Cacao nibs - do you prefer vidka or bourbon?

[CJ-3]

Hi all,

Working on a coffee stout today and I am going to add 4 ounces of organic cacao nibs during secondary.
I want to avoid infection so I am going to soak them in either vodka (barely adds any flavor) or bourbon (might add a nice taste but I am not sure)
Do any of you have an opinion on this, or even better, have any of you done this and what were the results?

Thanks!

 

[jbb3]

I didn't use either and ended up with a wonderful chocolate aroma in a Moo Hoo Choc Stout clone by finsfan. It calls for 8oz of cacao nibs in the secondary for 7 days. Moo Hoo Clone

But don't expect a big infusion of flavor, mostly aroma. You might consider increasing the amount of nibs? Subject to preference of course.

Did you add any chocolate flavor additions during the boil or relying on the grain bill?

 

[CJ-3]

I didn't use either and ended up with a wonderful chocolate aroma in a Moo Hoo Choc Stout clone by finsfan. It calls for 8oz of cacao nibs in the secondary for 7 days. Moo Hoo Clone ais

But don't expect a big infusion of flavor, mostly aroma. You might consider increasing the amount of nibs? Subject to preference of course.

Did you add any chocolate flavor additions during the boil or relying on the grain bill?

In the steeping grains there is 4 ounces of dark chocolate as well. I am glad that the chocolate will be mild or just hints as that is what I was hoping for. If it is not enough I can always go bigger next time.

 

[ArcLight]

Hi all,

Working on a coffee stout today and I am going to add 4 ounces of organic cacao nibs during secondary.
I want to avoid infection so I am going to soak them in either vodka (barely adds any flavor) or bourbon (might add a nice taste but I am not sure)
Do any of you have an opinion on this, or even better, have any of you done this and what were the results?

Thanks!

I use Vodka or Everclear (Grain alcohol 190 proof) for soaking.

Bourbon will add a taste.
What you might try is taking a bottle of stout, and adding a small amount of Bourbon (1ML for example) and keep adding more until you like the taste, then scale up.

 

[day_trippr]

Over the years I've tried a few different spirits but ended up using dark rum to soak roasted nibs for my chocolate stout.
Quite complementary...

Cheers!