I’ve been contemplating a chocolate cherry mead. I was intending on using cocoa nibs in secondary. I see lots of differing opinions on what kind of cocoa to use (nibs vs. powder) and when. It looks like a gold medal winner in last year’s NHC went with both.
Are there trade offs to which are used? Does one settle better, does one provide more flavor per ounce? If using nibs, roasted or not? There doesn’t seem to be a concensus.
Schramm’s Mead had a limited production one that used nibs. I don’t know the details, other than it was so good.
I’ve used nibs and found them to be quite bitter initially. After apx 6 months, the bitterness mellowed out and it was a pleasant chococlate character.
Are you roasting them or leaving them raw? The beer community seems split on this issue, as well. I’ve only used them once before with a chocolate stout.
Sitting on the nibs for 6 months in secondary? I’ve read a few recipes calling for sitting on the nibs for about 2 weeks, then racking off.
Raw nibs. The 6 months was in the bottle. They sat on the nibs for apx 2 weeks.