coconut on my mind for recipe ...

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Soulshine2

Soulshine2

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Last fall my wife and I were going to a pre-concert dinner in the Birmingham AL area. Stopped in this cool bar called the Beer Hog. Our bartender treated us really well and their selection was out of this world. Had a glass of Funky Buddha Last Snow which was a coconut chocolate coffee porter. We wanted to get a growler of it but supply was limited and not being dispensed for more than 1 glass at a time. I'd like to try something out of my normal brew and try to not duplicate it but get close. I hate the notion of cloning something if I can make the recipe my own . I have a dunkelweizen AG kit (already milled ) and after reading the article on the Home page about brewing with coconut I may just try making this into a pseudo porter brew, a "dark ale" as general as it were . I already have 1 lb of chocolate malt .I also have some honey malt should I add for some sweetness and a bit of flaked oats for a little added body. Today I bought 4 - 5Oz packages of unsweetened shredded coconut that I will toast fairly medium to dark. In my reading of the article , the author claimed it (toasted coconut) brought out the best flavor instead of extract ,added after krauesen has fallen . It also claimed that the addition of coconut can in some instances hinder foaming ( head) on finished beer because of the oils. I have a grain or two that helps foaming and retain head ,so I may add that as well.
The recipes I've read on anything close were back between 2011 to 2015 and the OP never posted any results. so ,I'm a bit leery of moving forward . Hate to do this without a solid result and waste a batch .
 
I researched it thoroughly as you did and made a coconut brown last year and it turned out wonderfully. From what I read/was advised, the head retention issue relates directly to the oils that remain in the husk/meat of the coconut. By toasting the coconut, you eliminate a large percentage of the oily problem/issue. I toasted a pound of unsweetened coconut and actually added it with 15 minutes left in the boil, and I was left with a solid brown ale that had a nice coconutty finish that was not 1) overwhelmingly coconut 2) underwhelmingly coconut. I could have added another pound and it would have been even more nice without being overpowering.

I told my friends that it was a coconut brown, and it was funny watching their expression when they sipped, tasted a brown, and then the coconut caught it on the way down. Truly an enjoyable brown that I will definitely keep in the rotation. As you mentioned, I did notice a slightly small head, but it was still carbed enough to my liking. I'm not a big extract fan if there is a natural choice/method...I really dislike anything that tastes chemically.

Good luck!
 
awesome, thanks for sharing . how dark did you toast your coconut . We probably read the same article , the author toasted at 200 *F until it was about the color of a brown paper bag.
Yeah my bags are unsweetened and only 5 oz each so I bought 4 just in case I wanted to add 20 oz instead of 15 and hardly taste it.
Did you add any other grains to help in head retention?
Would you think a small addition (<0.5 lb)of honey malt would add sweetness . Would it be too much or is it even necessary? Keep in mind you went for a brown , I'm going for a Porter
 
Jag75 said:
Man , choc and coconut sounds good . Nothing like an almond joy or mounds . I'll be keeping my eye on this one .
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oh that same visit to Beer Hog we tried a sample of one called Candy Bar...it was glass of liquid Mounds bar.
 
Soulshine2 said:
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I assume that, like most, you will go forward with the toasted coconut. I would suggest that in addition you have some coconut extract (or choco-coconut). You can add this in the keg/bottling bucket if you don't get all the coconut flavor you're hoping for. I would bet that's exactly what Funky Buddha is doing.

Here's some info on that if you want to consider the extracts (which are all natural): Apex Flavors - Peanut Butter Cup, Choco Coconut, Oatmeal Cookie - who has experience?
 
The coconut darks are popular down here. They're everywhere. Some have curry spice which is different. Nothing that grabs me but i put it on mymy short list to make
 
When I lived in Vietnam I did a collaboration brew with a brewery in Da Nang, 7 Bridges Brewing. We did a take on Janet's Brown Ale, but with a metric f**kton of toasted local coconut added as a dry hop. It came out spectacularly well.
 
My first brew was a toasted coconut cream ale . It was an extract kit from Brewers Best . Turned out pretty darn good .
 
I posted a separate thread on it but I picked up a bag of organic cacao powder today . I have zero experience with this so I'm hoping where one would use cacao nibs , I could use this as a substitute but probably not the same volume as nibs since it's finer in texture.
 
Soulshine2 said:
I posted a separate thread on it but I picked up a bag of organic cacao powder today . I have zero experience with this so I'm hoping where one would use cacao nibs , I could use this as a substitute but probably not the same volume as nibs since it's finer in texture.
Click to expand...

Have you worked with nibs ? I used them in my choc milk stout . Really tasty
 
A while back I experimented with a coconut banana porter... I caramelized bananas in coconut water and threw it into the pot at the end of the boil... then put some dried coconut flakes in the fermenter....

That was one fantastic beer! Head retention probably wasn't the best, but honestly it didn't matter... it was so good!
 
In regard to head retention, here's my coconut porter which was poured in the kitchen and picture taken in the living room. Doesn't dissipate all that much faster, just a little. As for adding oats - *that* is what I found to kill head retention. Not sure why it's often advertised as improving head retention. I cut it out of my Belgian Wit recipes cause I was tired of the head dying so fast and haven't looked back. I add mine directly into the fermenter for the last week. Weigh it down with something as it will eventually float (I use a large crystal ball bought off Amazon for cheap). I also use finely shredded organic coconut, though I use 2lbs and also toast in the over to a light brown color. Lastly, I recommend squeezing the coconut bag when kegging/bottling as it sucks up a LOT of beer you don't want to leave behind, and you'll get more coconut flavor. Go for it, and good luck!

20150307_123424.jpg


Rev.
 
Soulshine2 said:
awesome, thanks for sharing . how dark did you toast your coconut . We probably read the same article , the author toasted at 200 *F until it was about the color of a brown paper bag.
Yeah my bags are unsweetened and only 5 oz each so I bought 4 just in case I wanted to add 20 oz instead of 15 and hardly taste it.
Did you add any other grains to help in head retention?
Would you think a small addition (<0.5 lb)of honey malt would add sweetness . Would it be too much or is it even necessary? Keep in mind you went for a brown , I'm going for a Porter
Click to expand...

I did not brown it until it was that brown (paper bag brown), but until there was little whiteness left in the flakes and before the edges turned doo-doo brown...haha. I will have to dig out my recipe, but I want to say I had a honey biscuit in there (probably a half pound like yours)...it was not too sweet like a porter but made it a solid brown.
 
+1 to what passed pawn said. I did a peach coconut wheat Ale and 1lb of organic Whole Foods coconut was barely detectable. Next time I will add more or go entirely with Apex extract, which are very good extracts btw.
 
passedpawn said:
I would suggest that in addition you have some coconut extract (or choco-coconut). You can add this in the keg/bottling bucket if you don't get all the coconut flavor you're hoping for. I would bet that's exactly what Funky Buddha is doing.
Click to expand...

Agree here. Two things if you're going to use extract flavoring: 1.) buy a high-quality natural extract (no additives) 2.) use extracts V-E-R-Y sparingly. Draw a measured sample at bottling/kegging and try a drop at a time. When you can just barely taste it, scale it for the batch. Or split the batch and flavor only part of it in case you don't like the results down the road. Trust me --- I've been down that road...
 
GHBWNY said:
Agree here. Two things if you're going to use extract flavoring: 1.) buy a high-quality natural extract (no additives) 2.) use extracts V-E-R-Y sparingly. Draw a measured sample at bottling/kegging and try a drop at a time. When you can just barely taste it, scale it for the batch. Or split the batch and flavor only part of it in case you don't like the results down the road. Trust me --- I've been down that road...
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yeah , im not planning on flavoring with extracts . I'd rather go with the actual thing Im flavoring for. If 20 oz of toasted coconut in 5 gallons doesnt do it enough , I'm not going to sweat it.
 
Ok y'all, its on . Started out with my dunkelweizen grist , added 1/2 pound chocolate malt for the coffee flavor and color and 1/2 pound red wheat malt for a creaminess and a bit of sweetness ,also 3 oz of the cacao powder...Creeping up on the chocolate flavor, I want it there but subtle .rather than hit it hard and overdo it. Did a step mash at 122*F for 20 minutes , now at 135*F for another 20 then I'll hit 150-154 for another 45 when Ill add 1/3 of my 15 oz toasted coconut which is toasting at this very minute, currently just before the brown paper bag color , so I'm watching it . I'll add another 1/3 to the last half of the boil .If by chance when I taste the wort and I can get a hint of coconut, I may just stop there ( remember , going for subtle)but if not and I have to really search for flavor , then I'll add the final 1/3 in about day 4 of fermentation. I also have to be aware that the more coconut I add may hurt the head of the finished beer .
I'll be posting updates , so if you're watching, cross y'alls fingers for me.
 
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I've done a coconut Chocolate Porter that turned out really well. I just found a solid Porter recipe then added 5 oz's or so of chocolate malt and toasted 1lb of coconut flakes and added to the primary after fermentation was done. I think I left the flakes in for 2 weeks.
Once packaged the coconut faded sort of quickly. Not sure if more coconut was need or a longer time in contact with the beer would have helped. Either way, coconut or no coconut it was a great beer. Good luck!
 
bobeer said:
I've done a coconut Chocolate Porter that turned out really well. I just found a solid Porter recipe then added 5 oz's or so of chocolate malt and toasted 1lb of coconut flakes and added to the primary after fermentation was done. I think I left the flakes in for 2 weeks.
Once packaged the coconut faded sort of quickly. Not sure if more coconut was need or a longer time in contact with the beer would have helped. Either way, coconut or no coconut it was a great beer. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Use shredded coconut, you'll get more flavor due to increased surface area. One week is all you need. It will fade out the longer it sits. I use 2lbs of the shredded and I find that perfect.


Rev.
 
thats what Im using ,unsweetned, I read the brewing with coconut thread in the home page ...page 3 if you want to check it out.
I'm about ready to sparge now. Few more minutes resting at 154*F ,then I'll ramp it up to 170*F on the way out. Got 10 oz toasted coconut in the kettle , steeping it with a little mash tun run off before I dump and sparge. I'm still saving the last 5 oz package . I can always get another one for later . Shop smells like toasted coconut, making me hungry.
Wort tastes like I want to put it on ice cream right now . Nice color too.
I'm aiming for an OG of 1.060
BTW , my hops will be 1 oz each Northern Brewer and Hallertau, early in.
 
all cleaned up and the wort is in the carboy and enough saved for krauesening . I was very happy with the results on the bav hef's krauesened priming. I'll be making a habit of it from now on and save from using sugar.
OG ended up at 1.051 even though I was looking to hit 1.050 territory, sweet right??. This I believe will be fine and end up close to a 5.6% or more. Wort is a deep mahogany brown ,smells and tastes so dang good but not as if it will be a sweet dessert type beer but a nice stronger than a session chilly post winter early spring day malty beer with character.
expecting a FG of 1.007 .
(Edit- had to go back to my brew calc page and enter the correct(actual) amount I had in the kettle which was 7.5 pre-boil volume for a 6 gallon batch. My numbers didnt look right at first because it defaulted to 5 gallons .SO, my numbers are now spot on as they should be)
I'm naming this Snow Pants.
Did I mention that I started chilling my wort then realized I had forgotten a whirlfloc tablet. I was going to re boil it just for that when I remembered that another brewer doesnt use it so I let it keep chilling. I started my immersion chiller from flame out and the weirdest thing happened, the immersion chiller started jumping around. Must have been temperature shock.
I let it sit and continue chilling right down to 70*F and pitched a quart of the hearty bavarian hef yeast I harvested 2 weeks ago. It came with a dry package of wb-06 but I wanted to try the harvested yeast. Since this has quite a bit of wheat in the dunkel base grain and I added the red wheat, should work fine. Basement is sitting good at 64*F and I just went ahead and shoved a blow-off tube in the bung . No sense making a mess of the airlock. I'll check it after dinner and before bed and see how the yeast party is kicking off.
so,at the end the brew day - this was a first of sorts in a couple ways...
first use of coconut
first use of cacao
first actual use of a harvested yeast cake slurry from a successful previous brew.
and second to be krauesened .

ok, fellow brewers. I believe I earned myself the chance to...
RDWAHAHB.
 
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I pitched the slurry at 3 pm yesterday , by bedtime I saw a few bubbles on top of the wort. I'm sure the blow-off had done a little puffing too by the formation of bubbles in the jug the blow-off hose leads to. This is what I woke up to this morning.
The bav hef yeast slurry (Fermentis WB-06)had a party going all night long. Looks like its a good time in there .

51695092_10218451408743461_2179287734797991936_n.jpg
 
Jag75 said:
Hey soul did you wind up using cocoa powder ? And what kind if you did .
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I did , since its a ground up powder instead of nibs (pieces)I only used 3 oz. Its called LIVfit superfood, organic cacao powder. antioxidant flavanoids...found at walmart in the GF section by the sugar and flour . 100% organic cacao
 
Soulshine2 said:
I was washing up a batch of bottles in the basement yesterday since the weather was rain all day . The entire time all I heard was the rhythmic chug chug chug of the fermentation. Wonderful sound.
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I use 2 packs of Nottingham for my Imperial Spicy Pumpkin Stout. Last time it volcano'd out the airlock and it got so bad I had to open the fermenter and skim off the top krausen to tame it lol! (it worked) So, this time I made sure to use my Ss Brewbucket blowoff elbow attachment. I have the silicone tube going into a bottle of sanitizer. It didn't overflow out into the tube but holy cow the bubbling... it was bubbling 2-3x per second and actually even went higher into this kind of machine gun bubbling I kid you not haha. Brrrrraaapppp...Brrrrraaappp. Insane. It's now died down to one bubble per second.


Rev.
 
Update .
After the airlock tamed down quite a bit in only what 4 days...I checked gravity and read 1.012 , which is a solid 5% ABV so far. Did a taste test and didn't taste any coconut. Even had my wife taste it . She didn't either but said it's good.
So. I went to the store and bought 2 more bags of unsweetened coconut flakes , added to the spare bag I had and toasted it up. Added another 4oz of the cacao powder and even ground up some fresh coffee beans. Put it all in a secondary and racked what would fit , pretty much up to the neck. Put airlocks in both once again and it's still active. I go to a 10 day job out of town so I'll keep my eye on it so it doesnt bubble out and let it ride as is until I come back . Should be 2 weeks from now until bottling.
 
I use Bobs Red Mill coconut. 1 # in boil, .5# dry hop.
Leave it 3 weeks and almost too much. Don’t ask me how I know. No problems with head either.

Yours sounds delicious. I’d drink it in a heartbeat. Well, it would take several heartbeats I’m sure. I’d drink it no matter. I have to go... I’m feeling a little Dr. Seuss.
I’d drink it in a box,
I’d drink it with a Fox,
You get the picture. I’d drink it.
 
AkTom said:
I use Bobs Red Mill coconut. 1 # in boil, .5# dry hop.
Leave it 3 weeks and almost too much. Don’t ask me how I know. No problems with head either.

Yours sounds delicious. I’d drink it in a heartbeat. Well, it would take several heartbeats I’m sure. I’d drink it no matter. I have to go... I’m feeling a little Dr. Seuss.
I’d drink it in a box,
I’d drink it with a Fox,
You get the picture. I’d drink it.
Click to expand...
Thanks , yeah , I did some in mash some in boil. Funny how that wasn't enough to even taste it. This secondary addition might add some sugars to it a bit while it finishes up. Time will tell. I probably wouldn't do another one like this anymore. I'm dreading to have to get the coconut back out of the secondary. It took a little work to get it in. Might have been easier with a big mouth carboy.
 
Soulshine2 said:
Thanks , yeah , I did some in mash some in boil. Funny how that wasn't enough to even taste it. This secondary addition might add some sugars to it a bit while it finishes up. Time will tell. I probably wouldn't do another one like this anymore. I'm dreading to have to get the coconut back out of the secondary. It took a little work to get it in. Might have been easier with a big mouth carboy.
Click to expand...

If you really want coconut, next time have some natural extract on hand. I saw where you said you didn't care if the coconut was weak. But if you did, that's a thing that works.
 
Just going to chime in here. I've done several coconut stouts. Not every technique mind you tho. I secondary them no containment. Simply rack through a SS strainer to keg. I don't care about head retention. I want to see a nice oil sheen on the beer! Coconut flavor seems to diminish fairly quickly so add enough to be over the top at first. A little Brewer's Best Coconut Extract wouldn't hurn neither.
 

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