Coffee and cocoa nib additions

[RAtkison]

I brewed about 6 gallons of stout last weekend and plan on adding coffee and cocoa nibs to it after fermentation is complete. This is my first stout to brew and I don't have much experience with these late additions. I've been reading all over the internet the best times and ways to add each but figured I'd ask for direct expert advice on the two.

First question, do I need to rack to secondary? I don't mind doing it, but is it necessary or can these be added directly to the primary on the yeast?

For the cooca nibs my guess is to soak these in vodka 24-48 hours prior to adding, is there any problem with this?

As for the coffee, ground beans or cold pressed? I would like to add a nice coffee flavor and aroma. If ground beans are added do I just soak them in vodka with the cocoa nibs? Either way (ground/cold pressed), add coffee and coca nibs 4-5 days prior to bottling?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Hawkbox]

I don't use a secondary for really anything. Except beers that have a ton of sediment in them like the raspberry one I did to try not to get raspberry seeds in the keg works.

I haven't tried any of what you're doing though so I'm not much use.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Rack, add coffee beans whole in a muslin bag (think dry hop). About 8 ounces should do. Check in about 18 hours and leave on longer if you want more intensity. Remember it'll fade as time goes on. No soaking necessary.
The Nibs I always add at the end of the boil.
I'm sure others will contribute to their methods.
Cheers,
Brian

 

[White Haus Brews]

Personally I'm a fan of using tinctures so I would probably soak the nibs in a cup of vodka, soak the beans in a cup of vodka (can start those going now) and add when you bottle/keg (or skip the beans and just pour the coffee in then too). I like doing it this way so that you can add just the amount of both flavors that you're looking for, don't have to keep sampling over days to figure out when the timing is perfect, and don't have to rack to secondary. YMMV but it's worked well for me

 

[philjohnwilliams]

I can only speak about the coffee addition because I have zero experience with cocoa nibs. What I would do for the coffee is to make a quart of double strength coffee, and it could be by whatever method you prefer (my preference would be for cold brewed) and to add this at bottling time as White Haus Brews suggested. Doing it this was makes it easy to add just the amount you want, and if you want you could bottle half the batch with some coffee and add more for the second half of the batch so you can have two different strengths of coffee flavour. Be aware that if you are not making a coffee tincture in vodka, then you will have to pasteurise the coffee before you add it.