Sanitizing Cacao Nibs For Secondary

[wvbrewed]

I've just racked my imperial stout (9.5%, was shooting for higher but we don't always get the efficiency we want right?) to secondary and plan on adding cacao nibs to it. I've seen a lot of posts about two options for sanitizing cacao nibs: 1) baking them and 2) soaking them in vodka.

For option one my concern is that it's going to take on more roasty flavor when there's already plenty there. My concern for option two is that the chocolate flavor will stay in the vodka which I really don't want to pour into the beer.

I'm wondering if maybe there's a third option of putting them in the freezer as I've used that method for raspberries before. Just not sure if they would take on a freezer burnt taste which would be pretty undesirable.

If anyone has any commentary, thoughts, opinions, etc. on options one or two above or the possible third option, I'm all ears.

 

[Rush]

Soak them in 1/2C of Vodka. The flavor added by the vodka will be negligible.

You could also put the nibs in just enough water to cover them in small pot, bring the pan to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes to sanitize the nibs. I've done this method with chopped up vanilla beans and have had good success.

 

[cmac62]

If you do a tincture with vodka, you don't need to secondary. Just pour it into the keg/bottle bucket at packaging. I would use about two cups of vodka and let the nibs soak in their for at least a week. The vodka will not add any significant flavor to a RIS and the added benefit of additional EOTH is not a bad thing.

Two cups may be a bit excessive. The one time I used that much there was also vanilla and coffee in the mix.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I prefer rum - dark rum, but any unflavored rum will do - when marinating nibs for my big fat chocolate stout.
Definitely let them soak for a week, agitating whenever you think of it, then dump the whole thing in the fermentor.
Nibs won't convey any roast flavor, ime.
And add some vanilla if using nibs. At least one whole smushed pod for 5 gallons...

Cheers!