coca-cola stout

I'm thinking about adding a can of coke to the secondary of a stout I'm going to brew up on Tuesday. I can't think of any way this would ruin the beer, but I think I would add a cool flavor. Is there any reason why this is a bad idea??

Yeah bad idea, Beer is not a soft drink!!! And if this is a true irish stout, or even english for that matter, the true flavor of the stout will be killed by the muddy flavor or adding a can or coke. Dont forget that those cans of coke have some preservatives in them. Not sure on what that will due to yeast activity.

Wow, some posters can be real hum-bugs, huh?

I think it's a great idea, but you'll have to use way more than a can of Coke to taste anything. I had this great idea too, when I first started brewing. In experimenting to see how much of the flavor would come through, I mixed Coke with Guiness and Anchor Porter in varying quantities. In both cases I had to have at least 1 part coke to 2 parts beer for the Coke to make an appearance in the flavor profile. Roasty flavor is just too much.

When I made my Coke brew, I used a brown porter recipe and still scaled the dark grains back a little. I split the batch after fermentation, just in case the Coke totally ruined it. Then at bottling, I added Coke syrup as the priming sugar. You can get Coke syrup from any eatery with a fountain dispenser in exchange for some of the final product.

I primed 2.5 gal with 1 cup of Coke syrup and it was way to much. No bottle bombs, but the caps were popping like champagne and the beer poured out as solid foam. The other half, primed with cornsugar, was perfect.

The flavor difference was noticable, but not spectacular. Honestly, the plain half is probably the best brew I've ever made. If I did it with Coke again, I would probably add 3 cups of syrup to the secondary for a 5 gal batch.

My recipe provided upon request.

This is an interesting idea, although I would assume that someone on this site has already done it (have you used the search function?). Arneba does bring up some really interesting ideas though in regard to the preservative power of a can of Coke. Gotta wonder what that'll do to the yeastie beasties! Now, if you use the Coke Syrup to prime the bottles then you might have a bottle bomb just waiting for you. I have no idea about the exact sugar content of Coke. I would probably use a secondary to add it if I was going to do it. However, it might REALLY dry the beer out. I dont necessarily think that the flavor profile would be bad, interestng, but not bad. I would love to see what the results are. The split batch sounds good. Who can drink 5 gal of Coke Stout?!!!

I wouldnt try to ferment it, but people have been mixing coke and other softdrinks with beer for a long time.
http://www.lovecocktails.com/Recipe/Trojan-Horse/133599/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_cocktail

WOuldn't you want to use a Cola extract like for making homemade soda. You get the flavoring without the extra stuff.

For a long time I've wanted to try the Mtn Brew recipe from BYO magazine. According to them the preservatives didn't effect the yeasts ability to do their job. The fermentables are 8.7 liters Mtn Dew and 4#'s of DME. I pitched the yeast to this about 9 hours ago and it is starting to ferment now. The one thing I like about this hobby is the sky is the limit to what you can make. You have plenty of time for more research so try adding it to some samples of stouts and see what you think. I've added Irish Mist liqueur to a stout and it was awesome, but I tried several different Irish spirits to a stout before deciding on the final combo and research like that can be a lot of fun.

Arneba28 said:

Yeah bad idea, Beer is not a soft drink!!! And if this is a true irish stout, or even english for that matter, the true flavor of the stout will be killed by the muddy flavor or adding a can or coke. Dont forget that those cans of coke have some preservatives in them. Not sure on what that will due to yeast activity.

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+1 on this.

If you're into that, Make a good stout, then mix it with coke in the glass. I wouldn't chance a full batch of beer on it. That just doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

people have been mixing coke and other softdrinks with beer for a long time.

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"PEOPLE" have been having bad ideas since the beginning of time, doesn't mean I want them in my beer.

I'm not being argumentative here, just saying you risk a $40 Stout with a $1.00 can of Coke...>NO THANKS.

Yeah, just mix it in the glass dude. Fermentation can break apart, scramble and rearrange flavors like nobody's business. Just look at wine. God knows what Coke would taste like after the yeast got done with it.

I have read that many Spruce beer recipes taste like Coke.

ThriceIn5Minutes said:

Wow, some posters can be real hum-bugs, huh?

I think it's a great idea, but you'll have to use way more than a can of Coke to taste anything. I had this great idea too, when I first started brewing. In experimenting to see how much of the flavor would come through, I mixed Coke with Guiness and Anchor Porter in varying quantities. In both cases I had to have at least 1 part coke to 2 parts beer for the Coke to make an appearance in the flavor profile. Roasty flavor is just too much.

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Some people are purists. That is OK. Not Humbuggery.

I am all for experimentation, but this sounds bad to me.

Guinness is not a typical or "true" irish stout to me. It is so roasty it hurts. Most stout recipes would not use 3/4 lb of roasted malt in 5 gallons like they do. I think a 2/1 beer to coke ratio sounds insane.

I don't mind if someone else tries it though!

I'm not advocating for a stout that is 1/3 Coke. I'm just saying that that is how much I had to mix into Guiness and Anchor Porter to get a flavor difference. Now, the sugar content ruined the beer long before I could taste the Coke, but fermentation would take care of that issue.

My suggestion is actually to use 3 cups of syrup; that's about enough to equal 8-9 pints of Coke in a 5 gallon batch.


And it's fine if folks want to be purists on this board, but I'm sure purists would be mighty pissed if I crapped on their thread about that silly malt, hopps, water rule. So you're right. It's all perspective, but the rule applies both ways.

Personally I'd get a gallon glass jug and bottle 4 gallons of normal and then try an experiment on the gallon. That way if it turns out great you can make more next time and if it doesn't work out you still got 4 gallons of good beer.

This might give you some ideas on spice additions (either during the boil or whenever you feel it's appropriate) if the coke addition doesn't work out perfectly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_formula

Why don't you do a little experiment. Take a two liter of coke and boil it for 10 minutes or so to remove some of the carbonation. Cool it back down and toss in a pack of Nottingham. After it's done fermenting, taste it and post the results. I don't see any harm in trying to do a coke beer (or even better yet, Dr. Pepper beer), but I'd like to know what the flavor contribution would be first. The worst case scenario it you're out a couple of bucks for coke and yeast...

If you decide to do an experiment with a 2L of coke and yeast, make sure to pick a yeast that is capable of thriving in an acidic environment.

I tested a can of Coke once with a pH probe and it came in around 2! Very acidic for any microbial activity. Just an FYI.

Not sure if the syrup has phosphoric acid or not, but you would do well to check.

The major acid contribution in soda is from carbonic acid. Since carbonic acid is just CO2 dissolved in water, boiling the soda will liberate the CO2 from the carbonic acid, thus raising the pH...I don't know what contributions to the acidity come from other ingredients in the syrup, but just removing the carbonation should bring the pH into at least a tolerable range...

rnrchemnerd said:

The major acid contribution in soda is from carbonic acid. Since carbonic acid is just CO2 dissolved in water, boiling the soda will liberate the CO2 from the carbonic acid, thus raising the pH...I don't know what contributions to the acidity come from other ingredients in the syrup, but just removing the carbonation should bring the pH into at least a tolerable range...

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Coke has phosphoric acid in it. Probably a non-negligable amount since soda water never gets any flak for causing tooth decay.

I say experiment away, but yeah try it in a smaller batch cause you'll probably cry if you ruin 5 gal of beer.

I like the idea. At first glance, it seemed revolting, but then I thought about the deep spice and almost citrus flavors in a good cola, and all of them are welcome in beer. I don't particularly like the idea of simply adding a few cans of Coke to the fermenter (fermented Coke just seems nasty to me), but some cola extract might be really good in a big stout or porter.

I recommend getting some cola extract - and perhaps using different proportions of extract to beer in multiple small batches. That way you just get the flavoring without the extra sugar, acidity, and preservatives screwing with flavors.

I've actually made a coca cola stout twice. For a five gallon batch boil a 2 liter of coke down to about 2 cups so it's back to syrup form. Somthing about boiling it brings out the citrus flavors, and also highlights the carmel flavor. I then add it to the wort for the whole boil. I've tried just pouring in a 2 liter, but boiling it really makes a difference. The flavor is great, and like Yuri_Rage said, it has a great citrus taste, but also deep carmel flavors. DO NOT BURN THE COCA COLA.

Coca cola in beer? Are you insane?!?

Now, Dr Pepper... that might be good.

Yea, you know what, I bet any soda would be good after you boil it down. I bet Moxy would be the best

bruguru great tip! I've been wondering about this for a few months. I'm going to do this later in the fall once and have a cola stout ready for the colder months (around my parts that's like 50*, but still). Soooo many Negative Nancys on here - I'm glad to finally found an answer.

I presume this would work with any soda? At least darker ones. If I have positive results the with cola might be interested in experimenting with Dr. Pepper or even a Cheerwine (Cherry flavored soda, I'm not sure if everyone here knows that that is).

Last thought (pairing), seems as though this cola reduction strategy would be really easy to make into a sauce for use with pork/chicken.

I brewed Jamil's dark English mild a few months ago, and used cola (whole foods brand, it has real Kola in it) and Virgil's root beer to condition 3 bottles each. The cola'd bottles really bring the taste through. I added about 10 mL per bottle. The root beer was very faint. I was pretty surprised by how strong the cola was. I wouldn't blow a whole batch on an idea like that without trying it first with a few bottles. The sugar content is listed on the sides of the cans, and it's pretty easy to figure out how much you need. I'd use a high quality soda that doesn't have preservatives in it. It's pretty nice, though, you don't need to boil it as it's obviously sterile.