Aztec Imperial Stout

[flowerysong]

The thing to be worried about with head retention is the cacao butter and oils. the nibs are pretty low to negligible in the fats so boiling them probably wouldn't add much. Actually taking cacao and adding to the boil would be a substantial addition of fat.

Nibs are roasted, dehusked, lightly crushed beans. They still contain the full amount of cocoa butter that was originally in the bean (though you'll probably extract less than if you added chocolate liquor, which is nibs that have been finely ground to release the fat). To entirely avoid adding the fats you would have to use the the separated cocoa solids, which are sold as cocoa powder in your friendly neighbourhood grocer's.

 

[Orangevango]

Ok, so cocoa powder is the way to go? Im brewing this in the next week, so I need some opinions.

 

[MrNate]

The cocoa powder had a tendency to settle out when I tried this. I added it in the last 5 minutes of the boil, so boiling it longer might be the way to go. I just ended up serving it like a hefeweizen, mixing and dumping the sediment into the glass. When served that way, it had a nice chocolate flavor. Otherwise, it was pretty subdued and I suspect it was mostly from the chocolate malt.

How many/what kind of peppers did you decide on?

 

[imaguitargod]

I retract my challenge and bow to your superior buds.

The reason I suggested an infusion to begin with was a way to add the flavor and heat without throwing the peppers directly in and causing ptotential contamination.

You really don't have to worry about contamination with the pepeprs b/c they are naturally anti-bacterial. One of the reasons why they were used so heavly in the past is because they caused the meals to spoil less rapidly.

If you are REAAAALLLLYYY concerned just boil them in water for 5 minutes and you'll be set to go.