Oil and lipids

[Lelethegreat]

Hi,
Was looking for information on how oil and lipids affect a beer. Could I put 5ml coconut oil in a 600ml bottle after priming and before bottling? And still get a good beer?

I saw that oil causes a change in head retention, but what about the taste?

Also, could one make an ale with fish? Yes, fish. When would the fish come in? Boil, secondary?

Thanks!

 

[Anatidaephobic]

I've never made a beer with oil or fish so this is all just speculation:

I think the main problem with coconut oil is just that oil and water don't mix. The beer might absorb some of the coconut flavour, but you'd likely end up with all the oil floating on top. Maybe you could use an emulsifier like lecithin to integrate the oil better. I wouldn't add coconut oil to a beer I planned on aging more than a month or two as the coconut oil could go rancid. The oil might also have some effects on the mouthfeel.

I tried to find some info on the effects of meats in ethanol fermentation a while back, but I couldn't find any data on it. I do know oyster and whale have been used to flavour beer. I would probably add cooked fish to the secondary or at bottling. In fact I probably wouldn't even add the fish itself, maybe just cook up a really big filet and squeeze the juices out and add that. While the boil would disinfect any fish added to fermentation, I would still worry about the chance of pathogenic bacteria entering the fermentation and finding refuge in the fish or oxidation and other degradative reactions as the fish sits for a few weeks at room temp. Adding to the boil would also cause haze in the beer. As for the taste.....:cross:

What kind of Fischbier are you thinking about?

 

[Lelethegreat]

Hey Anatidaephobic, thanks for the awesome reply!

When reading about taste the other day I found that we have receptors that are activated when there is fat. The response being a reward thus tasting "good". I was planning on making an "omega" beer with the fish. A sort of "healthy" ale that would be tasty. Whale could also be an alternative it sounds unique. The cooking idea seems like the way to go since its pasteurised and the oils would probably still be there.

As per the coconut oil it was just an example to find out how oil changes the characteristic of the ale. It's supposed to be high in one type of fat. I figured it wouldn't oxidise and get rancid inside a translucent and airtight bottle so it seemed like an alternative.

The emulsification sounds like a great plan. Maybe I'll prime the bottles with mixed emulsified coconut oil and priming sugar.

Thanks!
- Lele