Coconut Brewing: sweetened or unsweetend, that is the question

[Soulshine2]

I keep reading online that the coconut flavor leaves quickly...but so far you're the second person on this thread who has used coconut and says the opposite. Just one more reason why I love me some homebrewtalk.
We'll see if mine follows suit.



Love the vanilla idea...but if the yeast decides to keep chuggin' along, I'm not sure if I can wait to taste it.

My reply to the guy that had coconut flavor at a week...taste it again in 2 months and tell me its still there.
Give it time . Never rush yeast. It runs on its own schedule anyway

 

[UncleD]

I did a coconut IPA, unsweetened and toasted, added during secondary. The coconut flavor stuck around while the hop aroma began to fade. I think I used about 1 lb for a 5 gallon batch...

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Same at Walmart? Seems the same.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Flaked-Coconut-Unsweetened-12-ounce/232682564

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I see Amazon has a 12 oz 2 pack

http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Unsweetened-Coconut/dp/B00KQ17YSY

 

[mrphillips]

Same at Walmart? Seems the same.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Flaked-Coconut-Unsweetened-12-ounce/232682564

I see Amazon has a 12 oz 2 pack

http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Unsweetened-Coconut/dp/B00KQ17YSY

The Walmart link is the exact one I bought (I'm not sure why mine was only 10oz a bag), but the amazon link looks a little different. I highly doubt that it would matter, but I don't have any way of knowing.

It's worth noting that the two Walmart's nearest me did not have the brand that I saw on their website. Just something to consider.

 

[mrphillips]

Well, she's in the keg! I lost a fair amount of beer to the coconut (took me from 5gal. down to 4.5gal.), so I will definitely tweak the recipe to account for this next time...and that's all the tweaking I'll be doing.

Holy crap in a kettle is this beer on point! The front of the beer is alllllll chocolate (God bless cocoa nibs), and then there's a slow slide threw a mild roasted-coffee note, then into pure coconut flavor that hangs on for a nice long welcomed time. The slightly bitter-tongue I had from my 30ibu's in the base beer was all but gone. Surprisingly, I wouldn't say that it's "sweet," just creamy and coconutty. The coconut totally put my hops in their place!

The FG didn't change, and hung steady at 1.018. I don't know how it will evolve over the next couple weeks, but I've never had a little extra time hurt a beer.

I debated about adding vanilla, but I don't think it needs it. I almost think I'd push it too far into the "Sweet" range...not that that's a bad thing, just not my personal taste. I'm not trying to make a Sweet Baby Jesus

I'll update when Keg is tapped (early March). I truly hope I don't drink it all before my guests show up on St. Patty's day.

 

[mrphillips]

I have this all carbed up, and allowed myself to steal a glass tonight. Holy crap in a kettle is this a solid beer.

Aroma: mild coconut, not as much chocolate as I thought there'd be.
Mouth feel: creamy as hell. I'm glad I didn't add Lactose to this...it would have been over the top.
Taste: mild bitterness hits first, then waves of creamy coconut take over and stays for a long time.
Finish: all coconut, but not overwhelming (disclaimer, I REALLY like coconut).

Conclusion? The coconut adds sweetness but not in a syrupy kind of way...more of a thickening kind of sweetness. That's a horrible description, but it's good and that's all you need to know. The coconut has the ability to hide any mistakes that might be in the beer (in my case, overly aggressive hops), but the drawback is that it steam roles over all the hard-earned flavors in the grain bill. This is a coconut beer, plain and simple.