My adventures in coconut have payed off. I just opened my coconut porter on Easter and I did so cautiously. When I bottled the beer, I tasted it and was very sad. It did not taste very good at all. But knowing that beer changes between bottling and drinking glass, I pushed on. Now I’m glad I did. This turned out very tasty. I gave Holly a sip and she almost didn’t give it back. Which is saying something, because Holly is not a porter fan.
The two things that bring this beer down for me is it’s lack of head retention (practically none) and strength of the coconut flavor. It is a little overpowering. Not too much for me necessarily because I love coconut, but for most, I think they would be looking for a more subtle flavor. I used about 8 oz. of sweetened coconut that I had toasted in the oven. It was actually more like 7 oz. since I scooped up and ate some with a spoon. Yum. I might go more with 12 – 15 oz. if I did it again. That gives me almost 9 oz. that I can just eat up. Haha.
I’m not sure about the head retention. I assumed that would happen from the coconut oil anyway. I’m just not sure how I could have prevented it. Maybe there is a grain I could have put in to help with it. Maybe use more crystal malt or carafoam. Maybe I could have shot for a higher temperature mash, something closer to 156˚F. Next time. Next time. Ooh. And I think I would also add a bit of coffee to it next time. This would be so good with some Vanilla Macnut Kona coffee in it. Add that to the 6.6% abv and we’ve got a winner.
Coconut Porter:
OG: 1.065
FG: 1.015
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: 46
SRM: 45˚L
6 lbs. Pale Malt Extract
2.5 lbs. Pale Ale Male
1.75 lbs. Crystal 40˚L
1.25 lbs. Munich Malt
14.4 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Black Patent
1 tsp. Irish Moss (at 15 minutess)
15.15 AAU Northern Brewer (60 minutes) (1.5 oz at 10.1 aa)
5.05 AAU Northern Brewer (10 minutes) (.5 oz at 10.1 aa)
Fermentis Safale US-05 Yeast
7 oz. toasted sweetened shredded coconut
What do do:
3.5 gallons of strike water, mashed at 152˚F. 2.5 gallons sparge water. Fermented for 5 days in primary. Transferred to secondary. Add 8 ounces of toasted coconut. Ferment in secondary for 9 days. Prime with 3.4 oz. corn sugar and bottle. Wait 10 days and drink.
What you get:
