Need suggestions for Stout additions

[skagneti]

I brewed a Midwest partial mash traditional stout including the following

3.3 lb. of Dark Malt Extract, 4 lb. American 2-row malt, 4 oz. Chocolate, 4 oz. Roasted Barley, 2 oz. Black Patent, 1 oz. Northern Brewer

It has been in primary for about 6 weeks and I have decided to add some cocao nibs and some lactose to make a chocolate sweet stout. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how long in secondary and how much nibs and lactose to use. I don't want something Koolaid sweet, just want enough sweetness to balance out the bitterness that I expect the nibs to bring to the party.

Anyone have any ideas.

 

[Zamial]

I would use between 1/4# to 1/2# of lactose depending on ABV. The bigger the more you will want. I would NOT add over 1#.

Lactose is going to make it creamy and add just a little sweetness. This can be added to the priming sugar solution if naturally carbing in the bottle. There is no benefit of putting it in the secondary. You can actually add it whenever you want even to the boil.

Cocoa nibs can be added to the boil or into secondary like you are suggesting but these add mostly aroma with little flavor. You may want to add a little (2-6oz) of cocoa powder/dark chocolate cocoa powder to the priming solution or into the secondary. That will give you a MUCH better chocolate flavor. (I use Hershey's Dark myself.)

 

[skagneti]

Thanks for the advice. I was under the impression from the forums that cocao nibs add a fair amount of flavor in addition to a ton of aroma. I want it to be fairly chocolaty so could I just increase the cocao nib amount...speaking of that what amount of nibs is appropriate?

 

[Zamial]

Yes they will lend some flavor but not all that much. I can not find my notes but I seem to recall 8oz per 5 gallons is about right.

The other thing is what kind of chocolaty taste are you going for a dark roasty or a semisweet chocolate chip or hot chocolate? Because that will change quite a bit on what you would PROBABLY want to do.