cacao nibs quandry

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Hey guys

The husband is planning something similar to this recipe which I will link below.

http://secretlevelbrewing.com/chocolate-stout-recipe.html
He is using cacao nibs but the website doesn't state how long you should leave them in secondary for. Does anyone have any advice or experience please?

 

[DocAnna]

I think the bigger issue is to toast, not to toast, and if toasting how long. Also to grind/not to grind the nibs. I've added them whole untoasted as a secondary and they certainly added a chocolate flavour. If using them again I'd coarse grind them as it is unlikely as much flavour can be extracted from the whole nib. There's no risk of them developing the vegetal flavour of over dry hopping so you could leave them in from 5 days to 5 years if you wish. I think the main function of toasting is to sterilise the outer part of the nibs, unless taking them to a caramel level of toasting.

 

[Clint]

Hiya, there was a similar brew a couple of years back on the forum..which I did! I can't quite remember but I used nibs...might be worth a search.
If you can wait til I'm not getting squiffy I can rummage through my notes...sure I boiled mine (nibs,that is!).

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Hiya, there was a similar brew a couple of years back on the forum..which I did! I can't quite remember but I used nibs...might be worth a search.
If you can wait til I'm not getting squiffy I can rummage through my notes...sure I boiled mine (nibs,that is!).

Thanks Clint, much appreciated! Kind of in the same boat myself

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I think the bigger issue is to toast, not to toast, and if toasting how long. Also to grind/not to grind the nibs. I've added them whole untoasted as a secondary and they certainly added a chocolate flavour. If using them again I'd coarse grind them as it is unlikely as much flavour can be extracted from the whole nib. There's no risk of them developing the vegetal flavour of over dry hopping so you could leave them in from 5 days to 5 years if you wish. I think the main function of toasting is to sterilise the outer part of the nibs, unless taking them to a caramel level of toasting.

Thanks Anna, sounds like great advice.

 

[starseeker]

You could also put the nibs in some , rum, vodka etc for a few days ,as you would for vanilla beans and then tip that into the f.v

 

[YeastFace]

The chocolateness of them gets absorbed fairly quickly, they come out almost colourless after even only a few days. I'm not sure if after that you're getting any astringency from them after that.

I have used ones from the supermarket in a lock bag, I think they are pre roasted and coarsely ground (into small chunks, not dust). Will see if I can find the bag/manufacturer.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

You could also put the nibs in some , rum, vodka etc for a few days ,as you would for vanilla beans and then tip that into the f.v

Thanks SS. According to the website we're looking at, they have this advice regarding tinctures. No idea what is right or wrong at this point.

"Some folks make a vodka tincture, but for this many nibs, you'll need a whole lot of vodka that might offset the flavor of the stout"

 

[starseeker]

Rum might be nice mind

 

[Clint]

Right..I brewed a sweet chocolate stout on 01/09/20, it had lactose and 200g cacao nibs.
According to my notes the nibs were boiled(30 mins) in about a litre of wort from the brew day and added straight away to primary. My notes also say I boiled too long..I don't know how much I should have done but i got 15 minutes in my mind!
From what I remember it was a nice brew but lacked head retention probably due to the nibs.

 

[YeastFace]

It was these ones:

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/naturya-cacao-nibs--organic-125g
They do another in a carboard tube which I've used before too. Same weight, but a bit cheaper (not organic):

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/food-thoughts-roasted-cacao-nibs-125g
I got the lock bag last time as they were out of stock of the tube, and I was adding in two stages so liked the idea of pushing the air out.

Oh and I "dry-nibbed" them - added in secondary (and also keg for something I knew would go in one sitting)

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

It was these ones:

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/naturya-cacao-nibs--organic-125g
They do another in a carboard box which I've used before too. Same weight, but a bit cheaper (not organic):

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/food-thoughts-roasted-cacao-nibs-125g
I got the lock bag last time as they were out of stock, and I was adding in two stages so liked the idea of pushing the air out.

Oh and I "dry-nibbed" them - added in secondary (and also keg for something I knew would go in one sitting)

I think organic is the way to go. I'm not normally an organic advocate but I think for purposes such as these it's absolutely necessary.

 

[The Baron]

heads up if it is still available Grapetree sell 200g for £2.99 unless I have read it wrong.
I have never done one but a few days ago I had a can of the vanilla stout from Aldi and it was nice so thinking of doing a chocolate vanilla milk stout.
Ps they are organic

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

heads up if it is still available Grapetree sell 200g for £2.99 unless I have read it wrong.
I have never done one but a few days ago I had a can of the vanilla stout from Aldi and it was nice so thinking of doing a chocolate vanilla milk stout.
Ps they are organic

Thanks Baron. We already have them in stock though. We got them from Wholefoods Online a while ago.

 

[Loonytoone]

I regularly brew chocolate/licorice stout and I add the Cacao nibs (200-300g) ten minutes before the end of the boil and then transfer them to the fermenter for the duration. Likewise with licquorice and/or vanilla depending on the brew.