secondary addition of cacao nibs and vanilla beans.

[mcbrews]

Hi guys and Gals, I have a robust porter I would like to add Cacao nibs and vanilla beans to. I am ready to rack to secondary and was wondering about the nibs, all I could find was a 4 oz.package of organic sweet raw chocolate nibs called Cacao sweet nibs and two whole organic madagascar vanilla beans. Will these work? and How should I prepare them for the secondary. I was hoping to get this done by Friday as I am going on vacation for a week.

 

[pastrydog32]

Let me preface this statement by saying that while I am a novice beer homebrewer, I've been a pastry chef for 13 years, and know how best to use vanilla & nibs.

To make the best use of the cocoa nibs, they need to steep in the beer, like dry hopping. Roast them in the oven to bring out their oils and flavors. Just cool them before adding them to the beer.

To utilize the vanilla beans, cut them in half with a sharp knife and scrape the pulp from inside the beans. Add the scraped beans and their pulp to the beer.

Also, another thing to consider is finding vanilla sugar and using it as the priming sugar.

 

[day_trippr]

I brew a chocolate imperial stout and use 8 ounces of nibs (5g batch size) in secondary, after soaking them in alcohol for a few days first. I used to use plain/wicked cheap vodka but have been using dark rum for the last few batches and prefer it. I add some good vanilla extract, but if I was using whole beans I'd prepare them as described by pastrydog32 and stick them in the booze with the nibs, then dump the whole works in the fermenter for at least a week, preferably much longer, before packaging...

Cheers!

 

[JMeyer]

Ha Ha! I like what both guys above me said. I personally roast the nibs, then add them and the split and scraped bean to vodka, then add to secondary

 

[mcbrews]

Thanks Pastrydog, I did just what you said after reading a lot of post on this subject. I toasted the nibs for one hour @ 350`cooled and added to the secondary. As for the beans I split them scraped a little and then added them.

 

[mcbrews]

Thanks Day Tripper, That sounds good too. Mine will be in the secondary for ten days before I get back I hope the vanilla won't be to overwhelming.

 

[mcbrews]

Hey Jmeyer, Thanks I debated about the vodka and read a lot of people prefer that method. I also read a few post where some say they have added the vanilla beans without the alcohol sanitizing method without any bad results. So I thought I would try it. Cheers

 

[mcbrews]

FYI I took the sweet nibs back to Earth Fare and got the unsweetened ones. When I finally found the nibs I saw an 8 oz. package and then next to it was a package that was 4 oz. which is what I needed. However in my haste did not notice they were sweet.

 

[butterpants]

I brew a chocolate imperial stout and use 8 ounces of nibs (5g batch size) in secondary, after soaking them in alcohol for a few days first. I used to use plain/wicked cheap vodka but have been using dark rum for the last few batches and prefer it. I add some good vanilla extract, but if I was using whole beans I'd prepare them as described by pastrydog32 and stick them in the booze with the nibs, then dump the whole works in the fermenter for at least a week, preferably much longer, before packaging...

Cheers!

I just did this (8oz nibs in 16 oz vodka soaked together for a week then into secondary for 2 weeks). The chocolate aroma and flavor are profound. We'll see if it ages but right off the bat it's chocopalooza

 

[biertourist]

Cocoa nibs if cooked on an oven pan can definitely burn so be careful there.

Vanilla can also get mold growing on it which is why the vodka route is safer. I guess if you gave the vanilla pod a spray with starsan before you split it that would be good, too.

I love the chocolate flavor from cocoa nibs.


Adam

 

[CooperBrew]

I came here looking for info on cacao nibs, this thread was a good find.
Once you roast the nibs and cool them do you need to do anything else to "sanitize" them before you add them to the carboy? I'm also adding some peanut butter powder to the secondary as well. Do I just pour it in and rack the beer on top of it or do you have to stir it to dissolve? I've never added to a secondary fermentation before which is why I ask.

Thanks.

 

[rgauthier20420]

How much peanut butter powder are you using and how much flavor are you wanting? As a reference, I've used 4 jars of the stuff and it was a nice peanut butter flavor. Not too strong but by no means weak. To add it, I boiled a couple cups of water and that just mixed them in a sterilized bowl. It's comes out somewhat pasty, but it gets mixed in well enough when you add the beer. Understand your going to loss .25 to .50 of beer just from the trub this will create.

 

[CooperBrew]

How much peanut butter powder are you using and how much flavor are you wanting? As a reference, I've used 4 jars of the stuff and it was a nice peanut butter flavor. Not too strong but by no means weak. To add it, I boiled a couple cups of water and that just mixed them in a sterilized bowl. It's comes out somewhat pasty, but it gets mixed in well enough when you add the beer. Understand your going to loss .25 to .50 of beer just from the trub this will create.

The recipe calls for two 6.5 oz jars of powdered peanut butter and included 4oz of the cacoa nibs.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/chocolate-covered-beavr-nutz-beer-kit.html

 

[rgauthier20420]

Yeah. I did 2 in the boil and 2 in secondary. The first 2 weren't enough in my book. I was making a peanut butter and chocolate porter. It was pretty awesome!