Coconut milk stout

[KyleWolf]

hey all,

So I should specify I am thinking of a (coconut milk) stout, not (coconut)(milk stout). Meaning I am kicking around the idea of using coconut milk (like what you use in a lot of Thai dishes).
I know regular milk is not the way to go in a milk stout and you use lactose instead, and the recipes I have read so far would use coconut meat and lactose.
The thing is...I HATE coconut (the meat that is, shaved coconut and the like. And it's the taste, not just the texture), but I love coconut milk (odd? perhaps).

So after trying a coconut porter at the emerald coast brewfest, I got it in my mind that I might be able to add coconut milk to my chocolate rye stout recipe to really try something different.

So I just wanted to see what everyone here thought about using coconut milk as a fermentable in a stout. (also, since coconut milk is pasteurized and canned many times, you might be able to get away with putting it into primary instead of the boil)

Looking forward to your thoughts

Thanks.
Kyle

 

[Bierliebhaber]

This is funny. I was just looking in my pantry last night thinking about trying to caramelize some coconut milk to use in a porter. My wife uses coconut oil for cooking and coconut milk for a lot of stuff, so we have lots around. I've been wanting to brew a toasted coconut porter for a while, but I was considering the flavor that caramelized coconut milk might add.

 

[KyleWolf]

I know it would survive a boil, I am just curious if it will curdle during the fermentation

 

[Old_E]

I know it would survive a boil, I am just curious if it will curdle during the fermentation

I doubt it. Its not really milk, per se. It just looks like it, so it is called "milk."

 

[KyleWolf]

Maybe ill get some and pour it into a pint. That would be a quick answer.

Bierliebhaber. With your experience, what kind of flavor do you think coconut milk would lend to a beer?

 

[knotquiteawake]

wouldn't the fat/oils in the coconut milk have adverse effects on head retention and also have the chance of the fat might go off (rancid?)?

 

[KyleWolf]

I wasnt really sure if coconut milk had a lot of oils in it, if that was the case, wouldn't raw coconut/toasted coconut also have similar oils and fats?

 

[Old_E]

I wasnt really sure if coconut milk had a lot of oils in it, if that was the case, wouldn't raw coconut/toasted coconut also have similar oils and fats?

There is plenty of fat in both. don't know what affect it would have.

 

[seabass07]

Are you referring to the milk or the water? The milk is blended up meat mixed with the water. It has tons of fats.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

KyleWolf-coconut milk is a softer flavor, so you may need a larger amount to be noticable. I think you are right in adding additions to a pint to gage the flavor.

@Knotquiteawake-even in a toasted coconut porter, you suffer loss of head retension. I did a little search and you don't caramelize coconut milk. There is a Philipino dessert topping called Latik, which is kind of a caramelized version I guess. The milk is reduced until the oil separates and the residue is browned. You drain of the oil. Also, I think coconut oil is one of the most stable cooking oils available. I haven't heard of any problems in toasted coconut porters with rancid off flavors. This just moved way up on my "To Brew" list.

 

[KyleWolf]

There is actually a fermented coconut milk alcohol apparently. Normally it is distilled, but you can do just coconut milk, sugar, water, and yeast. That could be a fun project. a little 1 gal batch. Gauge the flavor from there, and if worse comes to worse, just add that at kegging. This is going to be a fun experiment.

 

[KyleWolf]

So aside from the Oils being a problem, I thought I would at least whip up a recipe for the beer. This is a slight modification on my Chocolate Rye Stout. I know there is a lot of dark grains in there for the size of the beer, but trust me. its delicious. Also, to combat all the oil/fats, I plan on using some carapils, but since I normally don't have head retention issues, I have never used it...so some advice on amount would be nice.

10lbs 08oz 2row
01lbs 04oz Chocolate Rye
00lbs 12oz Crisp Roasted Barley (500L)
00lbs 08oz Crystal 80L
00lbs 08oz Carapils

16oz Coconut Milk

0.75oz Columbus 45min
1.00oz Willamette 10min
1.00oz Cascade 5min
1.00oz Willamette 5min

Pac-Man yeast
Mash at 156.

OG 1.070
FG 1.015
IBU 47
SRM 45

By the way, Bierliebhaber, do you think caramelizing the coconut milk could potentially help get rid of some of the oils and fats?

Perhaps mixing the coconut milk with vodka and the fats/oils would rise to the top?

Looking forward to your thoughts.
Thanks
Kyle

 

[Bierliebhaber]

By the way, Bierliebhaber, do you think caramelizing the coconut milk could potentially help get rid of some of the oils and fats?

Perhaps mixing the coconut milk with vodka and the fats/oils would rise to the top?

Looking forward to your thoughts.
Thanks
Kyle

If you caramelize a 14-16oz can of coconut milk you will get about 3-4tbs of solids and about 4-5oz of oil. So YES, you will cut a LOT of the oil out. But you don't have to caramelize the milk to separate the oil. If you reduce the milk most of the way you will see the oil separate and the white will congeal a little. Just drain off the oil. However, the remainder is not as potent in flavor as you might like. When I do it, I plan to brown shreaded coconut along with the milk.

 

[Sunward33]

Just had the same idea, and searched to see if anyone tried it. Did either of you try it? What were your results?
I made a chocolate milk stout and added a bottle of dark coconut rum to secondary. It was delicious but swmbo said it needed more coconut. I wondered if coconut milk wwould do it.

 

[Sunward33]

No one here but us crickets, huh?