Coconut flavoring for Porter

[b-radbrew]

So the wife wanted me do a Coconut Coffee Porter for her. I did a 1.5 gl batch using just a basic porter recipe and originally the plan was to ferment 2 weeks, toast up some unsweetened coconut flakes and add for another 2 weeks(in a hop bag) and then at bottling time, cold brew some local coffee and add to bottling bucket.
So here I am now, 3.5 weeks into it and have yet to find the unsweetened coconut. So I figured I would cheat this round and use the Torani's Sugar Free Coconut syrup at bottling time along with the coffee. Got on their website to find out ingredients and this is what I found:

Purified water, natural flavors, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (to preserve freshness), citric acid, sucralose (SPLENDA® Brand), acesulfame potassium and ester gum

So I'm not really sure if this would work especially with the Splenda part? I can probably find the coconut flakes at a health food store but of course I got lazy and told myself I would do it tomorrow, which then just continued until this point. So the dilemma is, do I just go get the syrup and give it a shot or do I get the actual flakes and give the beer a total of 5-6 weeks in primary?

 

[ICWiener]

The splenda's the least of your worries. Potassium sorbate will stun your yeast. When it comes time to bottle, you won't get any carbonation.

Just hit up your local health foods store and buy some unsweetened flakes: toast them, bag them, and toss them in for 5-7 days. You'll be all set.

 

[b-radbrew]

Aw, crap. I didn't even see the sorbate part. My eyes just went straight to the Splenda. Just talking to a co-worker and he asked about maybe finding a coconut flavored coffee and doing it that way. I don't know. Right now I'm kind of up in the air on what to do.

 

[Cathedral]

You could either do something that you know won't directly affect the beer, or you could do something that you don't know what will happen and is making you nervous.

Seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[Dudon]

Definitely avoid any sorbate...wine makers will tell you quickly that it will stop your yeast on the spot.

The coffee idea might work, but that all depends on how they flavor it. If they use a sorbate based extract, you're right back in the same boat.

If it were me (and I hate coconut, so it wouldn't be me ), I'd try to find a "fresh" coconut and toast it myself. Much more work, but if all goes well, you're not going to find a better quality ingredient. Plus, you know exactly what you're putting in the beer.

Good luck!

 

[MindenMan]

Let me change every body's mind here. I put 2 full cups of Torani SF chocolate syrup in a 5 gallon batch, and I had no problems carbonating. None. Nada. Zip. Zero.
I just thought you all might like to know.

 

[MindenMan]

I believe we are stuck in our math equations when it comes to ( as an example I'll use Torani) SF syrups. Let's say. as an example Toroni syrup having 2% of preservative, meaning that every ounce has 0.02% junk, or whatever you get my point. I have to change to the mL's and Liters. One ounce has 30mL, and every mL has thirty drops, one ounce has 90 drops. So, i'll continue... so we know that for every ounce there are two drops, and am just using easy numbers. If two drops per ounce keeps the syrup safe,. Mathematically speaking a quart and a liter are close enough. Here I go:

1000mL (x) 4Liters per gallon is 4000mL (x) 5 gallons equals 20,000 mL (x) 30 (30)drops per mL equals 600,000 drops of wort in a bucket, so to equal the ratio of preservative need to stop yeast in that bucket so you would need at a 2% ratio in the bucket as a whole, so you would have to have 12,000 drops mixed in with your wort, so 12,000 /30 = 400/30= 13.3mL (x) 30 drops/mL = 399 drops.
So how many drops per ounce would there need to be to bother your wort? I switched 1% to 2% somewhere and got lost

Let me start over (ADHD) is running in high gear. Forgive me here, please, lets go back to ounces. 1% of one quart is, 0.32 oz (x)4 quarts a gallon (x) 5 gallon bucket equals 6.4 oz approx of junk. So here is the short version finally: in order to get 2% per gallon in the bucket, you would need 20 Qt's of premixed syrup to add to your wort. I probably goofed somewhere, but my point is, 1 cup, or even 2 cups of syrup into a 5 gallon batch isn't even worth wondering about.

 

[b-radbrew]

Soooooo....I just went ahead and got 5 ounces of coconut from the market and tossed it in. Then.....realized, crap, I didn't toast it, lol. I was a little anxious to get it in there that I spaced the toasting part. Oh well, I'm pretty sure that it will still turn out. Now thanks to you MindenMan, if the coconut flavor isn't really there when bottling time comes, I'll pick up some of that syrup

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I577 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[ICWiener]

I probably goofed somewhere, but my point is, 1 cup, or even 2 cups of syrup into a 5 gallon batch isn't even worth wondering about.

That could very well be the case...and to be honest, you're probably right. But if I'm choosing between artificially flavored anything vs. the real thing, 9 times out of 10, I'll put the real thing in my beer. Less to worry about, and it usually tastes better anyway.

I just went ahead and got 5 ounces of coconut from the market and tossed it in. Then.....realized, crap, I didn't toast it, lol

haha...isn't that the way it works? You should be okay, unless there were any creepy crawlies on that coconut. If the beer starts to get infected, bottle it up quick!

 

[Jaybird]

We make This BEER Kit

And we use This for the Coconut

Freeken KILLER Beer! Tastes like a Drinkable Almond Joy! Not to sweet, and Wonderful....

Cheers
Jay