cacao nibs

Looking for some advice. I’ve got some cacao nibs that I’ve roasted, then steeped in vodka.

There is a ‘scum’ on the surface of the vodka. I could try skimming this off, but unsure about putting this a my last DJ of 10% stout. Last time I used cacao nibs I spoilt 25L of stout with an infection.

If I drain off the vodka, I’d have thought that I’ll lose much of the flavour.

Anyone?

Oil probably

Looking for some advice. I’ve got some cacao nibs that I’ve roasted, then steeped in vodka.

There is a ‘scum’ on the surface of the vodka. I could try skimming this off, but unsure about putting this a my last DJ of 10% stout. Last time I used cacao nibs I spoilt 25L of stout with an infection.

If I drain off the vodka, I’d have thought that I’ll lose much of the flavour.

Anyone?

Regarding an infection:

It depends on the amount of ethanol you had steeped the nibs in - most bacteria will be severely damaged above 3% alcohol, wild and brewing yeast above 12%. Last time I did something similar, I added 50:50 by weight 40% ABV vodka to nibs and assumed that the alcohol concentration was going to be ~20%. I left them in a sanitised pyrex jug under cling film overnight in the 'fridge. Beer turned out clean, there was oil in there and I was pleasantly surprised that there was still some foam on the beer. I saved some of the vodka and it was very, very bitter - I can't say if all the chocolate flavour was in the vodka, but it certainly extracts the bitterness!

Thanks for the info guys. I’m gonna taste the steeped vodka and gauge the taste to see if this is worthwhile.

I've had my best results just bunging the nibs in a hop bag after roasting (or now my fancy stainless strainer box) straight into the primary. You probably wouldn't notice the oils on the top then. We also used a couple of kilos of shredded coconut, roasted and dried with kitchen roll and that gives out a hundred times more oil. Still had a head on most of the bottles.

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