Cacao Nib Tincture: Anybody Done This?

[Hoochin'Fool]

5 gallons beer at let's say 8% plus 30 oz at 45%
(640 oz * 8) + (30 oz * 45) / (640 + 30) =
(5120 + 1350) / 670 = 9.66% abv?

I was thinking it would go higher than that...

 

[day_trippr]

Wow. What is that coming in at - 1.125 - 1.130? Thats a real monster.

The 10 gallon batch takes the expected efficiency hit with such a huge grain bill while keeping the pre-boil at only 14 gallons, so it usually comes in between 1.110~1.115, and finishes between 1.025~1.028. Figure somewhere between 11.4 and 11.8% ABV.

If I wanted to spend more time boiling I could get that up maybe 10 points with extra sparging for an ABV between 12~12.5%, but that would in turn challenge the S-04 yeast which starts to struggle above 12-ish% even with a doubled pitch (2 packs per carboy). I'm happy I can reliably get it in the upper 11s and am not looking for much more as a 6 ounce pour already kicks my @ss into bed in short order...

Cheers!

 

[bwible]

5 gallons beer at let's say 8% plus 30 oz at 45%
(640 oz * 8) + (30 oz * 45) / (640 + 30) =
(5120 + 1350) / 670 = 9.66% abv?

I was thinking it would go higher than that...

Me too

 

[day_trippr]

Agree. I have been on a binge the last few years to try and get the chocolate taste of a Samuel Smiths Chocolate Stout.

If you really want to torture yourself find some establishment that has Young's Double Chocolate Stout on tap.

Their widget-canned version is pretty good but their kegged version is sublime. The first time I had it (at the Legal Seafoods Test Kitchen restaurant out on Bahstan Hahbah) I ran home to work up a recipe without having a clue how they did theirs. Got pretty darned close by just throwing a crapton of chocolate stuff at it at every step, plus some vanilla at packaging

Cheers!

 

[agentbud]

If you really want to torture yourself find some establishment that has Young's Double Chocolate Stout on tap.

Their widget-canned version is pretty good but their kegged version is sublime. The first time I had it (at the Legal Seafoods Test Kitchen restaurant out on Bahstan Hahbah) I ran home to work up a recipe without having a clue how they did theirs. Got pretty darned close by just throwing a crapton of chocolate stuff at it at every step, plus some vanilla at packaging

Cheers!

I live in Mississippi so I am used to a good torture. I have heard really good things about Young's Double Chocolate.

 

[ace0005]

I tried pouring some bourbon into a Baltic Porter I have already, and got a nice (admittedly strong) taste at around 5% by weight. So roughly I’m looking at 30 ounces of bourbon for a 5-gallon batch. This seems like a lot; never mind the nibs. Am I way off base, and going to regret things later?

I had a run in with the whiskey fairy last night...... he was not a gentleman!

 

[jackbflyin]

I did the below tincture recipe and then dosed my 5 gallon batch in the keg through the CO2 in post. I figured how many drops in 50 ml for flavor I wanted and then multiplied for 5 gallon. Easy and worked well. I can’t remember how much tincture I used. Actual website address at the bottom.

For about 6 oz of extract (usually enough for 10 gallons)

• 6 oz Vodka (something decent, but not too expensive - avoid yer "Popov" vodka!)
• 3 oz Cacao Nibs (I prefer roasted)

1. Mix the vodka and cacao nibs in a tight sealing jar like a jelly jar or mason jar. Shake every day, several times, for 4 days.
2. Strain the nibs out of the dark extract. Discard
3. Place the extract in the freezer overnight.
4. In the morning, carefully scrape out the fat cap of cocoa butter and discard. Remove any floaty bits and then store the extract on the shelf for approximately a year.

https://www.maltosefalcons.com/blogs/brewing-techniques-tips/cacao-nib-extract-drew-way

 

[bernardsmith]

Most extracts are made with Vodka. My mom makes vanilla extract often. It takes weeks to months . Try making some a couple months before your going to need it. You shouldn't be getting any vodka taste . You can't soak for a week or two and expect to get that full flavor extracted is what I've found .

Totally agree. I often make extracts to add to liqueurs I make and it takes at least a month, in my experience to fully extract flavors from nuts or coffee, spices or fruit zest. How are folk here able to fully extract flavors in two or three days? Are you using some method of maceration other than simply using the alcohol as a solvent?

 

[bdreck]

Somewhat related to the nibs topic is that I once used cacao husks to augment chocolate malt in a recipe. These are cheap and easy to use in the boil.

 

[AlexKay]

Love this! I pretty much followed your protocol with this exception. I added nibs to a cherry wine and the oil residue took a long while to dissipate.

I just took my bourbon-nib-extract out of the freezer, and there was no fat/oil/cocoa butter to speak of. I mean, a tiny oil-slick-like bit if the light was just right. I'll see whether there are negative effects on foam in a couple of weeks when I try the beer.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I rarely see any oil/fat on the surface of my nib extraction but when I eventually chill the stout it gets dumped into there is typically a waxy substance that ends up clinging to the sides of the fermentor when it's drained into a keg that I presume is the fats/oils that were dissolved in the dark rum. Wouldn't amount to a teaspoonful...

Cheers!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

https://www.apexflavors.com/Beverag...avor-flavoring-natural-beer-wine-spirits~2891

Those look promising... Most of Apex's products (at least the chocolate ones) say "for beer, start at a 0.20% use level" and adjust from there...

So if I've got 1 gallon of beer (128 ounces) I want to flavor... I'd want 128 * 0.20%, or 128 * (0.2/100) or 0.256 oz of Apex choco flavoring, correct?

Next question: how the hell do you pick from: { chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate chip, chocolate coconut, chocolate hazelnut, chocolate pretzel } ?!?

 

[Jag75]

Those look promising... Most of Apex's products (at least the chocolate ones) say "for beer, start at a 0.20% use level" and adjust from there...

So if I've got 1 gallon of beer (128 ounces) I want to flavor... I'd want 128 * 0.20%, or 128 * (0.2/100) or 0.256 oz of Apex choco flavoring, correct?

Next question: how the hell do you pick from: { chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate chip, chocolate coconut, chocolate hazelnut, chocolate pretzel } ?!?

You should go off of your taste . Get a dropper with measurements. Add to a pint of beer . Then add that much per total pints in your keg.

 

[day_trippr]

Next question: how the hell do you pick from: { chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate chip, chocolate coconut, chocolate hazelnut, chocolate pretzel } ?!?

It's nice to have options

I'd assume the chocolate is just that alone, while the rest have something more added. The 'cake probably has vanilla added, maybe the 'chip is "semi-sweet" chocolate, the others are obvious...

Cheers!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

16 lb 2 row pale malt
1 lb flaked barley
1 lb chocolate malt
1/4 lb black barley malt
1/4 lb black patent malt (could combine both black malts into either one really)
1/4 lb roasted barley
1/2 lb crystal/caramel malt 40-60L
1/2 lb caramalt
1/4 lb Gambrinus Honey Malt

2 oz Chinook pellets, 60 minutes
2 oz Cascade pellets, 15-20 minutes
2 lb honey, end of boil (TURN OFF THE BURNER BEFORE STIRRING IN!)
1/2 lb low fat cocoa powder, end of boil
Fermentis S04, 2 packs
1/2 lb cacao nibs and a pair of scraped chopped and smushed vanilla beans, soaked in dark rum for a week, then add the whole thing at secondary
1 oz pure chocolate extract, add at kegging

I have been mashing this at 148°F to get the FG down in the mid-upper 20s.
Serve on nitro if possible! If so, only carbonate to ~1.2 volumes lest the pours turn into a chocolate foam fiasco...

Cheers!

I'm finally getting ready to plan this brew! But a couple of questions first: How many IBU's do you aim for? About 70 -ish? Also, what can I sub for the "caramalt"? I've got Briess munich 10L in my pantry, and could pick up some Briess caramel 10L (or 20L) easily enough.

 

[day_trippr]

Beersmith3 says 83 IBUs.
And C20 or even C10 for the Caramalt would be fine. I suspect that revision of the recipe was using leftover Caramalt...

Cheers!

 

[agentbud]

Beersmith3 says 83 IBUs.
And C20 or even C10 for the Caramalt would be fine. I suspect that revision of the recipe was using leftover Caramalt...

Cheers!

In BS, what Style are you setting this beer as?

 

[odie]

lots of ways to add nibs. hard to tell which is best unless you split your batch up before the nibs and do different nib methods and then do a side-by-side comparison of the beer.

never thought about any oils in the nibs. but would not those oils simply separate and float to the top? Floating dip tube will eject them on ht efirst beer. Standards dip tube would eject them on the last pint. Everything in between should be oil free beer?

I mean, oil and water (beer) probably don't mix.

 

[day_trippr]

In BS, what Style are you setting this beer as?

Imperial Stout. Seems proper

never thought about any oils in the nibs. but would not those oils simply separate and float to the top?

There is indeed some fat in cocoa nibs - and likely some fat from the low fat cocoa powder I add at the end of the boil as well - that will make it into the fermentor. But what I have consistently found is it doesn't amount to much at all, and generally conglomerates into a filmy "thing" floating around on the surface, that conveniently will stick to the side of the fermentor when racking to a keg. So it gets left behind...

Cheers!