if I came across as rude. I just have a lot of experience in the business of chocolate is all.

 

To answer the question:

Roast raw nibs at 300 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Keep you nose going! When it smells chocolate-y, like a dark chocolate brownie, get 'em out of the heat. Nibs go from roasted to burnt pretty quickly.

 

These are the same ones I bought. I haven't used them yet. Are these not good to use in beer?

 

I used them unroasted in a stout and found them interesting, more fruity and vinous than chocolate. Toast em up if you want a more traditional chocolate flavor. If you don't like the way they taste out of the bag, you should toast them.

 

So any suggestions on amount? Currently I am doing a test I put nibs equivalent to 6,8,10 oz for a 5gal bucket. So it was ruffly 3 gram, 5 grams, 7 grams, in water for a week while the porter is in primary to see how the favors come out. But i was curious if any one has tried more then 8 oz on nibs in a 5 gal batch. I have not seen a recipe to do so. Is there a reason?

 

Nibs soaking in water will not release as much flavor as those in alcohol. Alcohol has the ability to dissolve both water and fat based components. You will be missing out on a lot of flavors this way. This is why flavoring extracts are made with alcohol.

 

8 oz. Of nibs was quite pronounced in the last stout I used them for. It also had coffee and oak to balance it out.

 

Soaked mine in vanilla vodka overnight before racking my chocolate stout on them for two weeks. Will do that again this fall for NB's chocolate stout.

 

Ok so I did 9 oz. nibs and a vanilla bean in vodka. It came out pretty good but all the chocolate flavor is on the back end. And it's strong, like one of those fancy chocolate bars that have a percentage of cocoa on it. Would say its around 70-80%

How do you get the chocolate flavor more infused though out the beer and get the chocolate not do heavy on the back end

 

I would say that if you want the chocolate flavor to shine you may need to drop the vanilla vodka and use plain or just tossed in soaked nibs in like a dry hop. You could also drop the bitterness and hops a touch so there are less competing flavors with the chocolate. Dropping the bitterness will really help your chocolate on the front end as bitterness is often perceived first when drinking a beer.

 

I'm currently in second fermentation of a local home brew store owners chocolate porter recipe that I guess he got a few awards for...his sister said. I'm using 16 Oz of nibs dry for 10 days five gallon batch. I'll let you know how it turns out. Better be good, equals out to $25 a twelve pack.

 

I'd love to see how it turns out please let me know

 

1 lb of cocoa nibs turns out to be a bit much or maybe ten days was too long to let it soak into the beer.....very bitter and unpleasant like eating bakers chocolate. For some reason my girlfriend said she liked it though.

 

I've never used nibs, only unsweetened cocoa powder for a chocolate oatmeal stout I make, and the results have been fabulous... But would soaking the powder in alcohol help bring out more flavor? Or is soaking basically a way of releasing the flavors from the cacao beans?






And FWIW, I use 10 oz of unsweetened cocoa powder in a five gallon batch, and I get a deep, strong, but not overpowering, chocolate flavor. I add it near the end of boil, then rack from primary to secondary after two weeks (or straight to keg, depending on what my pipeline situation is). Obviously this probably does not approximate the flavor profile from the same amount of nibs though...

 

Well, thanks for posting, I'll be sticking with 8 ounces per 5 gallon batch

As for the GF, remember, 25% of the women in this country are on medication for mental illness.
That means 75% are running around untreated....

Cheers!