Kona Brewing Koko Brown Ale

[lukeaj]

Just tried this beer and it's great, anyone have any idea how to clone this?

Description from Kona Brewing

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On February 21, Kona Brewing will be bringing Koko Brown Ale to market, the first new beer available on the mainland from the brewer since 2007, and the third in Kona Brewing’s Aloha Series. Koko Brown’s nutty aroma and flavor comes from real toasted coconut brewed into each batch. It was first tapped at Kona’s Kailua-Kona pub in 2009 under the name Coco Loco. Koko Brown Ale will be available in west coast markets February 21 through May 1, 2011.

Tasting notes:

• Dried, toasted coconut is added to the mash, lending a pleasant nutty aroma and flavor.

• Deep amber with rich mahogany hues. Toffee and nutty coconut flavor is complemented by mildly roasty Victory and Munich malts.

• OG: 13.3 P

• ABV: 5.5%

• IBU: 28

• Extras: toasted coconut chips.

 

[LB2015]

bump...this beer is awesome and would really love to clone this, but have no clue.

 

[lukeaj]

I am in the same boat. I have seen some guys mention coconut in secondary, but not even sure about that and if you buy or roast your own coconut. There has to be some reverse engineer genus out there.

 

[lukeaj]

Bump

 

[rwfishbu]

In addition to OG: 13.3 P, ABV: 5.5%, IBU: 28, per above, their website gives some more clues now. Malts are listed as: Two-row, Victory, Carapils, Munich, Chocolate

Hops are Cascade, Willamette, Warrior, Millenium.

I'll play some in BTP and see what I can come up with, but I'm interested in the coconut use--boil, primary, secondary??? Anyone try this yet?

 

[rwfishbu]

First pass in BTP gave me this. I'm brewing this weekend. I'll refresh the post when I have some results. BTW, this is my first time cloning from scratch, so if anyone has any tips, I'd love the feedback.

All Grain, 75% efficieincy
Single-temp infusion, 154F, collect 7.0 gal, with one hour full boil
9.25 lb two-row Briess organic
1 lb Victory (R) Malt
1 lb Munich TYPE I Weyermann
.5 lb Carapills (R)/Carafoam(R) Weyermann
1.5 lb American chocolate
.25 oz Warrior (16.0%) 60 min
.25 oz Millenium (15.5%) 45 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) 10 min
0.5 oz Willamette (5%) 5 min
Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast (I always use a starter of light DME)

 

[lukeaj]

Super excited to hear how this turns out. You going to try the roasted coconut in Primary?

 

[ceweldon]

I saw this beer on a show a couple of years back, they slow cooked ribs marinated in it, I have been wanting to try it for a while. Interested in hearing how it turns out.

 

[MilesLong]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/coconut-porter-130227/

 

[rossi46]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/coconut-porter-130227/

I like the koko brown way better than Maui's coconut porter.

I too would like to clone the koko brown.

 

[rwfishbu]

Super excited to hear how this turns out. You going to try the roasted coconut in Primary?

I will definitely toast the coconut. I think a brewtha and I are going to try the same recipe, but one of us will put in a pound or so of coconut at flame-out, the other will try a coconut "tea" in secondary.

I'll let you know. I hope to brew it by the end of this month.

Bill

 

[rwfishbu]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/coconut-porter-130227/

Kona's is a nut brown ale with coconut. Much different from Maui's porter. Have you made yours yet?

 

[rossi46]

First pass in BTP gave me this. I'm brewing this weekend. I'll refresh the post when I have some results. BTW, this is my first time cloning from scratch, so if anyone has any tips, I'd love the feedback.

All Grain, 75% efficieincy
Single-temp infusion, 154F, collect 7.0 gal, with one hour full boil
9.25 lb two-row Briess organic
1 lb Victory (R) Malt
1 lb Munich TYPE I Weyermann
.5 lb Carapills (R)/Carafoam(R) Weyermann
1.5 lb American chocolate
.25 oz Warrior (16.0%) 60 min
.25 oz Millenium (15.5%) 45 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) 10 min
0.5 oz Willamette (5%) 5 min
Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast (I always use a starter of light DME)

Any word on how this is going?

 

[lylo]

Just back from Maui.I tried the Koko Brown,the first one was awesome but by the time I finished the six pack I had my fill of coconut for the trip.

 

[rwfishbu]

Any word on how this is going?

I have two brew buddies, and we are designing an experiment so we can quickly figure out the best way to incorporate the coconut.

Our plan is to collect 15+ gallons of wort, and split it three ways. Using the same hop additions for each, we will add toasted coconut
1) to the boil kettle 15 minutes before flame-out
2) to the secondary as a tea (think hop tea)
3) to the secondary as a "dry nut" (though we may boil with DME first and add the whole combination to the fermenter)

The big problem appears to be getting us all together to brew on the same day.

Bill

 

[DonnyBahama]

Dying to know how this turns out. Any news?

 

[rwfishbu]

Hoping to brew next weekend.

 

[rwfishbu]

Well, this is disappointing. The LHBS was out of every hop I needed with the exception of Cascade. I'm going to scrap any intention of brewing today until I can get the correct hops for the clone. With a vacation coming up, I'm not sure I'll get this brewed until after the Fourth of July weekend. Grrr.

 

[rwfishbu]

I'm chagrined and disappointed. Chagrined because I finally made time to brew; disappointed because I still have not made this Koko Brown clone.

I still don't have the hops I need. I'm scheduled to brew on Aug 6, and I'm making this batch come hell or high water. Unfortunately, it looks like there will only be two of us brewing, so I'll make a 10+ gallon batch, and we'll do two-thirds of the experiment.

Has anyone else tried the recipe I suggested above? Any results?

 

[rossi46]

I have not made it yet, but will soon. I do have all of the ingredients. I have 2 brews in ferm chamber now. I will do this one and a mack & jacks next. About 3-4 weeks.

 

[rwfishbu]

I have finally brewed this beer today, and I have some changes to the proposed recipe based on ingredients that were available at the LHBS and my methodology.

Recipe
All Grain, 75% efficieincy
Single-temp infusion, 154F, collect 7.0 gal, with one hour full boil
9.25 lb two-row [Great Northern] organic
1 lb Victory (R) Malt
1 lb Munich TYPE I Weyermann
.5 lb Carapills (R)/Carafoam(R) Weyermann
1.5 lb American chocolate
.25 oz Warrior (16.0%) 60 min (substituted Columbus for Warrior)
.25 oz Millenium (15.5%) 45 min (substituted Cascade for Millennium)
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) 10 min
0.5 oz Willamette (5%) 5 min
0.5 oz Fuggle (4.8%) 5 min
1 lb organic flaked coconut, toasted
Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast (substituted White Labs WLP001)

We made three batches for our experiment:
Batch 1: Toasted coconut in the mash
Batch 2: Toasted coconut in the boil, 15 min
Batch 3: Coconut tea added to secondary [three batches in primary as of Aug 6, '11]

Toasting Coconut
This stuff is tricky to toast without burning, and you can't take your eyes off it. I was aiming for the perfect golden brown like you get when you're on your marshmallow game.

I turned on the oven broiler and turned the broiler temperature down to 300F. I spread about one pound of coconut on a jelly roll sheet, making sure the top of the coconut was pretty level across the sheet. Standing in front of the oven with the door ajar, I watched as the coconut began to turn a golden brown. The center section went first, so as it got to the color I wanted, using hotpads, I turned the sheet 90 degrees to get the stuff on the edges.

Once the whole tray had been toasted, I pulled the tray out of the oven, and mixed the coconut until the toasted stuff was well combined. Then I stuck the tray back in the oven, and did the whole operation over again. I did this one more time, for a total of three sessions under the broiler.

I found one pound was about the perfect amount to manage. I could mix it and not make a mess. I could dump it into a bowl or Ziploc, and I didn't get it everywhere. YMMV.

Post-Boil Update
I'll have to keep an eye on it post-primary, but first impressions are that the wort was much darker than predicted by BTP. However, the 1.5 pounds Chocolate Malt gave all three batches a really nice chocolatey flavor and aroma.

The Batch 1 (mashed coconut) sample was smooth with a nice hop bitterness. The coconut came through very subtly, after the hops, but was definitely present in the finish, despite the hops.

The Batch 2 (boiled coconut) sample was *really* smooth and the hops were more subdued both in flavor and bitterness, despite the same schedule. The coconut was much more noticeable, and its presence was notable throughout, including the aftertaste.

The Batch 3 (tea in secondary) sample had the same hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma as the Batch 1 sample.

I should note that Batch 2 and Batch 3 were collected from the same mash tun, and we split the wort after mixing in a boil kettle. So, it seems odd that 3 and 1 tasted so much alike, but we'll see how they are after the ferment.

Cheers!

 

[JasonOdd]

I took a brewery tour from Redhook again (free sampling class and beer for $1) and the guide mentioned that they also brew for Kona!

As I was walking back to the car I found a pair of the employees from the brew side smoking outside. They said that they add coconut extract to whirlpool... who knew!?

Thought you guys would like to know that tidbit of info.

Now I just need to find out how to add a "whirlpool" to my BIAB setup.

 

[rwfishbu]

Thanks for that tip, Jason! I knew Kona was brewed by license here on the mainland, but I wasn't sure how close to the real process the licensees brew. Batch 3 in my experiment will be something like adding an extract, but I'm adding to secondary, not at whirlpool.

"Whirlpool" occurs after the boil, and while larger breweries apparently use a separate tank for this step, small brewhouses whirlpool in the boil kettle (from what I've read). I think you can do the same thing, but you'd then add the extract as you're whirlpooling or you'd put it into your primary fermenter. Let me know if you try it.

Somehow, we have to get the different experimenters' results together and do a taste test.

 

[rwfishbu]

We racked Batch 2 tonight. The hydrometer sample we took was 1.008, corrected to 1.009. With an OG of 1.065, this means a higher-than-expected apparent attenuation of 86.2% and real attenuation of 69%. We finished lower than expected, but the finish (pre-carbonation) is still somewhat sweet versus an expected dry. The hydrometer sample has a very mild coconut aroma and even more mild coconut flavor; however, there are notes of bourbon and vanilla as the real thing was judged by me and a group of local judges at the Cascade Wine and Beer Festival. The beer is much closer in flavor profile to a porter than a nut brown, but may still be within guidelines for a nut brown. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this first result.Batch 2 attenuated to 1.008 at 65F corrected to 1.009, giving an ABV of 7.36%.

We steeped Batch 3's coconut and made a coconut tea (or extract). We boiled 1 gallon of water and let 1 pound of toasted coconut steep in the water for an hour, before straining it out. Then we boiled the "tea" for about an hour to reduce to two quarts. We'll rack onto it into a secondary carboy before racking to keg. I'll let you know how that turns out.

So far, I would make Batch 2 again in a heartbeat. It's tasty stuff, and I can hardly wait for it to carbonate and age a bit.

 

[rossi46]

We racked Batch 2 tonight. The hydrometer sample we took was 1.008, corrected to 1.009. With an OG of 1.065, this means a higher-than-expected apparent attenuation of 86.2% and real attenuation of 69%. We finished lower than expected, but the finish (pre-carbonation) is still somewhat sweet versus an expected dry. Batch 2 attenuated to 1.008 at 65F corrected to 1.009, giving an ABV of 7.36%. The hydrometer sample has a very mild coconut aroma and even more mild coconut flavor; however, there are notes of bourbon and vanilla as the real thing was judged by me and a group of local judges at the Cascade Wine and Beer Festival. The beer is much closer in flavor profile to a porter than a nut brown, but may still be within guidelines for a nut brown. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this first result.

We also boiled Batch 3's coconut and made a coconut tea (or extract). We boiled 1 gallon of water and let 1 pound of toasted coconut steep in the water for an hour, before straining it out. Then we boiled the "tea" for about an hour to reduce to two quarts. We'll rack onto it into a secondary carboy before racking to keg. I'll let you know how that turns out.

So far, I would make Batch 2 again in a heartbeat. It's tasty stuff, and I can hardly wait for it to carbonate and age a bit.

Sounds good!!! I still have not made it, though I do have all the stuff. I did a pale ale this weekend. Hope to do this next weekend. I was going to boil the coconut like batch 2. Let me know if I should try it differently

 

[rwfishbu]

It's a little dark with the 1.5lbs Chocolate. The only change I'd make at this point is increasing the Victory (for more nutty flavors) and decreasing the chocolate malt (to lighten color and move away from a Porter-ish flavor).

The changes will give me a great excuse to make Batch 4. ;-)

 

[rossi46]

Ok drop choc. to 1 lbs. and up vienna a half lbs. or full lbs. ?

 

[bigbeergeek]

Interested in eventual tasting notes...

 

[rwfishbu]

Ooops... I had to correct that. It's not Vienna, it's Victory.

I increased the Victory to 1.5 lbs. I cut the chocolate to .75 lbs and the two-row to 8.5 to stay within target OG for an American Brown Ale.

These are changes only in my BTP recipe, so far. If you make it with these tweaks, you'll have to let me know how it goes.

As an aside, the coconut is pretty oily. I'm cleaning the primary now, and I have coconut oil in everything--my auto-siphon, my carboys, my transfer tubing... The results will be worth it, though, right?

 

[rossi46]

What's the word? How did they all turn out? I made a starter tonight for my batch I'm doing this weekend. My yeast is from April 4th, so I will step it up again Friday after work.