Speedball Coconut Porter

[homebrewbeliever]

I had an interesting idea the other day: I'd like to try to brew some beer with kava! I have been really enjoying kava recently; it is a nice way to reduce stress without compromising one's faculties. Previously, I had been thinking about brewing a beer with yerba mate, and I know that some really delicious brews have been produced using mate. In my attempt at being creatively crazy, I have decided that I am going to make a beer with BOTH kava and yerba mate! I'm going to call it a "Blitzkrieg Coconut Porter." I've decided to go with roasted yerba mate, as it has a chocolaty flavor, and make this brew into a chocolate porter. Furthermore, it has been my experience that the taste of kava marries very well with coconut, so I've decided to make it a chocolate coconut porter... I have no idea if this is going to be good or not, so I was wondering if anyone might have some suggestions!

Blitzkrieg Coconut Porter
Style: Robust Porter
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.014
Type: All Grain
ABV: 4.85 %
Calories: 167
IBU's: 32.49
Efficiency: 70 %
Boil Size: 4.50 Gal
Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Color: 47.9 SRM
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Primary 14 days @ 68.0°F
Secondary 14 days @ 72.0°F
Bottle/Keg 21 days @ 74.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
8.50 lbs of Pale Malt, Maris Otter, 60 mins
2.00 lbs of Chocolate Malt, 60 mins
0.75 lbs of Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L, 60 mins

Hops
1.30 ozs of Northern Brewer, 60 mins
0.75 ozs of Goldings, East Kent, 10 mins

Yeasts
Wyeast Labs 1318: London Ale III

Additions
1.00 tsp of Irish Moss, 15 mins before end of boil
3.50 oz of Roasted Yerba Maté, brewed separately and added to cooling wort
1.00 lb of Kava Root, brewed separately and added to cool wort
1.00 lb of Organic Flaked Coconut, toasted

Notes
Toast flaked coconut in oven @ 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Soak yerba maté in 1/2 gallon of 180 degree (F) water and steep for 5 minutes. Strain and add to wort as it is cooling, when it reaches ~180 degrees F.

Soak kava root (I used kava root chips) in 1.5 gallons of cool water for 45 minutes. Strain and add to cooled wort (70 degrees F) during aeration.

Put coconut into muslin bag, weigh it down with marbles, and add to secondary fermenter for entire duration.

Carbonation
Amount Type
4 oz Corn Sugar - Bottle Carbonation


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Adventures in home brewing:
http://homebrewbeliever.blogspot.com

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

Updates!?

 

[homebrewbeliever]

Updates!?

Well, I purchased the kava from Hawaii and it'll be a little bit before I start on the recipe. To be honest, I was hoping some experienced brewers might have some suggestions!

 

[MisterTipsy]

Speedball ?

 

[IrregularPulse]

never heard of kava . This thread got me looking. Sounds worth trying. Where do you get yours? What form?

 

[homebrewbeliever]

never heard of kava . This thread got me looking. Sounds worth trying. Where do you get yours? What form?

Kava is totally worth your attention! It is a fantastic relaxant. I bought mine from the Kona Kava Farm (http://www.konakavafarm.com/). If you want to get some kava, these guys are awesome. Best damn customer service I've experienced yet. I purchased the whole root, not the powder, as I think it would be better to use for this beer. I dunno, but I think it would be really interesting to mix kava and yerba mate, especially the roasted mate. I'm a little scared to make it, because it totally could end up being a 5-gallon fail, but I think it would be worth the adventure. If it turns out great, I think it could be a wonderful party beer

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

There is plenty of info on kava here at homebrewtalk, in fact. I've got about two pounds of kona in the cabinet but haven't really been drinking it too much this year. I never really cared too much for mixing it with alcohol, but I'm sure you could definitely find a good balance. What would your method of brewing the kava look like?

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

Also, I just brewed up a Yerba Ale last night. Small world.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

There is plenty of info on kava here at homebrewtalk, in fact. I've got about two pounds of kona in the cabinet but haven't really been drinking it too much this year. I never really cared too much for mixing it with alcohol, but I'm sure you could definitely find a good balance. What would your method of brewing the kava look like?

Yeah, I've seen a lot of kava talk, but not much about beer and kava But maybe I've just missed the threads? As far as brewing the kava, I have the whole root, so I think I will mash it with a mortar and pestle to break up the cell walls a bit, and then soak it in warm (~80*F) water for 30-45 minutes. My plan is to take the resulting kava tea and then add it to the primary with the yerba mate tea. BUT, since I've never done this before, I am totally open to suggestions if you have a different idea.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

Also, I just brewed up a Yerba Ale last night. Small world.

BTW, your username is ****ing awesome.

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

Haha. Thanks. Yeah I think that adding the kava to the secondary would be your best bet. As far as the yerba, there is a few threads on here with some good info. I threw about a cup of yerba in the hop bag at flameout and let it steep for a while. I also used about 1.5 gallons of pre-brewed yerba as top off water since it was an extract batch.

 

[NZLunchie]

Any updates?
I was talking to my boss about putting kava in a beer. Seems legit to me...I'll be interested to see your results and if you'd do it again, or change anything.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

Any updates?
I was talking to my boss about putting kava in a beer. Seems legit to me...I'll be interested to see your results and if you'd do it again, or change anything.

I know its been quite a while since I posted the recipe, but I just brewed the coconut porter that will be the base beer for this recipe. I wanted to make sure that the beer itself would be a good one before I tried adding kava and yerba mate. The will be ready to drink in a couple of days and, depending on how it turns out, I will be ready to brew the kava mate coconut porter rather soon. I'll be sure to post final results when they're in! It will most likely be in around two or three months.

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

Huzzah!

 

[BorealBrewer]

You didn't have trouble from oil in the coconut? I've been warned by some local guys who have been at this longer that the oil in nuts will wreck a brew...

Checked out this thread because I'm toying with a yerba mate wheat beer. Argentina grows wheat, and mate...the two have to go together, right?

Also, there's idea an energizing white made from South American leaves...oops, perhaps I've said too much...

 

[homebrewbeliever]

You didn't have trouble from oil in the coconut? I've been warned by some local guys who have been at this longer that the oil in nuts will wreck a brew...

Checked out this thread because I'm toying with a yerba mate wheat beer. Argentina grows wheat, and mate...the two have to go together, right?

Also, there's idea an energizing white made from South American leaves...oops, perhaps I've said too much...

Hi BorealBrewer, no I didn't have any trouble from the oil in the coconut. I had heard that the oil could affect flavor, head retention, blah blah blah from many people. Then I had an experienced brewer tell me, "look, it really wont do much to the beer and it really doesn't matter because you aren't trying to enter it into a competition, right? So brew what you wanna drink." And I did. Here is a link to my post where I brewed this beer, but without the mate and kava root: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/coco-loco-moco-porter-coconut-porter-366585/

The beer turned out great! There was a decent head (although a bit more dextrine malt could have helped with that), and the flavor was absolutely delicious. My friends were pining for more... so much so that I ran out incredibly quickly. Next time I'm going to be a bit more selfish with them!

Again, I still haven't brewed this beer with the kava and mate, but I plan on it. I am just a bit broke right now

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

I've recently moved and I haven't had the chance to explore this further, but my mate brew is a few months old and its really getting quite good. I could really see kava being pretty good in a Saison since it is earthy and peppery.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

I've recently moved and I haven't had the chance to explore this further, but my mate brew is a few months old and its really getting quite good. I could really see kava being pretty good in a Saison since it is earthy and peppery.

So I know that it has been a REALLY long time since I made this post, but I FINALLY brewed this beer and goddamn did it turn out SUPER WELL! I ended up omitting the yerba mate because I realistically can't drink caffeine past 5:00pm or else I cant sleep, so I figured that if I were to put yerba mate in my beer, then I wouldn't be able to drink a nice pint when I get home from work. However, the coconut porter blended SO WELL with the kava root, it was astounding. The flavors meld to the point that they just compliment each other. The kava makes this beer one hell of a relaxing brew. A pint will mellow you out quite nicely! Here is the final recipe that I ended up using:

"The Doctor" Kava Coconut Porter
Style: Robust Porter
Type: All Grain
Calories: 177 (per 12 oz.)
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.020
ABV: 4.72 %
IBU's: 42.67
Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Primary: 14 days @ 68.0°F
Secondary: 14 days @ 72.0°F
Bottle/Keg: 14 days @ 74.0°F

Grains & Adjuncts
8.50 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter
2.00 lbs Chocolate Malt
0.75 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L
0.50 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine Malt

Hops
1.30 ozs Northern Brewer - 60 mins
0.75 ozs Goldings, East Kent - 10 mins

Yeasts
Wyeast Labs 1318 - London Ale III

Additions
1.00 tsp Irish Moss - last 15 mins of boil
1.00 lb Coconut (toasted) - 14 days Secondary
1.00 lb Kava Root - soaked for 4 hours prior to kegging (see notes below)

Mash Profile
Medium Body Infusion - 60 min @ 154.0°F
Add 17.62 qt ( 1.50 qt/lb ) water @ 174.0°F

Carbonation
10.1 psi Force Carbonation @ 40.0°F

Notes
Toast flaked coconut in oven @ 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Put coconut into muslin bag, weigh it down with marbles, and add to secondary. Let soak in secondary for 14 days (entire duration of secondary).

I used whole kava root, but you can also use kava chips (do not use kava powder). Break up kava root or chips as much as possible, then smash with a mortar and pestle and place into a double-bagged mesh bag. Add marbles (or other weights) to the outside bag. Rack beer onto kava in a fermenter bucket just prior to transferring to keg, after secondary fermentation is complete. Let sit for 4 hours, then squeeze the bag to extract all of the kava. Do not stir the beer as you will stir up a great deal of sediment, and rack to your keg (or bottles, if you want to bottle condition).

 

[Alcoholalchemy]

Congrats!

 

[davidvhead]

Hello, I am getting read to brew a kava stout to enjoy this winter. I am writing to ask how you prepared the kava before racking onto it. How did you prevent contamination of your beer as you racked it onto the bacteria (and God knows what else) laden kava? Did you boil it, soak it in alcohol, have a witch doctor bless it, etc, (just kidding about the witch doctor....or may be not, it is kava kava).

I plan to allow it to sit on the root for about 1 day during secondary, or simply placing some kava chips in a sifting bag and putting it in the keg before I rack into the keg. Thoughts?

My big concern is bacterial contamination of the beer with a root that has not been boiled ( as I have heard boiling the root yields it useless).

 

[homebrewbeliever]

Hello, I am getting read to brew a kava stout to enjoy this winter. I am writing to ask how you prepared the kava before racking onto it. How did you prevent contamination of your beer as you racked it onto the bacteria (and God knows what else) laden kava? Did you boil it, soak it in alcohol, have a witch doctor bless it, etc, (just kidding about the witch doctor....or may be not, it is kava kava).

I plan to allow it to sit on the root for about 1 day during secondary, or simply placing some kava chips in a sifting bag and putting it in the keg before I rack into the keg. Thoughts?

My big concern is bacterial contamination of the beer with a root that has not been boiled ( as I have heard boiling the root yields it useless).

All I did was thoroughly wash it was warm water, chop it up into pieces, and then throw it into secondary! There was no contamination.

 

[homebrewbeliever]

You didn't have trouble from oil in the coconut? I've been warned by some local guys who have been at this longer that the oil in nuts will wreck a brew...

Checked out this thread because I'm toying with a yerba mate wheat beer. Argentina grows wheat, and mate...the two have to go together, right?

Also, there's idea an energizing white made from South American leaves...oops, perhaps I've said too much...

The oil from the coconut reduced head retention, but that was about it. It did make for a fantastic beer, however, and that WAYYY more than made up for the lack of a foamy head.