I am planning to make a chocolate stout soon. It seems that I always hear about adding flavors in the secondary fermenter. Why do we wait. Why cant we add the nibs in the primary and forget the secondary? Does something happen that is bad if I add the nibs in the primary (and possibly only) phase? Can I add them on day one and leave it for 4 weeks in the primary?
I dry hop in the primary with no problems.
You can’t add hops or nibs on day 1. The fermentation would scrub the flavors they provide and blow it off with the CO2.
So can I add the nibs on day 3 after the bulk of the ferment has completed?Then just leave it till week 4?
This. You can add the nibs earlier, but the later you add them the more flavor you’ll get. I’d personally wait at least a week before adding them, then leave them a couple of weeks before racking the beer to a keg.
For flavoring additions like cacao and vanilla beans, I prefer to wait until fermentation is over and a lot of yeast has dropped out. This is because suspended yeast would absorb flavor compounds, which would drop with the yeast. I like to minimize that affect.
You don’t need to rack to a secondary if that is what your asking. Just wait a week or so and add to the primary vessel.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”] You can add the nibs earlier, but the later you add them the more flavor you’ll get. I’d personally wait at least a week before adding them, then leave them a couple of weeks before racking the beer to a keg
[/quote].+1[quote=“Brew Cat”]You don’t need to rack to a secondary if that is what your asking. Just wait a week or so and add to the primary vessel.[/quote]
+1[quote=“kcbeersnob”]For flavoring additions like cacao and vanilla beans, I prefer to wait until fermentation is over and a lot of yeast has dropped out. This is because suspended yeast would absorb flavor compounds, which would drop with the yeast. I like to minimize that affect.[/quote]
+1
