Chocolate nips in stout....when to add?

[Turfgrass]

Hi there! I’m getting ready to do another stout this week and thought of adding some chocolate to the mix. However, I’ve never used chocolate before and I’m looking for some recommendations on timing and quantity for a 5.5 gallon batch. Thank you.

 

[brownni5]

Mash, boil, primary, secondary, all work - up to you really. I did a stout last fall where I soaked them in Vodka then dumped the whole mess in secondary. The beer is good, and I've done the secondary thing a couple times, but it really is a background note type of thing. But then, in a roasty stout, what isn't in the background?

I wanna say I did 3 oz for a 5-gallon 1.056 brew.

 

[Turfgrass]

Mash, boil, primary, secondary, all work - up to you really. I did a stout last fall where I soaked them in Vodka then dumped the whole mess in secondary. The beer is good, and I've done the secondary thing a couple times, but it really is a background note type of thing. But then, in a roasty stout, what isn't in the background?

I wanna say I did 3 oz for a 5-gallon 1.056 brew.

I have a couple SS brew bucket minis that I can experiment with quantities, so my 5 gal system will becom two 2.5 batches. Also have some peanut butter flavoring. I’ll prob dump the chocolate right after the trub is dropped. Reason for the vodka soak?

5 gal at 1.056

What did use for yeast? I’m just going us-05

 

[Rob2010SS]

The vodka soak is for 2 reasons...

1. Sterilize so you don't get any nasties in your beer
and
2. Flavor extraction

Personal opinion here...

I'd use all 4oz of those in your beer. I've also used them both roasted and un roasted. I really like them roasted. Laying them on a cookie sheet and toasting them at 350*F for 10 min really turns them into a finished dark chocolate flavor. I did 8oz in my last imperial stout (6 gal batch). It was fantastic. Up to you if you want more of a dark chocolate flavor or just the natural flavor from the nibs.

I would proceed as follows...

-If you're going to toast them, do it first.

-Soak them in a container of vodka for anywhere from a couple of days to a week. Just enough vodka to cover the nibs. (You could also use whiskey if you wanted, but the whiskey flavor WILL come through in the final product). If you go a full week, you may need to top off with additional vodka.

-Add the whole mixture of vodka and nibs to a sanitized secondary vessel.

-Transfer your beer on top of it and let it sit until desired flavor is achieved (1-2 weeks maybe?)

You could probably do the nibs in primary, but I know that flavors like that tend to diminish during primary fermentation which is why they're usually done during secondary.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Rob2010SS]

You could use US 05. That's a pretty neutral yeast. I really like WY1450 Denny's Fav in stouts.

 

[Turfgrass]

You could use US 05. That's a pretty neutral yeast. I really like WY1450 Denny's Fav in stouts.

I’ll have to look that yeast up.

I never secondary, so when you do transfer is there a desired temp or just let drop to room/cellar temp? I’d just transfer on top of nips in a keg if that were the case.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I’ll have to look that yeast up.

I never secondary, so when you do transfer is there a desired temp or just let drop to room/cellar temp? I’d just transfer on top of nips in a keg if that were the case.

I never want nibs in my keg. I suppose you could bag them in the keg. But then your flavor will keep changing due to the constant exposure in the keg.

No specific temp, just room temp or cellar temp is fine. Just wait until your fermentation is complete and temp won't matter.

 

[Redpappy]

The last time I used Nibs, I added them after fermentation was complete( I waited for 2 weeks) then through them in the primary. I did not do a secondary.

1 week after pitching my yeast, I grabbed a masonry jar, added 4 oz nibs, filled vodka, just to cover the nibs, then pitched everything 1 week later. 2 weeks later I bottled.

Edit: I use buckets to ferment in, so i have a big opening to slowly poor it into.

 

[Rob2010SS]

The last time I used Nibs, I added them after fermentation was complete( I waited for 2 weeks) then through them in the primary. I did not do a secondary.

1 week after pitching my yeast, I grabbed a masonry jar, added 4 oz nibs, filled vodka, just to cover the nibs, then pitched everything 1 week later. 2 weeks later I bottled.

If you have a way to get them in primary without splashing, sure you could add them in primary. If fermenting in a carboy i would not add them in primary, in my opinion.

 

[Redpappy]

If you have a way to get them in primary without splashing, sure you could add them in primary. If fermenting in a carboy i would not add them in primary, in my opinion.

Thank you.... I will have to keep this in mind on any replies that I do for fermentation. I only have the experience of Buckets, I have not invested in carboys as of yet. And I do see the difference between carboys versus buckets, one has a small hole, and one has a big hole.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Thank you.... I will have to keep this in mind on any replies that I do for fermentation. I only have the experience of Buckets, I have not invested in carboys as of yet. And I do see the difference between carboys versus buckets, one has a small hole, and one has a big hole.

Yeah if you're using buckets you're fine. I just added blueberries to a wheat beer that's fermenting in a bucket. Boiled up some muslin bags, put the blueberries in the bags and gently set them in the beer. You could take the same approach or just drop them in.

Good luck

 

[brownni5]

You could use US 05. That's a pretty neutral yeast. I really like WY1450 Denny's Fav in stouts.

I've done stouts with S-04 and 05 and they are boring. I've heard Denny's 50 is a good one for stouts, but also the Guinness yeast - pretty much all the big yeast labs propagate it. Probably what I'll use for my next stout.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I've done stouts with S-04 and 05 and they are boring. I've heard Denny's 50 is a good one for stouts, but also the Guinness yeast - pretty much all the big yeast labs propagate it. Probably what I'll use for my next stout.

I loved it. I used it in a chocolate pb milk stout and it was fantastic. Still have a lot of experimenting to do with stout yeasts myself

 

[odie]

I just did nibs. First time. Soaked in rum and dumped into primary after 2 weeks. I don’t do secondary in a separate vessel.

 

[aharri1]

Mash, boil, primary, secondary, all work - up to you really. I did a stout last fall where I soaked them in Vodka then dumped the whole mess in secondary. The beer is good, and I've done the secondary thing a couple times, but it really is a background note type of thing. But then, in a roasty stout, what isn't in the background?

I wanna say I did 3 oz for a 5-gallon 1.056 brew.

I do the same thing. Also, they are cheaper to buy from like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Amazon than buying Brewers best brand

 

[catdaddy66]

I am planning to use nibs in a blonde stout. As it will be my first time I had planned to use 2oz for 5 gallons. After reading this thread I may just use all 4oz instead.

And Denny's Fave will be in there!

 

[Turfgrass]

I never want nibs in my keg. I suppose you could bag them in the keg. But then your flavor will keep changing due to the constant exposure in the keg.

No specific temp, just room temp or cellar temp is fine. Just wait until your fermentation is complete and temp won't matter.

I obviously don’t have the experience, but it seems like there would be two different results if nibs are added to boil (heat) versus secondary (cool)..are nibs actual chocolate or parts of the cocoa shell?

 

[Rob2010SS]

You are correct. I have never used them in the boil and I don't think I would. When you talked about temperature, I assumed that you meant during fermentation temp, whatever that may be, or just room temp. I was not considering boil temps. But you are correct, boil temp vs room temp would give drastically different results. Ferm temp vs room temp, not so different I would guess.

The nibs are crushed up pieces of the cocoa bean itself, not the shell.

 

[Jag75]

I'm on the soak in your choice of Liquor for a week or so then dump all the contents in the secondary. Done it this way and will do it again.

 

[Turfgrass]

I'm on the soak in your choice of Liquor for a week or so then dump all the contents in the secondary. Done it this way and will do it again.

What rate of nibs per gallon?

 

[Turfgrass]

I loved it. I used it in a chocolate pb milk stout and it was fantastic. Still have a lot of experimenting to do with stout yeasts myself

My goal is to produce a chocolate, Pb stout too, but was going to make it a sweet stout. I didn’t see this didn’t have sweet stout as a recommendation with Denys. Surprisingly they suggested London Ale 111. Think I should leave out the lactose with Denys or strict with us-05?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Nips....Hehe....

 

[Jag75]

What rate of nibs per gallon?

I did 4 oz of nibs for 5 gallons of chocolate milk stout

 

[Rob2010SS]

I would go 4 oz as well. I did 8oz in an imperial stout and it was nice strong flavor. Lighter stout like this I'd go 4oz.

My goal is to produce a chocolate, Pb stout too, but was going to make it a sweet stout. I didn’t see this didn’t have sweet stout as a recommendation with Denys. Surprisingly they suggested London Ale 111. Think I should leave out the lactose with Denys or strict with us-05?

Those aren't hard rules that you have to follow. They're general guidelines that show you what those yeasts are typically used for. The description for WY1450 is as follows: This terrific all-round yeast can be used for almost any beer style, and is a mainstay of one of our local homebrewers, Mr. Denny Conn. It is unique in that it produces a big mouthfeel and accentuates the malt, caramel, or fruit character of a beer without being sweet or under-attenuated.

To me, that sounds pretty good for a sweet stout. You could leave the lactose in and still go with WY1450. That's actually how I plan to do my next milk stout.

 

[Aristoi]

Nips....Hehe....

Chocolate nips at that! Really surprised it took that long for someone to notice and comment. I thought i was going to be the first one.

 

[Turfgrass]

I would go 4 oz as well. I did 8oz in an imperial stout and it was nice strong flavor. Lighter stout like this I'd go 4oz.



Those aren't hard rules that you have to follow. They're general guidelines that show you what those yeasts are typically used for. The description for WY1450 is as follows: This terrific all-round yeast can be used for almost any beer style, and is a mainstay of one of our local homebrewers, Mr. Denny Conn. It is unique in that it produces a big mouthfeel and accentuates the malt, caramel, or fruit character of a beer without being sweet or under-attenuated.

To me, that sounds pretty good for a sweet stout. You could leave the lactose in and still go with WY1450. That's actually how I plan to do my next milk stout.

I went with the recommendation and purchased a smack pack of Denys yesterday. Manufacture date 12/18/18 so a little bit aged. Will you be using maltodextrin in your sweet stout, or any stout for that matter?

 

[Rob2010SS]

I went with the recommendation and purchased a smack pack of Denys yesterday. Manufacture date 12/18/18 so a little bit aged. Will you be using maltodextrin in your sweet stout, or any stout for that matter?

I wouldn't personally. However, I have yet to use Maltodextrin in anything.

The grain bill for my choc/pb milk stout was as follows...

I don't think I would add the maltodextrin, personally.

 

[catdaddy66]

Just started a tincture of 4oz of vodka with equal amount of nibs. This will go into my blonde stout in 8 days.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Just started a tincture of 4oz of vodka with equal amount of nibs. This will go into my blonde stout in 8 days.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. Just keep an eye on the vodka level. I don't know if or evaporates or absorbs but i always end up having to top off the vodka

 

[odie]

I wouldn't personally. However, I have yet to use Maltodextrin in anything.

The grain bill for my choc/pb milk stout was as follows...

View attachment 618366
I don't think I would add the maltodextrin, personally.

I’d like to see the full recipe. Sounds yummy