Author: Phil Rusher

When thinking about previous batches, brewers might ruminate about certain aspects of a beer that seemed to be lacking, and what can be done to enhance the overall character. Sometimes, the solution involves adding a little something extra to up the flavor game, for example, tossing some cacao nibs into a Porter or Stout to increase the impression of chocolate.

Cacao nibs are small chunks of cocoa bean that have been dried and fermented, and when used in beer, they’re known to impart a noticeable dark chocolate flavor. One consideration when using nibs in beer is sanitation, and a very common method for reducing the risk of contamination involves soaking the nibs in a neutral spirit prior to adding it to the beer, a process that some claim also helps with flavor extraction. After a few days of soaking, the boozy slurry is then added to the fermenting beer and left for anywhere between a day and a couple weeks to impart its rich flavors.

I’ve used cacao nibs many times over the years with great success, finding that extended contact with the beer lends a lush chocolate flavor to my beer. However, as good as the beers might be, I’m impatient and would love to not have to wait so long for these tasty treats to be ready. I recently learned of a product called Cholaca, a liquid cacao emulsion that can be added directly to the finished beer and promises to contribute the same luscious flavors as nibs without the wait or worry of sanitation. Curious to see for myself, I put it to the test!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluated the differences between beers made with either cacao nibs of Cholaca Liquid Cacao.

| METHODS |

Seeing as cacao is often used to accentuate the chocolate character of darker beers, I went with my standard Oatmeal Stout recipe for this xBmt.

Chocolate Rain

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 24.3 IBUs 34.9 SRM 1.053 1.012 5.3 % Actuals 1.053 1.011 5.5 % Fermentables Name Amount % MFB Pilsen 7.5 lbs 68.18 Oats, Flaked 1.75 lbs 15.91 Midnight Wheat 12 oz 6.82 Pale Chocolate Malt 8 oz 4.55 Brown Malt (Crisp) 4 oz 2.27 Chocolate (Briess) 4 oz 2.27 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Hallertau Magnum 23 g 60 min Boil Pellet 10 Miscs Name Amount Time Use Type Cacao Nibs (Batch 1) 9.00 oz 11 days Secondary Flavor Cholaca (Batch 2) 18.00 oz 1 min Bottling Flavor Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Joystick (A18) Imperial Yeast 75% 60°F - 70°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 34 | Mg 5 | Na 19 | SO4 18 | Cl 24 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

A couple days prior to brewing, I made a single large starter of Imperial Yeast A18 Joystick.

I started my brew day by collecting the RO water.

Once the full volume of water was collected, I hit the flame then moved on to milling the grain.

With the water at strike temperature, I added grains and stirred to incorporate before checking to ensure it was at my target mash temperature.

Following the 60 minute mash, the grains were removed and the wort was brought to a boil.

When the 60 minute boil was complete, I chilled the wort and took a refractometer reading confirming my target OG was reached.

The chilled wort was then evenly split between identical fermentors.

The carboys were placed in my chamber and left to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature of 67°F/18°C, at which point I poured equal amounts of the yeast starter into each batch. Both beers were kicking along the following day.

After 5 days of fermentation, activity was waning and I took hydrometer measurements showing FG had been reached.

At this point, I prepared 9 oz/255 g of cacao nibs by first roasting them at 250°F/121°C for 20 minutes then placing them in a mason jar with vodka.

With hydrometer measurements 24 hours later showing no change in FG, I added the entire contents of the mason jar to one batch while the other FV received no treatment.

Given claims of Cholaca’s pungency, I left both beers alone for 11 days to extract as much chocolate character as possible. While the cacao nibs beer was kegged per my normal routine, the other batch was racked into a keg that contained 18 fl. oz./532 mL of Cholaca, and amount I’d seen commonly referenced on the internet. It should be noted that the manufacturer does not provide a nibs to Cholaca ratio.

The filled kegs were placed in my keezer a burst carbonated before the gas was reduced to serving pressure. After 13 days of cold conditioning, the beers were carbonated and ready to serve to participants.

| RESULTS |

A total of 24 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the beer made with cacao nibs and 2 samples of the beer made with Chocala Liquid Cacao in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 13 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, 16 (p=0.0009) made the accurate selection, indicating participants in this xBmt could reliably distinguish an Oatmeal Stout made with cacao nibs from one made with Chocala Liquid Cacao.

The 16 participants who made the accurate selection on the triangle test were instructed to complete a brief preference survey comparing only the beers that were different. A total of 5 tasters reported preferring the beer made with cacao nibs, 8 liked the beer made with Chocala more, 1 person had no preference despite noticing a difference, and 2 people reported perceiving no difference.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 blind triangle tests I attempted, I chose the odd-beer-out 4 times, just shy of a slam dunk. These beers were pretty noticeably different to me, with the cacao nibs version having less chocolate flavor and a perceptibly fuller body. While I perceived a stronger chocolate character in the Cholaca beer, it also seemed thinner and had a distinct grainy texture on the palate. Overall, my preference was for the beer made with cacao nibs.



| DISCUSSION |

Chocolate flavored beers are quite popular these days, with most craft breweries offering at least one version alongside other trendy styles. Historically, the most common methods for imparting chocolate character to beer has been to use either cacao nibs or cocoa powder, methods that are known to work well, though require various steps to ensure good results.

Marketed as imparting a stronger character to beer than cacao nibs in less time, Cholaca is a liquid product made form cacao, water, and coconut sugar that gets added to beer after fermentation. Clearly, making a Cholaca addition adds an element of simplicity to the chocolate beer brewing process– simply open the container and pour it in, no sanitation or waiting from flavor extraction. Despite being produced from the same product, the fact tasters in this xBmt were able to reliably tell apart a beer made with cacao nibs from one made with Cholaca suggests each ingredient contributes unique characteristics to beer.

There are a number of potential explanations for these results, for example, the roasting of the raw cacao nibs, the additional ingredients in Cholaca, or perhaps the nibs to liquid ratio I went with was off. But it could also be that Cholaca is just different than cacao nibs, which isn’t a bad thing, particularly when half of those who made the correct identification on the triangle test preferred the Cholaca dosed beer.

I’ve used cacao nibs many times and it’s possible my preference for the beer made with cacao nibs was influenced by the expectations built from these experiences. I definitely experienced stronger chocolate notes in the Cholaca beer, to the point of being out of proportion with everything else, though I can understand how others might like that. What I found really unappealing was the gritty, almost sandpaper-like texture of the Cholaca beer. While I definitely plan to experiment more with this unique product, I’ll be sticking to cacao nibs as my go-to method for chocolate beers, not only because I know what to expect, but they cost a bit less as well.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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