Addincg Cacao

[morrillt]

So i live in Colombia South America.... Lots of Cacao.

I have a whole bunch of roasted chocolate here, no problemo...


So my question is, can i just grind it in my corona and add it to my fermenter? I see lots of people saying you can add it in after the primary is done fermenting, and what I dont get is, can I just add it on top or do i need to rack, and do a whole secondary chamber?

What I would like is to understand if I can just add some cacao two weeks in for the final week, or if there is some reason i would need to rack first, I would like to understand why?

I am breing an oatmeal stout.



Best,
Todd

 

[butterpants]

Todd, what I use are the nibs. They have been processed (roasted I guess but they are not straight up caco beans).

Take the nibs and soak them in cheap vodka. Last time I used 8oz nibs and 400ml vodka. Let them steep a week or two. Add the entire infusion, nibs and all once you've racked to secondary. Leave it a week or two.

 

[jflongo]

If they are sterilized ones in a bag, you can toss them in secondary and rack on top of them. If you are getting them in bulk, then I agree soak them in vodka first. I leave mine in secondary on nibs for 7 days.

 

[scottballz]

There is a lot of debate on whether to rack to a secondary or not. The big issue with racking to a secondary is the risk of oxidation. I have heard of many people adding cocoa and other flavor additions right to the primary with great results. If you would like to take this route, I would just wait until your gravity stops dropping and your primary fermentation is done, then add your sanitized cocoa. Like the others have suggested, soaking it in vodka for a week works very well.
Cheers

 

[jflongo]

There is a lot of debate on whether to rack to a secondary or not. The big issue with racking to a secondary is the risk of oxidation. I have heard of many people adding cocoa and other flavor additions right to the primary with great results. If you would like to take this route, I would just wait until your gravity stops dropping and your primary fermentation is done, then add your sanitized cocoa. Like the others have suggested, soaking it in vodka for a week works very well.
Cheers

Depends on whether you want to wash your yeast or not. If not, sure primary is fine. Cheers.

 

[scottballz]

Depends on whether you want to wash your yeast or not. If not, sure primary is fine. Cheers.

Thank you for adding that. I completely forgot.