Thoughts on Vanilla Coconut Stout?

[snowveil]

So I looked in my cupboard the other morning and noticed that I had some ingredients left over and figured I'd try something a little different. My brew kettle is only capable of boiling 3 gallons and I'd like to just mess around with a small batch since this is kind of an experimental thing. Here's what I've got so far:

in the mash:
6.5lb 2 row rahr
0.5lb black patent
0.25lb roasted barley
0.25lb chocolate malt
0.5lb roasted shredded coconut

The boil:
.75oz Saaz (6.8%) @ 60 min
.5oz Perle (7.7%) @ 30 min
.5lb roasted coconut @ 5 min


I'll be primary-ing this in a bucket and then splitting off into 3 one gallon glass jugs for secondary to minimize headspace for potential oxidation.

At bottling I plan to add 2 oz vanilla extract.


Thoughts?

 

[KYB]

Sounds like a good idea to me. With my Stouts I never use Black Patent, not that it's a bad thing, I just think Stouts should have more Roasted Barley than Black Patent. Also, I think you should add some Flaked Barley in there. Other than that looks pretty good. I'm not 100% sure, but 2oz vanilla extract seems like a lot.

 

[ben the brewman]

One of the girls in my brew club made a vanilla coconut porter that was great. She did say to use unsweetened coconut and toast it in your oven until its slightly crispy.

 

[snowveil]

Sounds like a good idea to me. With my Stouts I never use Black Patent, not that it's a bad thing, I just think Stouts should have more Roasted Barley than Black Patent. Also, I think you should add some Flaked Barley in there. Other than that looks pretty good. I'm not 100% sure, but 2oz vanilla extract seems like a lot.

2oz may be a lot, honestly I haven't used it before outside of just pouring a 1/4tsp into a glass prior to pouring some porter on top of it. I may scale it back a bit.

I'm hoping that the coconut flavor will come through from the mash, but we'll see.

 

[KYB]

Yea hopefully. Post up how it turns out. You definitely want to balance the vanilla and coconut so neither is dominant. Hope it turns out good for you.

 

[snowveil]

It's been 2 weeks in the bottle and I thought I'd post my thoughts. (cracked one open cause I can't wait!)

I wound up only collecting 2 gallons due to trub loss and not hitting my numbers too well with the unexpected amount of boiloff.

The coconut is awesome! I used 3 coconuts, smashed them open and threw them in the blender. This left me with about 2lbs prior to toasting and about a pound and a half after toasting in the oven at 350*F for about 15-20 minutes split over two cookie sheets.

I wound up putting 1lb 3oz in the mash and 6oz in the last 5 minutes of the boil in a nylon bag.

I was afraid to use too much vanilla so I wound up only using about a Tbsp for the 2 gallon batch. I can't really notice it, so I'll scale it up a bit if I brew this again.

This fermented hotter than I'd have liked (peaked up to about 74*F) when the temperature suddenly jumped from ~65*F outside to 90*F outside for a 2 day period (which just happened to be 2 days after I pitched )

As for the flavors....the esters are showing through due to the high fermentation temps....but the coconut comes through strong in the flavor without overpowering the roasty/chocolatey profile of the stout. If I do this again I'll probably cut out the flavor hops and leave just the bittering.

All in all...a decent brew. I'd keep the temps under control a bit better next time and cut out the flavor hops but the coconut is definitely pronounced and pleasant!

....now I just need to find some friends who like coconut AND beer....

 

[ctufano]

Sounds delicious! I'd love to paypal you some $ to try a bottle

 

[OsbornBrewing]

Try skipping the extract altogether. Get a whole vanilla bean, slice it in half lengthwise, scrape the insides into your secondary, quarter the skin and throw it in as well. Much more pure vanilla taste and smoothness. I use two beans in a 5 gallon batch, YMMV .

Unless you get pure vanilla extract, which is difficult, you are using a manufactured vanilla flavour which probably has colour and preservative added.

 

[ctufano]

and flavor! I'm currently making 5 half pints worth of vanilla (some grade A and grade B madagascar beans) -- 30 beans per half pint of vodka and brandy. mmm smells so good!