I would not use those since they are not 100% coconut and have salt and sugar. I have made a coconut porter twice that was a hit at my homebrew club and among my friends. I used coconut flakes from Whole Foods. I put them on a cookie tray and caramelize them in an over at 275F for about 20 minutes until they turn golden brown.
For my porter I used 1 lb of the toasted flakes in the boil (put them in a mesh bag so they are not gunking up the works) and then I use another pound, again in a bag, in the secondary. Since i also use cocoa nibs, the beer tastes like a liquid Mounds bar!
Only problem I have had, and this was only on the 2nd time I made the beer is that you get a get an oily sheen from the coconut and this time it shows up on the top of a poured beer too and thus, the head dissipates in seconds. So you would want add some more crystal or additives that improve head retention.
Here is my recipe, which was originally given to me by a commercial brewer, but has been adjusted for my 5 gallon system.
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout -
http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Coco for Coconut Porter 1.1
Brewer: Joe Dauria
Asst Brewer:
Style: Robust Porter
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 30.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 1 80.8 %
1 lbs Pale Chocolate Malt (215.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.5 %
9.0 oz Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.2 %
8.0 oz Brown Malt (Crisp) (65.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.8 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.8 %
0.80 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.20 %] - Boil 60. Hop 6 36.4 IBUs
1.00 lb Coconut - toasted (Boil 20.0 mins) Flavor 7 -
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 8 -
1.75 oz Cacoa Nibs (Boil 15.0 mins) Flavor 9 -
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Aroma Ste Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Aroma Ste Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35. Yeast 12 -
1.00 lb Coconut - toasted (Secondary 10.0 days) Flavor 13 -
2.00 Items Vanilla Bean (Split) (Secondary 2.0 week Spice 14 -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 5.0 oz
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 5.00 gal of water at 168.2 F 154.0 F 60 min
Sparge: Fly sparge with 4.35 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
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Toast coconut at 275 for 30 sanitze and then roast to a night light brown color. Add kettle coconut in a mesh bag.
Slight use of water salts if neeed (CACO3)
Soak vanilla beans in dark rum. add beans and rum to secondary
