Can I add cacao nibs to primary after majority has fermented

[ewibolo]

Hi everyone, I’m brewing chocolate porter which has been in primary for 4 days and looks like ferment has pretty much ended. would I be able to just dump the cacao nibs to the primary after the majority of fermentation has taken place And let them sink to bottom? Anything wrong with going that route? I just don’t want to have to rack to a secondary ferment bucket. Thanks for input.

 

[VikeMan]

You can certainly add nibs at at/toward the end of primary. But they won't sink to the bottom, at least not anytime soon.

 

[day_trippr]

Ime, nibs do not float.
Also, simply dumping nibs into beer will result in very poor extract.
The better strategy is to soak the nibs in spirits for at least a few days then dump the whole thing in. I prefer dark rum for that...

Cheers!

 

[Leezer]

+1 to the above and I'll add that you will need to either put a little mesh filter on the end of your auto siphon when ready to bottle/keg, or put the rum soaked nibs in hops socks before putting in the fermenter. I found otherwise the nibs can clog up in the siphon and/or tubing.

 

[ewibolo]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I’ll be soaking until Saturday then adding the soaked nibs and alcohol into the bucket which will have finished out primary ferment.