Coconot IPA Recipe question

[Matteo57]

Going to try my hand at a Coconut IPA.
Put together the following recipe. Any suggestions or critiques?

OG: 1.068
FG: 1.010
IBUs 87

10.5gallon batch

20lbs 2-row
2lbs munich
1.5lbs Carapils
.75lbs Crystal 40L
3lbs unsweetened coconut

1oz Citra 60m 14.1% AA
2oz Citra 30m
1.5oz Galaxy 15m 15.2% AA
2oz Citra 5m
1oz Galaxy 5m

Dry Hop
1.5oz Galaxy 5days
1oz Citra 5days
1lb toasted coconut 5days (maybe longer)

Mash Temp 149
2lb of Coconot in Mash

Any thoughts or suggestions? Other thought I had was changing crystal to 15L and upping to 1-1.25lbs.

Thanks!

 

[voltin]

I would probably leave the Crystal the same if not up it to 60L, the coconut adds some perceived sweetness and using C15 would probably push it overboard.

In my experience Coconut in the boil adds a more full sweet coconut flavor, and coconut in secondary adds a subtle rounded coconut flavor. I recently brewed 2 versions of a brown porter with the same grain bill, using coconut at different stages. In one I used coconut at 15 mins and in secondary for 7 days (a pound of toasted coconut for each addition in 5G.) In another I added it only in secondary (again 1lb per 5G.)

In the first beer the coconut was immediately noticeable and had a much sweeter taste. The second one was a lot more subtle and the coconut was perceivable in the background. Although when compared to a beer with the same grain bill with no coconut added there was a huge difference. I have found that most people liked the second one better, and in fact it scored high at the Bluebonnet Brew off this year.

 

[Matteo57]

Cool! Good info about coconut, thanks for the info! Ever try to add in mash? If so how did it differ?
Do you think since I'm dry hopping with the other such flavorful hops like Citra and galaxy and all of tropical flavors added from that, a secondary only coconut flavoring would get lost?

Thanks again!!

 

[Matteo57]

Oh I was going to ask about IBUs as well.... Think it's too much/little? I know some popular brands their measured IBUs in a program like beersmith run around 125-200 (obviously they aren't that high but yah..)

 

[voltin]

I have never tried coconut in the mash, nor have I ever used Citra or Galaxy. I assume that a Mash addition would in part a flavor somewhere in between a boil addition and a secondary addition.

I do think your recipe would be better served with a stronger coconut flavor otherwise the coconut might get lost behind such high IBUs. I would probably toss 2lbs of toasted coconut in the boil @15m instead of the mash, and then 2lb of toasted coconut in the secondary. That should get you a nice coconut flavor. As for your IBUs I think they are fine.

 

[TNTgill]

Subbed I would love to hear the final product

 

[Matteo57]

Well brewed it last night and hit the numbers right on. I just did 1 pound of coconut in the boil @15m.
I split the 10g batch into two carboys so will add another pound maybe 2lbs each to each. coconut's expensive!
Wort tasted pretty good though!
I'm stoked about this recipe, I can't wait to try it when it's all ready!
I'll update soon

 

[Matteo57]

So I added 12oz toasted coconut to beer for 2 days which is plenty at least right now. I am addingn1.5oz galaxy tonight and then after 3 days going to add 2oz citra. Tasted amazing tinight althiugh pretty sweet cocnut flavor. Hoping the dry hopping will add nore flavor and take away a bit of the cocnut sweetness. We'll see.
I have another 5 gallon carboy of the same beer I might not add the coconut into secondary carboy and just dry hop to see how it comes out. That one you can taste a lot more hop bitterness like an ipa should taste like and still taste the coconut for now. My worries are that after dry hopping the coconut flavor will be hidden by the abundant flavor of the citra. Time will tell. Stay tuned!

 

[Matteo57]

So as this is carbonating more and more.... more of the coconut is disapating or disapearing behind the hop bitterness and flavor. Another couple days and it should be fully carbonated. On round 2 I might keep the coconut in the secondary for an extra day or two to get even more coconut flavor in and not have it disapate too much.
This beer has an absolutely fantastic aroma.... and flavor is really quite good as well. If you want to try something interesting, I would definitly suggest giving it a shot!

 

[bobbrews]

Yeah, this would've been one case where clean & neutral IPA hops like Magnum, Horizon, and/or Perle early in the boil only may have been a better choice. Or just plain old hop extract at boil start. The tropical fruitiness of Citra & Galaxy will mask a lot of the coconut. You want to really work with a blank slate of bitterness, so it gives the taster the illusion that the hops are actually coconutty.

 

[Matteo57]

Interesting. Will maybe do the next batch that way depending on how this finally turns out after all carbed up.
Thanks!

 

[bg1414]

So how did this turn out? Which method of using the coconut worked out best?

 

[Matteo57]

This turned out really nice! The only issue was that I toasted the coconut a bit too much so there was a slight too much nutty toasty flavor from it and it was a bit full bodied (not sure if my temp was off in the mash or the coconut added a bit of body to the beer due to the oils in it?)
You definitely get the most coconut in secondary. I actually am just carbonating my second batch now. I changed the hops around a bit, but the first recipe of hops was better IMO. The second time I threw in a bit of mosaic and centennial into the mix, trying to round out a bit of the flavors, but the strict citra and galaxy melded better with the coconut I thought. I might dry hop just a slight bit more citra and galaxy to up those flavors in my current beer.
Really awesome beer though, I would really suggest making it for someone who likes IPAs and likes coconut/pina colada type flavors.
Let me know if anyone tries it!
I had so many people from work wanting to buy growlers or bottles of it! I brought in a few bottles for people to try and the word got around quick! Pretty funny!
Cheers!

 

[Matteo57]

One other note, you only need the coconut in the beer in secondary (or I did it in the keg this time) for a day/two at the most. It imparts flavor really quick! This time around I did only .5lbs per 5g and it goes a long way!

 

[Matteo57]

I changed the recipe to the following: I can't edit the original post:

20lb 2 row
2.5lb munich
.8lb crystal 40L
1.5lb carapils
3lb dextrose

1oz citra 60m
2oz citra 30m
1.5oz galaxy 15m
1oz galaxy 5m
2oz citra 5m
Citra AA was 14.1% and Galaxy was at 15.2%AA

1.5oz citra 7days dry hop
2.5oz galaxy 7days dry hop

1lb toasted coconut @15m
8oz toasted coconut to each 5g vessel for 2 days

Next round when I do this again, I might take out the carapils altogether and bump the crystal to 60L and up to 1lb possibly....

 

[bg1414]

when you said to use only .5lbs per 5 gallons in secondary did you do any in the boil?

 

[Matteo57]

Yes, 1lb. at 15m. This is for a 10g batch though.
The first batch I used large coconut shreds.... looked more like someone grated a coconut with a cheese grater. The second batch I used smaller coconut shreds. I liked the flavor and aroma from the larger pieces better. Maybe a better quality coconut?

 

[saeroner]

Sorry to bump for update.

Anyone brewed this again? I'm going to try it next week.

Any thoughts on what adding some coconut water would do to this? from a green fresh coconut not from a store but from the tree - the clear water not milky... The coconut water that I've had (you cut a hole in the nut and drink the water out of a straw) taste mild, bitter, slightly sour . a lot of islander people drink it straight. It has a good amount of potassium.

Just a thought.

 

[Matteo57]

Sorry to bump for update.

Anyone brewed this again? I'm going to try it next week.

Any thoughts on what adding some coconut water would do to this? from a green fresh coconut not from a store but from the tree - the clear water not milky... The coconut water that I've had (you cut a hole in the nut and drink the water out of a straw) taste mild, bitter, slightly sour . a lot of islander people drink it straight. It has a good amount of potassium.

Just a thought.

Interesting thought, don't know how that would affect it but below is the final version of what I did back in October. This one was the best by far. I also had some guys from Stone Brewery, including Bill Sysak (http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/who-is-dr-bill-sysak.2266/) try it and he said it was phenomenal. I have given him beers before and he just says meh half the time so I know he meant it!

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
24.00 lbs 77.29 % Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.50 lbs 4.83 % Briess Carapils
0.55 lbs 1.77 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
5.00 lbs 16.10 % Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
1.00 lbs Coconut 15m left in boil

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.50 ozs 33.38 Warrior 60 mins
0.70 ozs 15.18 Columbus (Tomahawk) 60 mins
1.00 ozs 19.99 Citra 60 mins
1.00 ozs 15.36 Citra 30 mins
1.00 ozs 12.53 Mosaic 30 mins
1.50 ozs 6.45 Galaxy 5 mins
2.00 ozs 7.97 Citra 5 mins
1.25 ozs 4.06 Mosaic 5 mins
1.00 ozs 2.83 Centennial 5 mins
1.50 ozs Galaxy 5 days
1.00 ozs Mosaic 5 days
1.00 ozs Citra 5 days
1.50 ozs Centennial 5 days
.5 lb unsweetened coconut 1-3 days (don't over do this!)

Dry English Ale White Labs 0007 (big starter)

Mashed at 148F

Notes:
- Total of 2lbs of coconut. 1lb in the boil and then .5lbs into each fermenter/keg.
- 2lbs of sugar into the boil; 1.5lbs sugar dissolved and tossed into each fermenter when fermentation shows signs of slowing.
- Could have used cal ale yeast and would have been great too I'm sure, I just had that on hand.
- Definitely the untoasted coconut is my favorite of the batches I've done. The toasted coconut added too much of a burnt/roasted flavor even if you don't over toast it.
- The 60 minute hop additions did not have to be all that, I just had some hops I wanted to get rid of and they were all clean bittering, high AA.
- I really like the addition of centennial and mosaic in the recipe as well, it adds more depth of flavor!
- Only issue I had was FG stopped at 1.014 instead of what i would have rather had of around 1.010 to dry it out a bit more but not a big deal.

If you brew it and you keg the beer, I would do the coconut in the boil, then dry hop it and then see if you need more coconut or not. Just be careful with the dry coconutting, it imparts flavor fast! You definitely get a HUGE amount of aroma and flavor though when you dry hop it, so I would suggest doing it some.
The best rounded flavor I was able to get was after doing what I have listed above. If you do too much of the coconut it comes across too sweet, and if you hop it too much it will overpower the coconut.

Brew it up and let me know what you think! I would love to hear some other feedback besides every person I gave a bottle too asking for more everytime they see me nowadays!
I swear, at work, like every week or so someone else asks me when I'm going to brew it again! Funny!

 

[saeroner]

^ Hey man thanks for the write up. I'm about to start brewing this (same recipe as your last post) I'm doing a 5 gallon batch so i just halved everything. Do you happen to know your OG that you got when finished the chill? Thanks a lot

 

[Matteo57]

^ Hey man thanks for the write up. I'm about to start brewing this (same recipe as your last post) I'm doing a 5 gallon batch so i just halved everything. Do you happen to know your OG that you got when finished the chill? Thanks a lot

Absolutely! I want to say it was 1.075. Unfortunately I am not home right now and my phone app I had everything saved on crapped out on me a few days ago. I know 1.072-1.075 was my goal.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Let me know how you like it!


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[saeroner]

The brew night went pretty smooth overall. It was the 1st time cutting up coconut so that was kind of a pain.

The only question i have is somehow I got 1.060 OG. would you still recommend adding the 1lb of sugar when fermentation slows down? (5 gallon batch)

thanks

 

[Matteo57]

The brew night went pretty smooth overall. It was the 1st time cutting up coconut so that was kind of a pain.

The only question i have is somehow I got 1.060 OG. would you still recommend adding the 1lb of sugar when fermentation slows down? (5 gallon batch)

thanks

Did you add any sugar into the boil? When I plug in those numbers into beer software it shows I would expect to get around 1.060 with no sugar, just the grains at 70%. If you got around 60% efficiency you would be at 1.060 with the sugar addition in the boil. I don't know what your normal efficiency is?
I would definitely add in the sugar into the fermentor. You can add sugar into just the boil, but when I do beers, a lot of time with sugar, I add the majority of it into fermentor. It helps dry the beer out as much as possible since it allows the yeast to work on the more complex sugars first and as they are slowing down and pooping out, you give them the simple sugars to work on and they eat those up just fine.

How'd the wort smell/taste?
What type of coconut did you use? I usually just grab the chopped unsweetened coconut.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

I came across this, and I think I'm going to take a shot at this for my first 5-gal batch...! It may be a bit over my head, but I'm not known for easing into things.

Anyway, I wanted to get more information about your 0.5lb of coconut added to the keg... this is during secondary fermentation, correct? And how do you keep from exposing your product to air while doing this?

Thanks!

 

[Matteo57]

I came across this, and I think I'm going to take a shot at this for my first 5-gal batch...! It may be a bit over my head, but I'm not known for easing into things.

Anyway, I wanted to get more information about your 0.5lb of coconut added to the keg... this is during secondary fermentation, correct? And how do you keep from exposing your product to air while doing this?

Thanks!

Since it sounds like you are going to bottle your beer, I would suggest to keep it all in the primary. After about 2 weeks, add dry hops, and about 1-2 days before you bottle it, add the coconut. Rack off when done with the coconut into bottling bucket, and bottle.
If you are going to add coconut into primary, what I do is just stick a mesh bag half way into the carboy, then funnel the coconut into the mesh bag that is inside the carboy, tie off the bag and drop it in. After done, rack off from the carboy and good to go.
I don't personally secondary my beer unless I want to add large amounts of fruit or I want to long term age a beer.
Also, for those of you that are going to bottle this, just be very careful of sanitation practices. Personally I like this recipe better when it is UNtoasted coconut. However, for sake of sanitation and bacteria, maybe a thought would be to lightly toast it. Up to you. Since I keg my beer, I just drop the temps down then throw the coconut into a mesh bag and drop it into the keg until I get the desired flavor. Since it's cold the whole time, I don't have to worry about bacteria from the coconut really as much. I have bottled some of my beer that I didn't toast and left it out and room temp for a month or so and it was fine, but still gotta be careful.
I know the Bruery had a coconut beer go kinda bad due to not toasting their coconut and something got in there due to it. Anyways, just some thoughts.
Let me know when you brew it and your thoughts! Looking forward to hearing some more feedback from ya'll that are brewing it!
Going to brew this again within the month! All my coworkers are bugging me for more!

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Actually, I'll be kegging. I'm headed to the local brew shop today to pick up ingredients. Looking forward to this!

 

[Matteo57]

Oh good, kegging is so much easier!

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[DeltaNu1142]

I brewed this up yesterday, and made a massive mess of the kitchen while doing so. A burner is next on my list...

I used something other than CaraPils (I'll have to look at my grain bill again to see what it was). I'll dry hop in a couple of weeks... what quantity/what variety of hops did you drop in?

Revisiting this thread reminded me of the light toasting on the coconut. I'll do that, even though I'll be kegging my beer. Here's another question, though... I'm planning to purge the keg with CO2, then fill with beer via the liquid line. How do you add your coconut to the keg for only 2 days without introducing air? That is, I can put a mesh bag into the keg, then purge & fill... but how do I pull it out after a couple of days?

Thanks for this recipe! I'm hoping to see lots of bubble activity when I get home today...

 

[Matteo57]

I brewed this up yesterday, and made a massive mess of the kitchen while doing so. A burner is next on my list...

I used something other than CaraPils (I'll have to look at my grain bill again to see what it was). I'll dry hop in a couple of weeks... what quantity/what variety of hops did you drop in?

Revisiting this thread reminded me of the light toasting on the coconut. I'll do that, even though I'll be kegging my beer. Here's another question, though... I'm planning to purge the keg with CO2, then fill with beer via the liquid line. How do you add your coconut to the keg for only 2 days without introducing air? That is, I can put a mesh bag into the keg, then purge & fill... but how do I pull it out after a couple of days?

Thanks for this recipe! I'm hoping to see lots of bubble activity when I get home today...

Yep, burners are always much better to use!

This whole beer is brewed only using Citra and Galaxy (although I've found that a bit of centennial adds a bit of pink grapefruit notes that come across quite nicely as well!)

1.5oz citra 7days dry hop
2.5oz galaxy 7days dry hop

I definitely would recommend NOT toasting the coconut, since when you do it adds more of a toasty flavor of course and not solely the coconut flavor.
To add, just do what you said above, I usually tie a piece of unflavored dental floss to the hop bag to make sure it doesn't get lost and stick that out through the opening. Just make sure you have a good seal and lots of lube so it doesn't leak. Then after you are done with the coconut you depressurize, open the top, take the coconut out, put the lid back on, then turn the C02 back on. Then just release the pressure a few times and this should get rid of the majority of the oxygen. Never had a problem doing this.
Personally I would actually carbonate the beer, then dry coconut, so you can take the coconut out when it taste bests for you! But do what you want.
Doing it this way turned out great for me so, that's what I've done.

Let me know what you think! Hope it turns out great for you! It's actually my next upcoming brew I'm going to do again!

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Dental floss... brilliant. And I happen to have a fresh tube of keg lube so I could break the $25 threshold on an Amazon order I placed a few weeks ago.

I may try your "live" addition of coconut with the keg on tap. Have you experienced any trouble with loss of head retention due to the coconut oil? I'm cross-threading a bit & started another thread about adding solids to the primary fermenter... that was a tip someone else posted.

 

[Matteo57]

Dental floss... brilliant. And I happen to have a fresh tube of keg lube so I could break the $25 threshold on an Amazon order I placed a few weeks ago.

I may try your "live" addition of coconut with the keg on tap. Have you experienced any trouble with loss of head retention due to the coconut oil? I'm cross-threading a bit & started another thread about adding solids to the primary fermenter... that was a tip someone else posted.

Haven't had noticable loss in head retention with the coconut. Possibly a little bit but it is never anything I've noticed and haven't really looked at it as an issue since it hasn't been one so far.

 

[DeltaNu1142]

Kegged this today. Despite my best efforts, it looks & smells terrific! This being my first kegged homebrew, I didn't have gas or a faucet set up for it, so over the past couple of days I amassed the parts and installed in my fridge today. The gas is on at serving pressure, and now... we wait.

 

[brettg20]

I brewed a coconut IIPA about 2 months ago, my first time with coconut (5 gal). 1lb of toasted coconut each in the mash, 15 min, and secondary....overkill. 1/2 of this would have been killer


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[DeltaNu1142]

I put in 1/2-lb at 15 min only. There's no coconut nose, just hops. Lots of glorious hops.

 

[Matteo57]

Yeah, get some in the secondary! It helps a ton! It helps give flavor and aroma to it!

 

[Matteo57]

Kegged this today. Despite my best efforts, it looks & smells terrific! This being my first kegged homebrew, I didn't have gas or a faucet set up for it, so over the past couple of days I amassed the parts and installed in my fridge today. The gas is on at serving pressure, and now... we wait.

Stoked, let me know how it comes out! I have a batch of this fermenting right now! Will start dry hopping Sunday!

 

[saeroner]

Hey man just FYI i brewed this a month ago (your 2nd recipe on page 2 that's more simple) ...keg was gone in a few days.. everyone wants to have it again. I just dry hopped the 2nd requested batch... Next time i will follow your final recipe with the centennial, ext.. good stuff. I think even one day is good with the coconut in the keg... anymore than 2 is too much right, jut take it out.

 

[Panderson1]

Bumping old thread. I don't think OP posts anymore. I DMd him..

Anyway does anyone have any thoughts on this recipe 5 years later?

The Citra and Galexy is what I'm going for. I