"Award Winning" Coconut Porter

[biertourist]

Tried a variation of this recipe a few weeks ago. Dry hopped it with 750 gr of roasted coconut (approximately for 12minutes) for six days. Force carbed for 10 minutes, then left @8C for three days on Co2. Tried last night on Nitro and first impressions were awful as all I could smell & taste was coconut. Had an awful few minutes thinking what would I do with 18+ litres of coconut porter. Thankfully the smell subsided to be replaced by a much subtler arroma & flavour. Had two pints of it last night & was really nice. Glad I tried it & would recommend it. Might a bit of extra black malt to offset the sweetness of the coconut & the high fg of 1.020 I got.

Shanna

Yes it's quite odd on days 1-3 and then around 5 fully tastes like coconut but intense.  Another week after removing the coconut it all mellows out and gets nice and the way it should be.

Adam

[RedWino]

Hi Adam,

I tried this over the weekend, and I overshot the OG - hit 1.070 instead of 1.065.

What is the volume that the original recipe is based on?
I went for 21 liter into the fermenter, but suspect it to be based on 23l maybe?

[DEMPSEY]

Hi Adam,

I tried this over the weekend, and I overshot the OG - hit 1.070 instead of 1.065.

What is the volume that the original recipe is based on?
I went for 21 liter into the fermenter, but suspect it to be based on 23l maybe?

I would'nt worry about 5 points as any recipe is based on a certain level of efficiency e.g. 70% and you have had a bit better extract efficiency .

[RedWino]

I'm not worried, just curious is all 

I did the recipe as full mash BIAB, but has to guesstimate the water volumes.

[biertourist]

Yep very close to 23 liters out of the kettle.

The recipe specified 7 gallons (26.5L) pre boil going into the kettle and 6 gallons (22.72L) as the final volume in the kettle.  I leave a lot of junk behind in the kettle so I have some pretty significant losses but I'm really going for high wort quality with low trub levels.  -Some day if I get a trub filter I'll switch my process so it's more efficient.


Adam

[RedWino]

Makes sense, cheers. 

[cruiscinlan]

I did my own version of this with 500g of coconut left loose in the fermentor.  Although it smelled nice, once bottled I could get no hint of coconut off it at all, I gave a bottle to DCBrewing who could taste it so I'm mystified, does my palate have a coconut-shaped blindspot?

[Boycott]

I think coconut just doesnt come out very strong as a flavor in general but your stout was way more coconutty than any other so called coconut berrs ive had before. I had kinnegars last night and there wasnt nearly as much coconut as yours.

[biertourist]

I think coconut just doesnt come out very strong as a flavor in general but your stout was way more coconutty than any other so called coconut berrs ive had before. I had kinnegars last night and there wasnt nearly as much coconut as yours.

It's not about the size of the coconut addition; it's about how you use it.  -Couldn't resist.


The key is to remember that coconut FLAVOR comes from coconut OIL; think about "coconut utilization" -the amount of coconut flavor you get for the amount of coconut that you buy -as long as you think about the quantity and process from this perspective you can get intense coconut flavor without breaking the bank.

Some people just blindly follow the process that Maui brewing uses (add coconut in the mash, add it in the boil, add it in fermentation tanks) without thinking about the "coconut utilization".

Toasting brings out the oils that will just hugely ramp up the amount of coconut flavor that you get (and then you get nice toasted flavors, too) most of the oils are going to be driven off/ not end up in the final beer if you add them before secondary fermentation.  The rate of extraction also varies based upon temperature and the surface area in contact between the coconut and the beer -so add coconut to secondary before chilling to speed up extraction.


Or you can go insane and add 5 - 7 lbs for a 5 gallon batch because you blindly follow a commercial brewer's process like this guy: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/getting-big-coconut-flavor-492652/index5.html (I DID try to steer him correctly but he filled half of his fermenter with raw coconut instead...)


Adam

[biertourist]

I think coconut just doesnt come out very strong as a flavor in general but your stout was way more coconutty than any other so called coconut berrs ive had before. I had kinnegars last night and there wasnt nearly as much coconut as yours.

Blueberry- now THERE'S a flavor that doesn't come out very strong.  I had a blueberry stout from Dark Horse that was one of the most delicious things I've ever put into my face at the time; I have NO IDEA how they managed to get so much blueberry flavor into a stout but I'm pretty certain it wasn't just whole blueberries.  It wasn't an artificial taste either.  If I could make that beer, I would be a happy, happy man.


Adam

[biertourist]

Oh yea: Update on this beer: There are some article online on how to quickly toast coconut in a microwave: DO NOT do this.

Unless you have a very small amount of coconut or it's spread very thin the inside of the big mound of coconut will start burning while the outside looks relatively untoasted.  The heat inside ends up MUCH hotter than the outside and you end up with nasty burnt popcorn smelling / tasting coconut (my most recent batch finishes phenolicy from the tiny bit of burnt coconut that ended up in it).


Adam

[ferg]

made the base beer again for this on Saturday. gonna mix it up this time with some vanilla pods and possibly some lactose (credit to Mike Tonsimere for the inspiration ), heading for more a sweet stout this time. I mashed high (69) and finished with 1.070 wort so may not need it.  I'm debating whether or not to keg this batch and add the coconut to the corny or bottle as usual...

I have to agree microwaves have little place in making beer, let alone food!

[molc]

I like my microwave for my priming sugar

[ferg]

600g oven toasted coconut and 3 tablespoons of neilsen massey vanilla extract went in this time.. finished at 1.018 this time, so was sweet enough to not add lactose which I was planning too! Vanilla-coconut stout here we come!