Cacao Nibs

[nnewcomb]

I just brewed a typical Hefeweizen, almost a clone of weinstephaner. I added a pound of chocolate wheat malt. It turned out to have minimal flavor and the chocolate part is a touch too bitter. I read I can add cacao nibs to sweeten the chocolate part. About how much will do the trick in a 5 gallon batch?

 

[mike-teslia]

depends on how much chocolate flavor you want i used 4 oz in my chocolate milk stout and it was plenty for that style of beer.

 

[jjeffers09]

A pound of chocolate wheat in a 5 gallon batch is too much imo, I go for about .5lbs in an 8 gal batch and it comes out right for a bitter chocolate aroma and flavor. To me nibs only add to the aroma, not to the flavor. If you smell a bag, then chew on one you will know what I mean. It is chocolate but not chocolatey if you know what I am getting at.

 

[nnewcomb]

I do have some lactose. Would that help sweeten?

 

[mike-teslia]

It will help with the sweetness of the beer but I really won't add to any chocolate flavor

 

[masonsjax]

Cocoa nibs smell fantastic but they add a sharp metallic bitterness that I dislike. Not worth the trouble IMO.
I wouldn't try to fix this beer. Just drink it as is and get the next batch going with adjustments to fix what you don't like.

 

[WarmGas]

I use them in the primary after fermentation and let the beer sit on them for 5 days or more before racking to a keg. I don't get any metallic flavors which would probably come out if they were tossed into the kettle and boiled. They add aroma, as was previously stated, but no chocolatey flavor that I can detect.