Using Cocunuts

[gregpio85]

Any chemistry guys out there know how to extract the saturated fat from coconut milk?

The plan is to make a coconut dream cream ale. The base for the beer is an AG cream ale recipe (10.5 lb 2R, 1 lb caramel 20, 1oz cascade). I've got coconut in hand and would like to use the whole thing for this beer. Milk and meat.

From my research, the best procedure for the meat is to take the unsweetened coconut shavings, bake them on an oven sheet and let them soak in the secondary. Baking in the oven cooks off the majority of the oils (the oil kills head retention) while soaking in the secondary extracts your flavor.

This leaves the coconut milk. I'd like to add the milk at flameout and let whatever sugar is in there to ferment out. However, the milk is high in saturated fat (which again will kill head retention). My thought was to somehow extract the oil. My best guess would be to just let the milk sit at room temp for a day and let the oils float to the top, then skim it off. Has anyone done this? Can you comment on its effectiveness?

TLR - Using coconut milk for brew. How do I remove the majority of the oils from the milk?

 

[Captain Damage]

Try it. Seriously. Just try it. The head retention theme comes up every single time someone mentions coconut, and you guys just crack me up: "I don't care if it tastes good, if it's not foamy, then I don't want it." I've used the toasted meat of one fresh coconut in a beer, and it was perfectly drinkable. TBH I don't recall if it had a major effect on the head, but I certainly didn't push it away for lack of foam.

Tangent - nitpick on your semantics: Coconut milk is liquid extracted from the meat. Coconut water is the liquid sloshing around inside the coconut that leaks out when you open it.

 

[gregpio85]

Try it. Seriously. Just try it. The head retention theme comes up every single time someone mentions coconut, and you guys just crack me up: "I don't care if it tastes good, if it's not foamy, then I don't want it." I've used the toasted meat of one fresh coconut in a beer, and it was perfectly drinkable. TBH I don't recall if it had a major effect on the head, but I certainly didn't push it away for lack of foam.

Tangent - nitpick on your semantics: Coconut milk is liquid extracted from the meat. Coconut water is the liquid sloshing around inside the coconut that leaks out when you open it.

Woot - Thanks Capt.

I didn't realize this was brought as much as it was. I could only find two threads.

Also thanks for clarifying the difference between milk and water. I let the water sit over night. The water ; ) had a light film over the top, nothing crazy but noticeable. I said f- it and just dumped it. Will just be using the meat.

Take care.

 

[Poobah58]

The liquid in the coconut is not coconut milk. It's just flavored coconut water. I have used coconut in a mead. I split the coconut (reserved the liquid) and skinned. I then baked the meat for a while and sopped up the oil with a paper towel. I then shredded the coconut. I soaked the coconut in the reserved liquid and rice water (partially boiled some rice and used the liquid). Supposedly the rice water prevents the coconut from going rancid. This was MY coconut milk. I removed the coconut and toasted. I added the milk to primary and the toasted coconut to secondary. I think you could do something similar for beer. May try it someday myself.