Blondeish coconut ale. Opinions wanted!

[surgical_ass]

Thinking about brewing up a coconut blonde with a touch of pale chocolate malt.
91% 2 row
5.7% crystal malt 20L
3.3% pale chocolate malt

1lb toasted coconut at fo
10oz toasted coconut secondary.

This going to clash w the choc malt? Fire away please!

 

[2trout]

Coconut in beer? Don't.

 

[DarkSotM]

I make an India Dark Ale with a pound of toasted coconut soaked in rum into secondary. One of my more popular recipes, although it has vary little to no coconut flavor in my opinion.

 

[surgical_ass]

Coconut in beer? Don't.

My thoughts exactly.... Until I recently had a coconut blonde and was really Supprised at how well it played in the beer.

 

[surgical_ass]

I make an India Dark Ale with a pound of toasted coconut soaked in rum into secondary. One of my more popular recipes, although it has vary little to no coconut flavor in my opinion.

Wonder if the coconut would shine more in a lighter beer with less hop presence? What's your srm/ibu?

 

[DarkSotM]

SRM? IBU? No idea. But here's the recipe:

Pirate's Plunder

5 gallons

11 lbs Maris Otter
.5 lbs pale chocolate
.25 lbs English dark Crystal
.125 lbs Dehusked Carafa III
.125 lbs English extra Dark Crystal

3/4 oz US Magnum @ 60 min
1 oz Brewer's gold @ 15 min
1 oz Cascade @ 15 min
1 oz Brewers Gold @ 5 min

1 oz Cascade to dry hop

For the coconut I get a bag (1 lb if I remember right) of the lightly sweetened stuff from the grocery store and put it in a skillet on the stove until it's a nice medium brown. Then I put it in a jar and pour an entire bottle of Kraken rum on it and let it sit a week or so shaken it whenever I remember. I like to add it toward the end of primary as it tends to restart fermentation and I don't want it to blow the dry hop aromas out.

 

[btn]

Isn't there a new hop variety that has a coconut flavor or aroma element? That would probably help.

 

[Iseneye]

I don't have an answer but you don't need to ask the same question in three different sub-forums posted 10 minutes apart. Just one thread is enough.

 

[surgical_ass]

I don't have an answer but you don't need to ask the same question in three different sub-forums posted 10 minutes apart. Just one thread is enough.

Thanks!

 

[surgical_ass]

Isn't there a new hop variety that has a coconut flavor or aroma element? That would probably help.

Any ideas about this hop? Something you saw somewhere or just heard about? That's interesting.

 

[btn]

Any ideas about this hop? Something you saw somewhere or just heard about? That's interesting.

It is ADHA 529, an experimental hop.

http://adha.us/varietals/adha-529

 

[TandemTails]

I did a chocolate coconut stout and while the taste is good, the oils from the coconut are a huge PITA to deal with. I've heard of people adding the coconut to vodka or rum and then throwing it in a freezer so the fat and oils separate and then skim that off before adding to secondary. It seems like using that much rum/vodka is pretty wasteful and I'm not sure how much it will affect the taste of the beer.

I guess the other option is to do the rum+freeze trick and then try to strain the coconut out and keep the rum to use in mixed drinks. That way you're not adding an entire bottle of rum to 5 gallons of beer.

 

[surgical_ass]

I did a chocolate coconut stout and while the taste is good, the oils from the coconut are a huge PITA to deal with. I've heard of people adding the coconut to vodka or rum and then throwing it in a freezer so the fat and oils separate and then skim that off before adding to secondary. It seems like using that much rum/vodka is pretty wasteful and I'm not sure how much it will affect the taste of the beer.

I guess the other option is to do the rum+freeze trick and then try to strain the coconut out and keep the rum to use in mixed drinks. That way you're not adding an entire bottle of rum to 5 gallons of beer.

How did u add coconut? Boil? Secondary? Amounts? Coconut oil? Flaked?

 

[TandemTails]

How did u add coconut? Boil? Secondary? Amounts? Coconut oil? Flaked?

For a 3.5 gallon batch I added a ton of coconut, all of which i toasted myself in the oven. I used shredded coconut (not flakes) in the mash, boil and secondary.

Mash: 2 cups toasted coconut
Boil: 4 cups toasted coconut (@15 min)
Secondary: 1/2 lb toasted coconut (for 2 weeks)

While the coconut flavor faded over time, it was initially really in your face. I screwed up pitching my yeast and only ended up with an FG of around 1.042 (way too sweet for my liking). It's still something I want to attempt again once I figure out a better way to handle the fat/oil issue. Cold crashing might help as well.

 

[ba-brewer]

My wife asked if it was possible to make a pina colada beer. I never made the beer but did some looking in how to get around the fats from the coconut. It turns out coconut water does not have much if any fat. The flavor might also be less that but that could be a good thing.