Cocoa Nibs In A Porter.....anyone?

[Josh]

I got some from More Beer! when I purchased some hardware from them.

 

[humulus]

Where are you all sourcing the cocau nibs?

Is ebay the best place price wise?

Punkin Swambo pick up 500g of raw nibs at the local healthfood shop for $14! :icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

That price looks good. I've been getting mine from Craftbrewer but they are pricier than that.

 

[Kranky]

I get mine from these hippies:

http://www.rawpower.com.au/CatalogueRetrie...p;ObjectType=27

 

[szopen]

Raw cocao nibs normally have very high levels of contamination with bacteria and moulds (as they are produced in tropics, on farms, fermented in heaps under the sun and just dried).

This is one of the reasons why they should be roasted (or toasted), the other one is flavour development during roasting when large part of that chocoalte flavour is created.

They do contain a lot of fat (round 40%) so the best way to deal with them is to roast/toast, cool the nibs down and then crush (possible to remove shell pieces at this stage) this stops them sticking together and forming paste.

Freshly roasted nibs have the best flavour.

 

[grimpanda]

Also interested in using cacao in future brews.

Any advice on roasting/toasting method? i.e: temperature, time, whole pods or nibs?

Cheers.

 

[humulus]

Also interested in using cacao in future brews.

Any advice on roasting/toasting method? i.e: temperature, time, whole pods or nibs?

Cheers.

Manticle posted a while back how to do it,I toasted 100g on a baking tray under the griller constantly moving them to avoid burning.Then threw them straight into the secondary,the smoked choc porter turned out really good(SJW,s)recipe nice background choc taste that blended in well with the smoked malt :icon_cheers:

 

[Steve@PMF82]

All you need to know and and the various ways it can be done. http://www.chocolatealchemy.com/roasting.php

I roast my own coffee so i am keen to give the cocoa roasting a go one day as well, probably add a bit off both into a porter or something.

 

[jammer]

why bother roasting? bung em in the boil....
there's ya contaminants dealt with....

 

[Steve@PMF82]

why bother roasting? bung em in the boil....
there's ya contaminants dealt with....

Its not just about contaminants.

The roasting process if done right will develop much of the flavour as well.

 

[szopen]

At work we roast cocoa nibs in roaster until air going out reaches 155C, this takes about 15 minutes and might be hard to replicate at home.

Home roasting ideas in the above link from Beer4U are good.
Another way is to roast them in a wok or stainless bowl on gas fire (continuously stirring them all the time) until they are just starting to burn.

 

[kevo]

Howdy,

For me - toasting is the go.

Toasted some late last week, 150C in 3 min bursts over about 30 mins. Toasted on baking paper on a baking tray. Toast, check, move around on the tray, start again...

Great flavour, bitter choc, roasty, vegetal flavour gone - sensational!

Left on the toasted nibs for three days, bottled tonight - delicious.

Kev