Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Coconut Cream Stout-competition runner up

I used 05 and it came out fantastic, very clean yeast.

Have to say, just racked to secondary and this is one of the best stouts I have tasted out of primary. High high hopes for this, in fact, after tasting a little, I poured a half glass and put it in the fridge. Even flat and young, man it was good. Thanks for the recipe!

Just brewed this up this last Sunday... looking forward to seeing how this finishes up.

Quick question: When you submitted this for competition, did you enter it as 13B - Sweet Stout?

FermentedTed said:

Just brewed this up this last Sunday... looking forward to seeing how this finishes up.

Quick question: When you submitted this for competition, did you enter it as 13B - Sweet Stout?

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Both competitions were an "anything goes" competition. So, this was up against IPA's, APA's, browns, porters, just about everything.

Just ordered the stuff to make a 10 gallon batch. I'm going to do a side by side of the WLP001 and the S-05 and report back.

Stupid question for you though, do you sanitize the coconut before adding it to the secondary or just toast it off and that's it?

Racked onto the coconut last Saturday. Forgot to put the marbles in the bag. Really wish I didn't forget the marbles. The coconut bag is doing an excellent job of sealing up the neck of the carboy. Oh well!

FermentedTed said:

Just brewed this up this last Sunday... looking forward to seeing how this finishes up.

Quick question: When you submitted this for competition, did you enter it as 13B - Sweet Stout?

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If you're entering a BJCP competition, I would enter this into Category 20 (Fruit Beer) and/or (honestly both) Category 23 Specialty Beer. Coconut aroma/flavors are going to cost you points if you enter it into Category 13B.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php

So I thought I'd give this recipe a go. I didn't add the lactose cos I'm not much into it but I added around 600g of oats to a 40L batch. I was mistakingly given wyeast London ale 3 instead of 2 but today since my fermentation looked done took a sample which was 1014. And a taste. Which I thought was a pretty drinkable tasty stout. I have now added 700g of coconut that I toasted. And am looking forward to trying in a week to see if it's ready

Cheers to the original poster for the recipe

Josh

Its weird, after kegging the beer the coconut flavor was very strong for the first week or two then started to really fade fast, and then about 6 weeks in the keg the coconut flavor is back and stronger than ever...maybe because there is a bunch of coconut in the bottom of the keg that came over during the transfer and now that the keg is getting low all that coconut is really being absorbed in what beer is left, but I have no idea, theres still about 2 gallons left.

If I don't want to use a secondary bucket can I add my hop bag with coconut and a couple marbles to the primary?

BrewmiesterSmith (OP) - I saw you have a keg of your CCS on tap right now, but it is the burbon edition! How did you go about doing this?!?! Did you just add a few shots to the keg? I want to make a 5 gallon batch and split it into two 2.5 gallon batches, one original recipe and the other a dark rum style. Please advise how you made your burbon addition!

Damn. Im in the process of brewing this right now and realized I left out the carmel 60l. How do you think it will turn out?

dangerpony said:

Damn. Im in the process of brewing this right now and realized I left out the carmel 60l. How do you think it will turn out?

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As a stout you won't have any issues lacking in color, but you will lack some of the sweetness the C60 would have brought to the recipe. Also, it may be too late now but the dark malts you only want to add in the last 10-15 minutes of the mash. If you mash the full 60 they tend to give an excessive bitterness to the beer. We only want to add these for their color and flavor, there aren't really any sugars we are looking to pull from these grains.

Chris7687 said:

As a stout you won't have any issues lacking in color, but you will lack some of the sweetness the C60 would have brought to the recipe. Also, it may be too late now but the dark malts you only want to add in the last 10-15 minutes of the mash. If you mash the full 60 they tend to give an excessive bitterness to the beer. We only want to add these for their color and flavor, there aren't really any sugars we are looking to pull from these grains.

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Yeah well I mashed all the grains at the same time, when I bought them I had them crushed at my LHBS and they were just all mixed together. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. I'll chalk it up as a learning experience to double check my recipes. This is only my second AG batch and I hit the adjusted OG I got from brewers friend right on the money which was 1.055, so am happy about that. Luckily I figured this wouldn't be a session beer so I only brewed up a 3.5 gallon batch.

Chris7687 said:

BrewmiesterSmith (OP) - I saw you have a keg of your CCS on tap right now, but it is the burbon edition! How did you go about doing this?!?! Did you just add a few shots to the keg? I want to make a 5 gallon batch and split it into two 2.5 gallon batches, one original recipe and the other a dark rum style. Please advise how you made your burbon addition!

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I used american oak chips, soaked them in bourbon for about 2 weeks. I added the chips to the secondary for 1 week. The oaky flavor was there, but not much bourbon. So, I took a little of the oak soaked bourbon and added a little in to taste. You'll have to play with it. I pulled a growler and took it to a party where a friend of mine, who loves stouts, wouldn't stop talking about how it was the best stout he ever had. Anyway, it was a cool experiment. I'd buy a barrel if I tried it again next time. To me it left a slight aftertaste on my tastebuds doing it this way.

Gotcha. I'll give it a try a few different ways. Excited to try this recipe soon!

I put the recipe in my beersmith and cant get the IBU and SRM to match. Cant get the color above 31, anyone have the same thing happen?


Great looking recipe by the way thanks for sharing!

This is a side by side of the Maui Brewing Company's Coconut Porter (on the left).
It's slightly darker than yours but honestly, yours tastes much better. Where the Maui has a very (and I mean very) slight hint of coconut, yours has a nice smell and not overpowering coconut taste. I much prefer your recipe.

Excuse the lack of head, it is only the second or third day on the CO2. It was great even without carbing and gets better each day. Congrats on a really nice recipe.

I also placed in the "anything goes" Bell's competition in 2012. Your stout was the one beer where I thought "I would really like to try this". I've been playing around with the idea of doing a coconut stout for a while, looking forward to trying this one!

When does the coconut start to really come through?

I just bottled a Coconut Blonde where I used 1# flaked and toasted @ 15min and 2# in secondary and when I went to bottle the coconut was there after it warmed up but very faint. I had this planned for one of my next couple beers but I can't imagine the coconut coming through in a stout judging from my results with the blonde. I've read a few posts where people said it went from being muted to upfront with conditioning. But being my first coconut beer I don't know if its lacking flavor or just needs time. Interested to hear feedback as I want to get this brewed soon for an upcoming event. Thoughts?

What do you think of taking some roasted coconut and putting into a 1/2 cup of vodka for about two weeks and adding all of it to the secondary for an additional two weeks?

I just brewed a milk stout with coconut and cacao nib put into secondary. Question- since lactose is no fermentable how do I measure true gravities? Is OG and FG changed by the lactose? Hope I don't sound too ignorant

mark014294 said:

I just brewed a milk stout with coconut and cacao nib put into secondary. Question- since lactose is no fermentable how do I measure true gravities? Is OG and FG changed by the lactose? Hope I don't sound too ignorant

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I don't think the lactose has any effect on gravity since its not fermentable. I'd just take your reading.

BrewmeisterSmith said:

I don't think the lactose has any effect on gravity since its not fermentable. I'd just take your reading.

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Won't it essentially add to your OG and FG since its sugar but non fermentable.

Beersmith will tell you so. I wouldn't be too concerned. I think it's a very minimal effect. I can tell you that I've felt good after drinking a few, so to me it's irrelevant. End result, good effects. If you really want to be precise, load it in beersmith, calibrate the recipe to your profile, then leave out the lactose. That will help you figure out your potential. Adjust from there if you need to. Add your lactose after you feel comfortable with it.

I was noting you OG and FG and thought maybe you mashed at 158f or thereabouts. I'm I right?

mark014294 said:

I just brewed a milk stout with coconut and cacao nib put into secondary. Question- since lactose is no fermentable how do I measure true gravities? Is OG and FG changed by the lactose? Hope I don't sound too ignorant

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Yes it will affect your OG and FG, but you're calculations will still yield the same ABV% as long as you're consistent.
The long polymer chain of lactose can't be broken down with the brewer's yeast we use.

Biergarden said:

I was noting you OG and FG and thought maybe you mashed at 158f or thereabouts. I'm I right?

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OP says mash at 152f.

#8 maris otter
#1 chocolate
#1 crystal 60L
12oz Roasted Barley
8oz Dextrin
mash single infusion 54 - 60 min boil
#1 lactose(15 boil)
1oz Northern brewer (60 min)
.5 oz Fuggles (15min)
WLP004 - Irish ale OG 1.074 FG 1.026
4 oz Cacao nibs (secondary 7 days)
16 oz Toasted Coconut (secondary 7 days)
turned out spectacular - just a hint of coconut in finish - bottle conditioned in 10 days
only problem was that i loose leafed the coconut and it was a pain to syphon

blkcld5150 said:

#8 maris otter
#1 chocolate
#1 crystal 60L
12oz Roasted Barley
8oz Dextrin
mash single infusion 54 - 60 min boil
#1 lactose(15 boil)
1oz Northern brewer (60 min)
.5 oz Fuggles (15min)
WLP004 - Irish ale OG 1.074 FG 1.026
4 oz Cacao nibs (secondary 7 days)
16 oz Toasted Coconut (secondary 7 days)
turned out spectacular - just a hint of coconut in finish - bottle conditioned in 10 days
only problem was that i loose leafed the coconut and it was a pain to syphon

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Yep...contain the coconut. Use a hop sock and some marbles...careful. Dont throw out all the marbles later by accident. Your wife will get mad at you....lol. Plus if you contain it, you wont waste as much beer. I gained about a half-1 gallon when I started using a hop sock.

btw...that sounds delicious. I almost went with Cacao nibs originally, but couldn't find any.

I made a 5.5 gallon batch of this, basically halved the recipe on the first page, and only used 1 8 oz bag of toasted coconut, but it was great, one of my favorites so far. I will keep this one and maybe experiment with it a little bt n the future. Thanks for the recipe!

Anyone have a good partial mash for this? I just don't know how much 2 row to sub out for DME. FWIW, this looks incredible and I can't wait to brew this.


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I just racked this to secondary and added the coconut. I tried a little bit of it (couldn't help it!) and it's delicious. I added a couple drops of chocolate extract to it and it made it taste like a chocolate milkshake. I cannot wait to try it fully carbed and with the coconut. Very grateful for this recipe.

I'm about to throw my 2nd batch of this in secondary - Can't thank you enough for the recipe, it's the best thing I've brewed so far. I did however go to the extreme end with it - I wanted a coconut punch in the face so my first batch had almost 3 pounds in a 5 gallon batch. I couldn't keep people out of it - This time I dropped the Lactose and haven't quite decided how much coconut I'll use.

Thanks for the recipe, I am going to brew this in the next 1-2 months.