Trouble with Cocoa Nibs - Pig's piss

[Thomas Fransson]

Hiya

Brewed a brown porter and added some cocoa nibs to it during aging. Roughly 7g/liter~/quart.
I tasted the beer after 6 days in contact with the nibs, and the smell and tast wasnt all too plesant I'd say...

I didnt sanitize the nibs, only the hopbag that I put them in, but it doesnt taste like an infection.
It's a really odd smell and taste. So my question is, does it sound like theres something wrong, or
does the nibs need a couple of weeks in contact with the beer to change and develop?

Talked to the guy that roasted and crushed the nibs today, he said that when they crush the cocoa beans
it smells more or less like pig urin... And that it's the process after that that makes the cocoa taste good.

Never added nibs post feremtation earlier, only at the end of the boil. But that didnt result in this strange
flavour.

Anyone been out for this too?

What to do, let the keg sit a few weeks more in the aging fridge or dump it and re-brew?

Cheers!

[herbaljoe]

I would let it age. I've heard that it takes a month or so to get the desired effect from the nibs.

You also might consider taking the keg out of your cooler and let it age and room temp. I'm pretty sure most people age beer on the nibs at this temperature. I don't know for a fact what the difference is, but based on my experience that dry hops impart a totally different flavor if used at cold temps this might be true for the nibs as well.

Good luck!

[Thomas Fransson]

Thanks herbaljoe!

I'll place the keg at room temp and report back here again in a couple of weeks.

[JP]

I don't know about pig piss, but they do smell vinigary early on in the processing of the nibs. By the time you see them however, they should not smell this way at all. I would get some other nibs and try with those, as it could just be your ingredients.

You will get a nice little aroma after a couple of weeks, but the longer you go the more you get. At no time should it not taste good. So I would again say try some other nibs.

[ipaisay2.0]

I have done several beers with nibs. Yes, you will get an earthly (almost unpleasant) taste and even aroma at first. I can not support the pig urine description for that I have never really tried to familiar myself with pig urine too much. However, the nibs are a vegetal product and I could see how they need to make a transformation (reduction) from a vegetal product to their desired qualities (aroma/flavor).

Time and ABV are two factors that I have found that are most important to extract enough chocolate flavor/aroma. I have had the best luck with beers around 7% ABV for 6-8 weeks on the nibs in secondary (warm or cold...didn't matter). I have been soaking a disposable hop sack in vodka for a few mins while I am crushing the nibs to a semi-fine powder. I then tie the sack on the dip tube of a corny (secondary is a corny) and let the nibs stay submerged in the beer the whole time. It seems the alcohol from the beer and the vodka help to bring out some more chocolate qualities.

You will get some fine nib powder that seeps out of the hop sack but should clear after you pull a few pints if you haven't moved the keg too much.

As a side note, I just organized out homebrew club in trying several different beer styles with nibs in a secondary.

I will report back on the interesting findings, if any.

Another note, a good portion of rye malt in the recipes really helps the nibs by creating a large round mouthfeel that most people are familiar with when tasting something with chocolate. Some have even put in lactose to achieve this. Most people taste chocolate but need that mouthfeel with the chocolate to help them really appreciate and recognize chocolate when they are not told it is in the beer.

[Ozwald]

Did you sanitize the nibs at all? I always soak mine in just enough cheap vodka to cover them for a day or two before adding them to a secondary. I've heard of others getting infected batches and/or off-flavors when they hadn't. I like to nib my sumatran porter - I let it hit terminal and rest for a little bit (15-20 days), then I rack on top of the sanitized nibs (I pour in the vodka and all). 5 days later I have some beautiful background chocolate notes, if I let it go for another 5 days it's almost too intense of a chocolate flavor. I've been pretty happy dry-nibbing for 7-8 days with this method. Never an infection or off flavor.

[JP]

I have never sanitized nibs when I have used them, and have never had an off flavor. Maybe I'm just lucky. And remember - you aren't putting chocolate in your beer. This is caccao which is a main ingredient in chocolate, but it isn't yet chocoalte.

[brewskee]

I have made a delicious chocolate stout twice using cocoa nibs. I roasted organic cocoa nibs (purchased from Whole Foods) in my oven for about 2 minutes. Then crushed the nibs and soaked it in vodka for 2 days. I added the entire mixture into the secondary. Just be careful when bottling that that the tiny pieces of nibs don't end up in the bottle.