I’m making a chocolate milk stout and put the vodka soaked cacao nibs in 2 days ago. I noticed today there are a few masses the size of blueberries floating on the top. Is that most likely clumps of cacao nib? I tried to suck it out with a beer thief to investigate but couldn’t get it. I was worried it could be an infection? The color of them are brownish.
No it could be pellicle. Saccharomyces and or other wild yeasts can catch a ride on the cocoa nibs from where they were harvested and or processed. The same thing happened to me when I put in my cocoa nibs. It’s also something that can be carried over from coffee beans. These are two products that usually come from regeons of the equator like South America. I’m not sure if vodka WILL destroy any and all forms of yeast and bacteria, but the same stuff happened to my beer. I freaked out and thought my beer had an infection… it was pellicle
If it’s a pellicle it is infected with wild yeast. Chances are yours is just CO2 and nibs that have come to the surface. It’s promising since they are brown rather than white. Google image pellicle. Don’t worry until it looks like that…
There are only 2 “masses”. One is the size of blueberry and the other the size of maybe a grape. I’m hoping most likely cacao. When should I be able to know for sure? (Besides in 6 weeks when I taste it)
