Question about Coconut Usage

[tre6mafya]

So my next beer is going to be a extract with specialty grains coconut porter, I want a HUGE coconut flavor in the beer, can I use a can of coconut creme or coconut milk at flameout or during boil to help enhance the coconut flavor? I would then add the organic toasted coconut during secondary.

 

[bni]

All I ever do is toast 28oz. Shredded coconut. Put it in a hop bag. And steep it the last 10 minutes of the boil. Always a hit with everyone that tries it.

 

[swackattack]

I used 20 oz of home toasted coconut in my brown ale. Put it in a paint strainer bag after fermentation completed. Prominent coconut flavor. Soaked up a quart or two of wort.

 

[mcwilcr]

I toast 2 bags of UN-SWEETENED(this is important) shredded coconut (I think it is 28 oz. but it could be 32) @ 300 F which typically takes around 30 min to get a nice golden brown. be sure to check often and turn the coconut at least once around 12-15 min and personally I turn it twice. I don't add my coconut to the boil or even primary but instead opt to add it to secondary for about 2 weeks. I wouldn't necessarily say it is HUGE coconut but if you've ever had Kona brewings koko brown it's on par with the coconut flavor you get in there.

 

[tre6mafya]

Thanks everyone I truly appreciate the advice in regards to the coconut usage

 

[Brewnoob1]

I agree with everyone's posts above about toasting unsweetened coconut to the secondary. However, just throwing it out there, you can also use coconut extract. I did a coconut porter last summer and did 1lb of unsweetened toasted coconut as well as one of those pure coconut extract bottles from whole foods (2oz maybe....can't remember size now but it was super small). It added a pretty good coconut punch to the porter. At first, it was slightly medicinal tasting, but after about 2 weeks in the keg, that flavor faded and it was just a punch of coconut and it was awesome! Everyone that had it loved it. So, just an alternative to doing straight toasted coconut.

 

[zmanzorro]

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if you used coconut water as your boil water? I'm not familiar with coconut water, so I'm not sure how much of it is actually water. I think it would be a cool (yet expensive) experiment.

 

[dpatrickv]

I brew a coconut black ipa with a nice coconut flavor, I just take 1lb of unsweetened shredded coconut, toast it and then add it to the mash....Then again, that's difficult to do when brewing extract. Doh.

 

[tre6mafya]

Coconut extract sounds good!! I would think that the coconut water would add a little flavor to it when added at flameout but I'm not sure if would be worth the cost to taste reward. I think I'm going to stick to at least a pound of toasted organic non sweet coconut into the secondary although I am curious to see if steeping toasted coconut with the specialty grains would add any flair of coconut flavor.