coconut milk for wine?

[doink0662]

I was wondering how coconut milk worked out.....type of yeast? Sugar? Finished taste?.......eventually want to do a pineapple/coconut mix...thanks

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi doink0662, I am no expert on the fermentation of coconuts although I have fermented coconut milk once and found the flavor to be so subtle as to be non existent. I suspect - but am not certain because I have not ever tried this that if you want a coconut wine you may need to ferment the meat of the nut rather than the milk BUT I believe that coconut contains a great deal of fatty oils and I don't know how you may need to deal with two issues that I suspect will arise: A) fats have a shelf life after which they tend to become rancid and B) fats and oils in wines can coat your fermenters and hoses and may be difficult to remove... But others on this forum may have had a great deal more experience in fermenting coconuts than I have

 

[emwinna]

Even after only one day of fresh coconut milk sitting out, it turns very stinky - like sour feet. It's unpleasant. I have heard there is a fermented coconut drink, but for the life of me I have no idea how they keep it from getting stinky. Unless it's an acquired taste thing.

 

[worlddivides]

The flowers of the coconut can be fermented to make "palm wine" which is drunk in some East Asian countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and so on. When you distill it, you get "arrack" (a clear rum-like spirit), which is particularly popular in Sri Lanka.

Coconut milk, on the other hand, is commonly mixed with spirits, but rarely fermented on its own. I do know that some people in the Solomon Islands ferment coconut milk, but I've heard that it is not very good. I have had palm wine and coconut arrack, but I've never had fermented coconut milk, though, so I can only speak on what I've heard.

 

[doink0662]

Yea....just read about the fat in it would hinder it.....thanks

 

[Brett_Bellmore]

You'd probably want to ferment the coconut water, not the milk. The water is the mildly sweet fluid inside the coconut. The 'milk' is an extract from the meat, and much higher in oils than sugar.

The two of them have radically different flavor profiles, aside from both "tasting like coconut". (I get a lot of exposure to both, being married to a Filipina.)

However, I believe straight coconut water is a bit short on sugar to achieve any real level of alcohol, having a specific gravity of about 1.02. A very refreshing drink fresh, to be sure, but not very sweet. You'd want to add some sugar from an outside source.

Alternatively, you might try concentrating the coconut water by freezing. That's the way I'd go if I were going to try to make a wine of it, as it would concentrate all the flavor elements along with the sugar.

I might try that myself, some time this summer.

 

[emwinna]

That sounds fascinating and delicious.

There is bulk dehydrated coconut water powder available on Amazon. I wonder if you could fortify fresh coconut water with that and ferment? I have a feeling that one might still need to add sugar, even with the "fortified" coconut water. Even in fairly high concentration, coconut water isn't very sweet in the traditional sense. (Though the yeast might not care.)

 

[Jonathan Lomaskin]

How about cooking honey in there mixing with banana juice and water and using a limited edition yeast

 

[Nooner]

Like Bernardsmith said, the flavor can be very muted. I used coconut milk in a mango coconut wine, and the flavor was non-existent as far as I could tell. To get rid of the oils, I added some gelatin and froze it, then collected the drippings as it thawed in the refrigerator. I forget the culinary term for this, but the gelatin creates a structure that the oils stick to and water soluble stuff falls out. It tasted very coconut-y before going into the the must, but the finished wine had nothin'. Whatever amount you use, I'd recommend doubling it.

 

[lisa1267]

Like Bernardsmith said, the flavor can be very muted. I used coconut milk in a mango coconut wine, and the flavor was non-existent as far as I could tell. To get rid of the oils, I added some gelatin and froze it, then collected the drippings as it thawed in the refrigerator. I forget the culinary term for this, but the gelatin creates a structure that the oils stick to and water soluble stuff falls out. It tasted very coconut-y before going into the the must, but the finished wine had nothin'. Whatever amount you use, I'd recommend doubling it.

The culinary term is called ice filtration. That's such a genius idea.