Nibs in my breakfast stout - ok in primary?

[Burgs]

My next brew is going to be the Breakfast Stout extract kit from Northern Brewer, with the addition of some cacao nibs.

The recipe sheet calls for 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks bottle conditioning - but I'm thinking about adding the cacao nibs after that 2 week mark and leaving everything in primary for an extra week.

Good idea? Or would you rack to secondary...

(Oh, and I'll probably let them bottle condition for 3 weeks rather than 2)

 

[Bopper]

That will be fine. I leave almost all my beers in primary for 1 month then it goes straight to the keg/bottles. I dry hop in the primary too.

 

[Jipper]

Totally fine!

 

[Burgs]

You guys think I should just dump them in?

Or put them in some kind of hop sock or mesh bag?

 

[bruno_78]

Without starting a huge debate on this topic, I would want to get my beer off of the trub within 12-14 days. Any longer than that and you will start to get some undesirable effects from yeast autolysis.

 

[Burgs]

Yeah, I'd rather not get into long primary vs. racking to secondary - more just looking for someone who's used cacao nibs before and how they handled them in the fermenter.

 

[dfohio]

I've used nibs; just dumped them straight in. I hate trying to pull a bag out that has swollen because of absorption. The nibs will drop to the bottom.

Other's have had success, but I doubt i will use them in a beer again. Taste a handful of them and see if you like the taste. I used 4oz in an oatmeal stout and it ended up tasting like I was eating a handful of the nibs.

 

[Burgs]

I've used nibs; just dumped them straight in. I hate trying to pull a bag out that has swollen because of absorption. The nibs will drop to the bottom.

Other's have had success, but I doubt i will use them in a beer again. Taste a handful of them and see if you like the taste. I used 4oz in an oatmeal stout and it ended up tasting like I was eating a handful of the nibs.

Where did you get your nibs from? Wondering if we are using the same thing...

Mine were the Fortaleza ones from MoreBeer - 4oz. package.

 

[hukdizzle]

don't nibs have a large concentration of oil in them? Do they hurt beer head retention at all?

 

[ChshreCat]

The one thing I'd be concerned about with putting nibs in primary is that they'll sink and could end up covered with trub. If it were me, I'd do it in secondary just to make sure they get in good contact with the beer for a good period of time. Might not be worth worrying about, but I always have to find something to sweat over with each brew.

 

[Burgs]

I guess, alternately... since this is only the second brew I've done on my own - I could just chill out on the extra ingredients and keep it simple.

The nibs look like they're vacuum packed, I can't imagine that they're going to go bad any time soon.

 

[Burgs]

Well, the nibs imparted a bit more chocolate smell than I anticipated. It smells like you're about to drink straight up chocolate syrup, honestly.

I racked to secondary to get the beer off the nibs for a little bit, in hopes that the smell will tone down a bit. Hopefully age, carbonation, and being served colder will take it down a notch too.

Oh and the nibs clogged up the racking cane like a mf'er. Oh well, it's an experiment!