Adding coconut aroma/flavor to beer

[Gustatorian]

I recently added about 20oz of toasted coconut to a 5 gallon stout recipe with minimal coconut aroma/flavor. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to extract more flavor from the flakes? Has anyone experimented with coconut water or milk? Really looking for any technique to best add coconut to my beer. Thanks!

 

[Iceman2197]

I use whole coconut Break, peel, shred, toast a lot of work, but it works for me. For 5 gallons 8 oz in the mash, 1 lb in the last 10 minutes of boil, A full pint jar of shredded with a little vodka shaken daily for a week or 2 and then the liquid added at kegging time. Plus I add the coconut water from the coconuts to the kettle during the boil. Gives a nice aroma and taste.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

There's a brewery not too far from me that has a pretty popular coconut beer. One of the brewers told me that they just put some coconut flakes in the mash. If you're not getting enough of the character, perhaps add more? I don't know whether or not they toast the coconut.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I make a coconut chocolate stout that tastes a lot like Funky Buddha's Last Snow. I dry hop the keg with 12oz raw flaked coconut along with cocoa nibs and the results are amazing. I taste it along the way until its where I like it but it generally only takes a few days. FWIW I got the tip from Wakefield years ago after trying his coconut Hefe.

 

[Gustatorian]

I make a coconut chocolate stout that tastes a lot like Funky Buddha's Last Snow. I dry hop the keg with 12oz raw flaked coconut along with cocoa nibs and the results are amazing. I taste it along the way until its where I like it but it generally only takes a few days. FWIW I got the tip from Wakefield years ago after trying his coconut Hefe.

Awesome! How much cocoa nibs did you use and for how long?

 

[Vandulus]

I'd suggest first lightly toasting the flakes until they're light brown and adding them to secondary. I made a coconut, key lime pale ale last year with 20 oz of coconut 10 minutes before flameout for a 5 gallon batch. I got some coconut flavor, but not anywhere near what I expected. This year I'm going to add them to secondary and have natural coconut extract on hand if that's not enough.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Awesome! How much cocoa nibs did you use and for how long?

I soak 4oz nibs + 1 vanilla bean(split and scraped) in a jar with enough bourbon to cover it all for 4-6 weeks then add the whole tincture to the keg. Usually I get it started before I brew the beer so its ready when its time to keg. You get a nice smooth real chocolate flavor/aroma. Its been a while since I entered one in comp, but my chocolate stout scored a 38 in the best FL beer championships a couple years back and got good compliments on the chocolate notes. Definitely the way to go for chocolate IMO.

 

[m00ps]

FWIW, i've added over 3lbs of toasted coconut to a 5gal batch of porter before. The character was great for the first 6 months or so, but really tapers off after that. Extract may be the best option long term, or some combination of the two