Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Coconut Porter

[cottagebrews]

Quick question: when I've entered this into a recipe calculator, it's coming out much darker than a "normal" porter. I'm happy to make a non-conforming beer, but I wanted to make sure this was right before I bought my ingredients.

-Chris

 

[thewurzel]

Quick question: when I've entered this into a recipe calculator, it's coming out much darker than a "normal" porter. I'm happy to make a non-conforming beer, but I wanted to make sure this was right before I bought my ingredients.

-Chris

When I first put this recipe together in the original Beersmith. it transferred the 30-60 SRM for a Robust Porter over with the recipe into Beersmith 2.

although the BJCP guidelines are 22-35 SRM.

I really like this recipe just brewed it again myself waiting for it to carb up properly.
will take pics in a day or two

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

just turned on the oven to toast the coconut.....will soak it in the JD till tomorrow afternoon and then put it in to steeping bags with some marbles. toss in the two vanilla beans and let it ferment in secondary for two weeks, sound good? am I missing something?

 

[pannell77]

just turned on the oven to toast the coconut.....will soak it in the JD till tomorrow afternoon and then put it in to steeping bags with some marbles. toss in the two vanilla beans and let it ferment in secondary for two weeks, sound good? am I missing something?

Sounds like a solid plan

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

tossed in some Sailor Jerry too, thought the booze quantity was low

 

[thewurzel]

Well I was at the store and I saw Maui's Coconut porter on the shelf and decided to get a 4 pack, as this was the inspiration for this Beer.

It is not really a clone, just while I was in Hawaii I tried it and enjoyed. So I wanted to make something similar.
Seeing it in the store, I thought I would compare the too.
Mine is on the right.

Appearance:- look very similar in color and head
Nose:- Mine has a little more coconut.
Mouth-feel:- Maui's has a little more body.
Taste :- Mine has a little more coconut, but as they warm up Maui's Coconut shines through more. they both have notes of chocolate

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Maui Coconut Rocks!

 

[thewurzel]

Maui Coconut Rocks!

+1, I could not agree more

 

[tre6mafya]

+1, I could not agree more

Maui Coconut Porter is my favorite brew on the market! Wish I could brew a beer like that

 

[freshhoarse]

Subbed

 

[grhsgomer]

This is for a 5 gallon recipe, just double everything, if you want to 10 gallons

Estimated: OG 1058 : IBU's 48

steep grains in 152* water for 30-45 min


6.5 # DME

1 lbs 8.6 oz Chocolate Malt
9.2 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt 80L


1.31 oz Northern Brewer - Boil 60.0
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 -
0.66 oz Goldings, East Kent Boil 10.0 min Hop

1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)-

14.00 oz Coconut Toasted (Secondary 14.0 days)

I use Whole Foods organic Unsweetened flaked coconut.
Toast coconut in oven at 325 degrees for 20-25 min. Till golden brown

ok so im still new to alot of this so I know this might be a dumb question but what does DME stand for I want to try and make thi this weekend

 

[thewurzel]

ok so im still new to alot of this so I know this might be a dumb question but what does DME stand for I want to try and make thi this weekend

Dry Malt Extract

 

[cottagebrews]

ok so im still new to alot of this so I know this might be a dumb question but what does DME stand for I want to try and make thi this weekend

DME = Dry Malt Extract.
LME = Liquid Malt Extract.

The difference here is analogous to the difference between dehydrated milk and condensed milk. Both are preserved forms of "milk" that take up less space than fresh milk; they're simply reduced to different extents.

They are largely interchangeable, except that the quantity you need will vary owing to the higher or lower concentration of sugars in each. Here's a quick conversion chart for DME to LME to All-Grain:

http://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/

Could somebody more knowledgeable than I explain the relative merits of LME vs. DME? I've used both with great success. The only differences I've found are (1) that DME is slightly cheaper and (2) DME has a greater tendency to boil over.

-Chris

 

[thewurzel]

This Beer took second place in a local BJCP comp, in category 23 Specialty Beer

The results from judging said it was low in carbonation and if was better carbed it would have been a world class beer. I had filled up bottles from kegerator just pouring from tap, guess I need to use the Bowie bottler I have in future.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

I am one of those that has never made the same beer twice. Only been at this since last October. I want to have about 4 beers that make a lot and Coconut Porter is one of them.....who has the Maui clone? I made this recipe back in December(I think) and I had problems with it carbonating because I had the bottles in our cold bedroom. The beer is good now but there is not even a hint of coconut taste. I have seen other recipes where they put coconut into the boil.

 

[Duncan83865]

Not to start the primary only vs. secondary debate, but for those that have made this recipe, just wondering if there's any reason why you can't add the toasted coconut to the primary and not do a secondary? I'm struggling with how to get the coconut in muslin bags into my glass carboy that I use when I actually do a secondary. Thanks.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

cough up the bucks..get a bucket for secondary requiring "stuff".

 

[Duncan83865]

This is probably for a different forum, but I was always under the impression that you didn't want to use a 6.5 gallon bucket for a secondary due to too much headspace. That's why I was curious if you could throw the coconut in the primary rather than trying to squeeze it through a carboy? I dry-hop in the primary all the time, but I was wondering if there was a reason not to do this with coconut.

 

[kaips1]

This is probably for a different forum, but I was always under the impression that you didn't want to use a 6.5 gallon bucket for a secondary due to too much headspace. That's why I was curious if you could throw the coconut in the primary rather than trying to squeeze it through a carboy? I dry-hop in the primary all the time, but I was wondering if there was a reason not to do this with coconut.

That's for the most part true, if you are doing a secondary for a wk, the yeast still in suspension will absorb the o2 in the headspace and not have an off affect. One side effect of dry hopping on a yeast cake is things sink into the cake and the flavor and aroma will become trapped in the cake and not in suspension.

 

[cottagebrews]

Not sure about a chemical or biological reason why you can't, but the beer will clarify a lot more if you put it into secondary.

The chief practical advantage I see is being able to let the beer age before adding the coconut. The porter, IMHO, starts getting really good about 8 weeks in--it dries out a little bit and gets a little bitter in a pleasant way. During this time, however, the coconut flavor fades drastically. Thus I'd recommend letting the porter age on its own in secondary for 4-6 weeks, then adding the toasted coconut for another two weeks. This should let you impart the coconut flavor while still having a nicely developed beer.

Don't bother with a muslin bag. Just get a friend, make a wide-mouthed funnel out of paper, and add the coconut directly to your secondary fermenter/carboy. Don't worry about it getting stuck at the back end--it will clean out easily with a little water.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

just picked up a 4 pak of Maui Coconut Porter....and needed to revisit this thread. My coconut porter turned out so-so, very low on carbonation, everyone loved the taste. I thought the coconut was a bit weak, will up the amount next time and not soak it in bourban.

 

[cottagebrews]

My first batch took a *long* time to carb up, but it was also pretty cold in my apartment during April. It was fine after a few extra weeks. I'm hoping the batch I just bottled for my wedding will finish faster if I keep it around 70-5º F.

I agree that the coconut fades quickly in this recipe. While you could up the content, that might unbalance things in other ways. I'd recommend you just treat it like a dry-hopped beer and plan to finish it within 4-8 weeks after bottling. I listed my own (admittedly rough) estimates for how best to time that in an earlier post.

 

[Sujeto]

What fermentation temperature would you recommend?

 

[cottagebrews]

I try to ferment most ales around the yeast's lower limit, usually about 63-65º F.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Are you guys just throwing the coconut in the fermenter (or bag) without sanitizing it? I do that with my dry hops, but have gotten an infection with chocolate. Just wondering if it is normal procedure to just toss it in like dry hops or if it should be sanitized in some way.
Thanks!

 

[thewurzel]

Are you guys just throwing the coconut in the fermenter (or bag) without sanitizing it? I do that with my dry hops, but have gotten an infection with chocolate. Just wondering if it is normal procedure to just toss it in like dry hops or if it should be sanitized in some way.
Thanks!

I have done both with great results
you can always boil the hop bag if you are woried

 

[paulquinn]

This recipe looks fantastic... very excited to give it a try!

A couple questions:

2 lbs for 5 gallons (.5 to the mash, .5 to the boil, 1 in secondary) yields a very subtle coconut flavor.

When did you add to the boil?

And for those of you who have used vanilla beans, how did it turn out?

Thanks!

 

[thewurzel]

This recipe looks fantastic... very excited to give it a try!

A couple questions:



When did you add to the boil?

And for those of you who have used vanilla beans, how did it turn out?

Thanks!

i add all mine in during secondary only and i get a good coconut flavor

 

[D_Nyholm]

Just a quick follow up for mine, I used 1 lb of toasted coconut in my beer, not sure if I would toast it again. It has an overpowering smell of toasted coconut, and not necessarily in a good one (I used it in a pale ale so a porter may be different). Next time I use coconut I think i am going to skip the toasting part.

 

[cottagebrews]

Just a quick follow up for mine, I used 1 lb of toasted coconut in my beer, not sure if I would toast it again. It has an overpowering smell of toasted coconut, and not necessarily in a good one (I used it in a pale ale so a porter may be different). Next time I use coconut I think i am going to skip the toasting part.

Toasting the fruit won't affect the flavor in that way. At a homebrew club fundraiser last year, I made a porter with toasted coconut and another member made one with fresh. The two tastes were entirely different--hers actually had more "coconut" flavor than mine did. If anything, I'd say that fresh coconut comes off more like the aroma that many sunscreens are going for, albeit in a good way, while the toasted coconut has a warm, roasted flavor from the caramelized sugars that makes it more like a chocolate-dipped macaroon. Both these flavors are good, it's just a question of what you want. Scaling back might be a better choice: I use 12 oz of toasted coconut and it comes out tasting fantastic.

I also wonder whether you might have used sweetened coconut instead of unsweetened? This could make for a big difference in flavor.