Kona Brewing Koko Brown Ale - Page 6

Ceetar · 12-19-2011, 03:06 PM

I bottled and tasted my version. I boiled the toasted coconut for about 15-20 minutes in the boil, and even left some of it in the primary (which was probably a bad idea, bottling-wise). The beer tastes really good, but the coconut flavor is barely perceptible. I only tasted a bit, and thought I detected some of it, but certainly not the powerful taste in the original. Neither of my parents or brother could detect it over the toasted/roasted/coffee flavors of the grain.

Ceetar · 12-30-2011, 07:25 PM

if i do say so myself, this is delicious. nice malty, but nutty, brown ale. I ended up using this recipe:

6lbs Light Dry Malt Extract
1lb Victory Malt
12oz Caramunich I
12oz American Chocolate

boil 30 mins 1.0 Galena pellet 13.1
boil 1 min 1.0 Willamette 3.4

Wyeast American Ale (1056)

put the pound or so of toasted coconut in the boil for about 15.

I can clearly taste the coconut, although my wife claims she can't. I think she's just used to the nutty nature of brown ales and not noticing. next time I'll perhaps toast it a little longer and maybe add a little bit-post boil or something. It's probably darker than it should be. But whatever.

on a related note, Kona's gonna start distrubting to south jersey/penn/delaware, and the Koko should be available as part of the Spring Seasonal Aloha.

Coldies · 01-09-2012, 09:32 PM

I just had this beer over the weekend. Man was it good. After reading through this whole thread i'm wondering if adding .5 lb of toasted coconut to the mash and 1 lb to the last 15 min of the boil would bring out the coconut flavor a little more.

**downtown3641** · 01-09-2012, 09:48 PM

Recently had this start showing up in Virginia. I picked up a six pack and I've only had one so far. I think the coconut may be a little too much for my tastes. I'll leave a few in the fridge for my wife to have after our baby is born. She loves coconut.

rwfishbu · 01-10-2012, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldies

I just had this beer over the weekend. Man was it good. After reading through this whole thread i'm wondering if adding .5 lb of toasted coconut to the mash and 1 lb to the last 15 min of the boil would bring out the coconut flavor a little more.

In talking to two different breweries about their coconut (Hale's and Kona through a friend), both say they use the toasted coconut flakes in secondary. They determine how coconut-ty it gets by how long they leave it on the coconut.

In my experiment, we added coconut in three different ways at three different times (read up the thread). We found that by mixing the three beers, we got the best beer overall.

By best, I mean, we had eight tasters; five of them brewers and one (me) a BJCP judge. There was no consensus on which was best unblended, but after blending, we all were in violent agreement that mixed was the best. Soooo... yeah, I'd try it in at least two--if not all three--points in the process to see if a single beer could be achieved.

Coldies · 01-10-2012, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwfishbu

In talking to two different breweries about their coconut (Hale's and Kona through a friend), both say they use the toasted coconut flakes in secondary. They determine how coconut-ty it gets by how long they leave it on the coconut.

In my experiment, we added coconut in three different ways at three different times (read up the thread). We found that by mixing the three beers, we got the best beer overall.

By best, I mean, we had eight tasters; five of them brewers and one (me) a BJCP judge. There was no consensus on which was best unblended, but after blending, we all were in violent agreement that mixed was the best. Soooo... yeah, I'd try it in at least two--if not all three--points in the process to see if a single beer could be achieved.

I'm gonna try and do as I mentioned, 1/2 lb in the mash and 1 lb in the last 20-15 min of the boil. I have a porter lined up next but I will do this one after I keg my hef.

**2BeerSpeer** · 01-11-2012, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowellAvenueBrew

What a great thread. We've been working on our own Coco Brown for a couple batches now and I think we've done a great job getting that liquid mounds bar beer. The story about the beer is here: Dave’s Coco Brown | Powell Avenue Brew.

A few suggestions after reading the thread. Maybe sub that chocolate for a debittered chocolate and black. This takes away some of the tannic harshness and allows for the coconut to shine through more. Also we've been using Whole Foods shredded coconut (unsweetened) straight into primary. The oil does get EVERYWHERE, but it is oh so worth it.

We've kicked a couple kegs of this now and it's definitely become a house favorite.

*Update - We added a pdf and beerxml of our Dave's Coco Brown to the website if anyone wants to check it out.

Do you have this in a beersmith file or a way to convert the beer xlm file to beersmith

PowellAvenueBrew · 01-12-2012, 06:27 AM

No, unfortunately I don't have a beersmith file. Not sure if there is a good way to transfer the xml into beersmith. I did just brew up a new batch of this yesterday though.

**2BeerSpeer** · 01-13-2012, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowellAvenueBrew

No, unfortunately I don't have a beersmith file. Not sure if there is a good way to transfer the xml into beersmith. I did just brew up a new batch of this yesterday though.

I host a LUAU every year with all the bells and whistles...was wanting a good homebrew for the one next summer and I believe this will be it!

Grumpybumpy · 01-29-2012, 04:57 PM

I picked up a 6er of this yesterday and had one last night. Way too much coconut for my tastes. Tasted like a candy bar. A member of my homebrew club made a coconut porter that was out of sight though!