Coconut Lime Pale Critique

[Praiodan]

Been wanting to try this combo for over a year now, but never got around to doing it. Thoughts on this recipe?

5 Gallons
-13# 2 Row
-1# white wheat malt
-1.5# C15
-1# Carapils

.6 oz Columbus 15% AA @ 60 min
.75 oz Centennial 10.5% @ 20 min
1.5 oz Lime Zest @ 10 min
Whirlpool 1.5 oz Centennial at 180 for 25 mins.

Mash 153 for 60 mins.

Safale 05

For the coconut; I'd either be toasting 12oz of coconut and letting it sit in a secondary for a week, or going an easier route of adding coconut extract at bottling, not sure on the amount yet.

Haven't put it into BS yet, but looking for an OG of 1.060 with an IBU around 48. No dry hops, as I want to capture the lime and coconut on the nose (may need to dry hop with coconut for this)

TIA for your input, suggestions!

 

[Build]

It looks like a great Summer brew. What happens with the lime in the boil and fermentation? I wonder if it would be better in the secondary with the coconut? Have you tried cashmere hops? A touch of a tropical coconut flavor.

 

[imasickboy]

12oz of coconut won't be enough. Plan to use extract, either in addition to, or in place of, the real stuff.

 

[Praiodan]

It looks like a great Summer brew. What happens with the lime in the boil and fermentation? I wonder if it would be better in the secondary with the coconut? Have you tried cashmere hops? A touch of a tropical coconut flavor.

Never tried Cashmere hops, will have to look into those! From what I found out, adding the zest at flameout will kill off any nasties, but the flavor and aroma are very faint.

After thinking more about the zest; I'll probably take the zest and soak it in vodka and add it the secondary. Should allow more of the lime to pop through.

 

[Praiodan]

12oz of coconut won't be enough. Plan to use extract, either in addition to, or in place of, the real stuff.

I make a coconut milk stout with 12oz of toasted coconut, and the coconut flavor / aroma is perfect, that's what I was basing the original amount on.

If I did go the extract route, what do you think would be a good amount to add in during bottling / kegging? Any specific brand? I see a whole range of extracts from cheap stuff all the way to some pretty pricey ones.

Thanks!

 

[Izzie1701]

Never tried Cashmere hops, will have to look into those! From what I found out, adding the zest at flameout will kill off any nasties, but the flavor and aroma are very faint.



After thinking more about the zest; I'll probably take the zest and soak it in vodka and add it the secondary. Should allow more of the lime to pop through.

I just made a summer blonde ale with lime. Tried to go for a better bud light lime idea. Used the zest of 1 lime in the book in 5 gallons. Wasn't enough. Then used the zest of 1 lime in the secondary that I soaked in vodka. I now have the aroma but very little flavor. Think I might go 2 in secondary next time and nothing in the boil. One thing I will change forsure is I'll use a vegetable peeler to peel the lime. I used a fine grater used for zesting citrus for cooking. Hard to get all the tiny chunks out now the float and don't sink.

 

[Praiodan]

Just wanted to follow up on this one. I decided to do a 2.5 gallon test batch and it's in the keg carbing up now. Some thoughts:

I used 9oz toasted coconut, and the zest of 3 limes in a muslin bag and 'dry hopped' it for 3 days. After a few samples each day, the coconut aroma was pretty strong with hints of lime coming through. I removed the muslin bag and anticipate that the coconut will mellow out in the next couple weeks.

I went with Columbus for the bittering, and Apollo for flavor (only because I had a pound of it) The Apollo provides a good hop depth flavor, but conflicts a bit with the lime. I think the original hop bill of a more citrus hop like Cent or Cascade or even Citra would work better.

I've provided samples to 3 friends and each has said it's pretty refreshing with a very unique flavor of coconut and lime, with a lot of toasted coconut on the nose. With some more time on gas, I think the carbonation will help bring out those hop, lime and coconut aromas.

Overall, pretty decent first attempt. This is one that I'll tweak over time to get some improvements on it.

 

[te-wa]

i would think ditching the centennial and using motueka or even sorachi ace would be great with that coconut. i made a lime/rosemary pale and motueka at .5oz 10 mins, and .5oz flame out was nice after a 1oz dry hop. just a thought..

 

[Praiodan]

i would think ditching the centennial and using motueka or even sorachi ace would be great with that coconut. i made a lime/rosemary pale and motueka at .5oz 10 mins, and .5oz flame out was nice after a 1oz dry hop. just a thought..

Yeah, I agree. I really think the apollo clashed with the lime, so I'll be trying some different flavoring hops next time. I'll have to check out these hops I've never heard of, Moteuka, and another user said Cashmere!

 

[saeroner]

I used to make a coconut IPA. I used unsweetened organic flakes. I think the 8oz bag was too much flavor after 2 days in secondary keg. Be careful