Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Coconut Porter

I brewed this almost a year back. was grest after about 2 weeks in bottle. after that they turned into bottle bombs. added about 24oz of toasted coconut to the secondary. anyone have any idea why this over carbed?

Only a few reasons it would have done that (that I can think of off the top of my head) - one, you didn't let it finish fermenting before bottling (most likely, since you said it was great after two weeks in the bottle) -two, you messed up in the sanitation department and a bug got in and went nuts afterward (possible, but I'd have thought you might taste some "off" flavors when you had a few rounds a couple weeks or so in the bottle, but not unheard of) -the last, and unlikely, was that you over-dosed the amount of sugar at bottling time (doubtful, as it should have become evident by two weeks). I'd go with the first guess, though. That's the usual culprit. Best practice is to make sure fermentation has ceased by repeat hydrometer readings.

also scraped 5 vanilla beans into about 1/2 oz of rum and added tincture to the secondary with toasted coconut. any chance sugars from coconut/vanilla/rum added enough extra fermentables to over carb?

want to try this recipe as all grain (used LME first time around) but obviously want to avoid the bottle bomb issue.

Second Nightbiker's comment on the need to take multiple readings. Depending on what yeast you used, it's possible fermentation stalled around 1.024--I've had that happen with this beer before. Adding priming sugar can get things going again, leading to bottle bombs. I always like to use a brew belt and bring up the temperature a little bit at the tail end of fermentation to make sure things keep humming along and the beer dries out. If you already ferment around the lower limit of your yeast and just raise it 2-3º you can have the desired effect without creating off flavors.

I just finished primary on a batch of this and moved it over to the secondary fermenter, on top of the coconut. Is the coconut supposed to float on top? It's all clogged up at the top of the fermenter.. I thought it would sink, I guess.

My wife would love this!!

Any thought on adding untoasted coconut late in the boil and in the secondary as well??

I herd Maui put in in the mash. And secondary
But the boil probably would extract to many oils

Medevac_Chief said:

My wife would love this!!

Any thought on adding untoasted coconut late in the boil and in the secondary as well??

Click to expand...

I have done this with un toasted coconut in the mash and then i added 2 lbs of toasted in the primary bucket after fermentation had slowed.

You could probably add some at flameout, but i think you would get the best results adding it after primary fermentation.

Think I am going to try this vanilla coconut sugar at flame out and 2lbs of toasted in secondary

View attachment 1429832463401.jpg

Sweet, thanks TechyDork! That sounds good to me.

Timzabel12, let us know how the first tastings come out from the wort

Going to try this next !

CoopersGoose said:

I've actually produced a coconut porter with toasted coconut added into all three phases of production, in the mash, in the boil, and in the fermenter. This is similar to how Maui Brewing Co. produces their CoCoNut porter from what I understand. Ratios are 6-7 oz in mash, 6-7 oz. in boil, and 12-14 oz. in secondary fermenter (KEG). Turned out awesome!!!

Click to expand...

Planning on going this route with the coconut. Challenge is a short brew time, brewing on aug 4 and kegging/force carbing on aug 28.. One week in primary and two in secondary.

Medevac_Chief said:

My wife would love this!!

Any thought on adding untoasted coconut late in the boil and in the secondary as well??

Click to expand...

Untoasted coconut is going to have alot of oils (fat) that you really don't want to add to beer.

Toasting it enhances the flavor but also serves to, at least somewhat, cook off some of the oils.

Just an update, I brewed this yesterday and hit my numbers pretty close. One thing to note, I toasted 12 ounces of unsweetened shredded coconut on two different large baking sheets. 325 convect and I set the timer for 15 minutes. After seven minutes the house smelled amazing, totally toasted coconut. I checked it and it was a deep golden brown. I know convection speeds things up but seven minutes at 3:25 was all it took, anything more and it would've been way over toasted

Ugh think I have my first in fermenter infection in 4 years of brewing. Today I checked gravity and added the 12 oz of toasted coconut and there was a definite pellicle developed on the surface, bubbles trapped inside. Sorry did not take a pic, I just added the 12oz of coconut in a muslin bag and used it to stir the film on top back in. SG was 1.007, a little low for this brew. I'll check again in about 12 days when I keg, will see, may be a dumper.

Just thought of something. Was reading posts on infections and someone said that oil in the wort could cause this so wondering if the oil from the toasted coconut was what I saw. I put toasted coconut in the mash and boil and even though toasted there's still some oil. Wouldn't explain the lower SG but... Will see

Well good news, definitely not infected. I misread my hydrometer (a new one) it's at 1.016 not 1.006 and the film on top that's trapping bubbles oil from the coconut. I put 6 oz of toasted coconut in the mash and boil, and now have 12 oz steeping in secondary. Tasting like a great porter, not getting any coconut taste or aroma yet but hoping will come in the second week of secondary.

Timzabel12 said:

Think I am going to try this vanilla coconut sugar at flame out and 2lbs of toasted in secondary

Click to expand...

did you try this after all? i would think that the flavor would ferment out.

So I dropped 8 liter of wort on top of 200g coconut in secondary fur a week. I think next time it could have more coconut, but then I had the last one a week's ago and the aroma and taste were stronger than ever before and balanced.

CoopersGoose said:

I've actually produced a coconut porter with toasted coconut added into all three phases of production, in the mash, in the boil, and in the fermenter. This is similar to how Maui Brewing Co. produces their CoCoNut porter from what I understand. Ratios are 6-7 oz in mash, 6-7 oz. in boil, and 12-14 oz. in secondary fermenter (KEG). Turned out awesome!!!

Click to expand...

When you add to the boil. Do you add the coconut at 60min or flameout?

bump

http://byo.com/hops/item/679-fruit-brew-part-2-techniques
The above link provides much guidance on how/when to add fruit to beer (and while coconut is not listed in the article, I suspect it would largely follow same recommendations). Generally speaking, it just seems wasteful to add too early (mash/boil), as so much of the flavor/effect is likely to be lost in the boil and primary fermentation.

From what I've read elsewhere, the reason for toasting the coconut, therefore, is (1) to reduce/eliminate chance of introducing nasties, (2) to get the toasted flavor (which may or may not be to your liking), and (3) to reduce the amount of oil. Best recommendations I've seen suggest toasting (in thin layers on cookie sheets) at 300-325 for about 20 minutes (+/-), then dumping onto paper toweling to pat off as much oil as possible. When cooled, put into a hop-sack along with enough marbles (cleaned and dipped/sprayed with sterilizing solution) to sink the bag (which would otherwise float, reducing effectiveness of transfer of coconut flavor to beer).

I have a Sweet Stout in fermentation right now that I intend to split into 2.5gal secondaries to add coconut to half, and thinking of trying vanilla in the other half. If each turns out well, looking forward to enjoying each separately, and likely doing a half-and-half blended!

Brewed this yesterday, had an OG of 1.062

Can someone point me to a link where this is scaled for 5 gal?

strangebrew55 said:

Can someone point me to a link where this is scaled for 5 gal?

Click to expand...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=4368848&postcount=31

just knock the ingredients down by 1/2
it works just fine

Thanks.

This may be a stupid question but how do I make sure the roasted coconut is bacteria free? I'm about ready to start my first batch.

You've toasted it, so any surface bacteria should be killed. There's of course a small risk, but I've never had any issue.

If you're really worried, you can soak the toasted coconut in vodka or bourbon for a few days, then add the liquid to your secondary. Main advantage there is it allows you to put the stuff in the fridge over night and skim off the oils from the coconut. Removing them would have the added benefit of helping with head retention.

holton3- said:

This may be a stupid question but how do I make sure the roasted coconut is bacteria free? I'm about ready to start my first batch.

Click to expand...

Well toasting it in the oven should be enough to take care of that. I toast mine at 325 for 20-25 minutes and within that time frame I remove the coconut and stir it up 3 times so that the bottom coconut doesn't burn. I've made my coconut porter 5 times now with no issues. I also don't have any issue with head retention, and I don't do anything to remove or avoid the oils. Matter of fact, the head retention is excellent.


Rev.

Thank you very much. I appreciate your knowledge and input.
Holton3

Thanks for the response. Can't wait to give it a try!
Holton3

holton3- said:

Thank you very much. I appreciate your knowledge and input.
Holton3

Click to expand...

We're here to help One more thing, and this is my personal opinion after making a number of Coconut Porter's, just put the coconut in a mesh bag and put it in your fermenter (weighed down with something - I use sanitized crystal balls as they are easier to remove when done than small marbles) for the last week. Don't waste your money putting it in the mash or boil. Again, this is personal opinion but coconut can be quite a pricey addition especially if adding it at three stages of brewing. I use the finely shredded organic desulfered (non-sweetened of course) Coconut. I use 2lbs in that last week and the coconut flavor is perfect, not weak but not overpowering and totally noticeable without having to "look for" the flavor. For a 5 gallon batch shoot for 20 liters, 5.28 gallons, in the fermenter for absorption loss but squeeze the bag when kegging/bottling with something sanitized to get additional extraction.


Rev.

Definitely want to try this! I've been looking for a good Honey Porter recipe and came across this one. Sounds delicious!

I found this recipe when I first started home brewing a couple years ago. After a hiatus from brewing this is going to be my first 1.5 gallon BIAB batch.

Is Nottingham yeast an acceptable substitute? Couldn't get the London ale yeast specified.