AHS Toasted Coconut Porter

Has anyone tried the AHS Toasted Coconut Porter? The reviews on the site look promising, but I'm curious as to how much coconut the recipe actually calls for. One of the people on the reviews said they had hard time using a 5 gallon secondary without things overflowing (they used 3 1/2 lbs of coconut!). I guess just primary the whole time and add fruit after 2 weeks?

I'm not really sure my grocery store sells unsweetened coconut, but I'll be on the look out for it. The whole idea of a beer tasting like mounds sounds mighty tasty.

I'm curious too, a local brewery makes a coconut porter that is fing amazing! Been looking at this kit.

I have 10 gallons kegged right now and I love it. I used 6 lbs. of heavily toasted coconut in the secondary and have an almost coconut-bourbon flavor.

I have brewed it and it really is a great recipe.
The coconut does soak up some volume and is hard to get out of the carboy.
I plan on doing it again, but next time I will toast the cocont and put it in a muslin bag and suspend it in the keg.

Is there any chocolate malt? If so how much, and how much chocolate flavor does it yield?

I have made coconut porters (not AHS, just my own recipe) a few times and I think somewhere between 10-16oz of toasted unsweetened coconut in secondary will give you a good coconut flavor without completely dominating the beer.

I cannot imagine putting 3 1/2 lbs into a 5 gallon batch. That sounds like waaay too much to me.


BTW for adding to secondary I highly recommend you use a hops bag and make sure the coconut flakes cannot get out. On my first batch I had a hole in the bag and ended up with a layer of coconut on top and coconut flakes spread throughout the beer that were still showing up every time I drank one.

I usually use 2 x 14 oz packs of coconut for a 5 gallon batch, but I think I could use more! Next time maybe I'll do 3 or 4 packs. I use the regular sweetened kind from the supermarket and it still comes out good.

I agree it's a big mess racking if you don't put it in a bag or something.

We brewed the all-grain version of this. It turned out amazing... kudos all around from those we've shared it with. After the "oak chip auto-siphon disaster" of a different batch, we opted to do the secondary of this one in a plastic bucket and put the coconut in a large mesh bag -- no issue with space in the bucket and no coconut clogging the siphon since it was all in a nylon bag and we pulled it out before racking to the bottling bucket (I also think the nylon bag captured a lot of the excess coconut oil). The recipe called for 1 lb toasted coconut, next time I think we will try 1.5 lbs and use some balast to keep the coconut more immersed. Regardless, it came out great... you should definitely make it!

WhineinAlbany said:

Has anyone tried the AHS Toasted Coconut Porter? The reviews on the site look promising, but I'm curious as to how much coconut the recipe actually calls for. One of the people on the reviews said they had hard time using a 5 gallon secondary without things overflowing (they used 3 1/2 lbs of coconut!). I guess just primary the whole time and add fruit after 2 weeks?

I'm not really sure my grocery store sells unsweetened coconut, but I'll be on the look out for it. The whole idea of a beer tasting like mounds sounds mighty tasty.

Click to expand...

I'm answering a different question than the one you asked, but I've decided that future coconut-flavored beers will be flavored with an extract, not the fruit. To get a noticeable, Mounds-like flavor, you need a LOT of coconut. Or, add a few teaspoons of a quality, natural coconut extract for instant flavor.

No contest in my mind.