Ok so non-alcoholic is a weird goal to hit on this forum, but I promise this will make sense in a second.
My children are always glued to me on brew day, wanting to know everything I’m doing, and always disappointed that they aren’t able to taste the results. So In my infinite wisdom I thought “Self,” and I knew it was me because I recognized my voice and I was wearing my underwear, " You have a force carbing set up, why don’t you make a soda and put it on tap for them for their birthday?"
So with this in mind I went and bought 8 ounces of cocoa nibs, a pound each of lactose and maltodextrin for mouth feel, and a bottle of double chocolate flavoring. I realized on the way home from the brew shop that I have no idea what the best method for a N/A extraction is. My first thought was to do what I normally would by roasting half the nibs to bring out richness and depth and leave half unroasted for smoothness. After that is where things get fuzzy. I’m shooting for a 5 gallon batch so would I then start a boil for extraction? Maybe a 2 gallon boil so it’s easy to handle and strain out? then pad the flavor profile with the extract? I was also planning on adding a vanilla bean to round out the flavors, would that also go into the boil?
If any one has any insight into this I’d appreciate any advice I can get, thanks.