Coconut Flavor

I picked up some coconut flavor at the local beer supply store. I was told that if I add some of the flavoring to the bottling bucket, it would taste just as good as using toasted coconut. Has anyone had experience with this?

No experience with that but I had a buddy that added about 5lbs of toasted coconut to a porter and it was almost indistinguishable. I would likely add both and use the extract to provide the ā€˜popā€™ factor.

Pour 3 or 4 2oz samples. Add a measured amount to each one and scale up from there.

I have not tried the coconut flavoring, but I have had luck with other fruit flavorings in the past. Last summer I brewed a Honey Brown Ale and added 1 bag of toasted shredded coconut to secondary. It turned out great with just the right amount of coconut flavor.

Sounds like your buddy did it wrong. :wink:

Iā€™ve brewed a few batches using coconut. Based on my experience, the best way to add coconut flavor to a beer is to ā€œdry hopā€ with dried, unsweetened coconut using two bags (I believe they are 7 oz bags) in two stages (one bag per stage). Iā€™ve tried using two bags at one time, and it did not have as much coconut punch as one bag at a time.

IMO toasting is unnecessary and may even mute the flavor a bit, but I have had good results using toasted in the first stage and then untoasted in the second stage.

For those who are into water treatment, a decent amount of sodium (I aim for 60+ ppm) and chloride (>90) will likely improve any porter or stout.

Thanks for all of the feedback. Seems like the common theme is to use real coconut rather than the flavoring. I was concerned that I would have a difficult time getting the coconut out of the glass carboy.

Sorry, I confirmed with him today that it was 5oz, not pounds! That makes a huge difference.

Youā€™re right, getting the coconut out of a glass carboy is a pain, but its worth it IMO. I was really happy with my Coconut Brown Ale that I plan on making it the same way again this spring. The worst part of the process is transferring to the bottling bucket as I would get pieces of coconut stuck in the siphon.

Didnā€™t you put the coconut into a muslin bag?

Iā€™m always hesitant about adding coconut and other late fruit additions due to concern of introducing infectionā€¦have you had any problems or taken any steps to reduce this concernā€¦and is ā€œtoastingā€ it in an oven enough?

wow, my tap water sodium is 69 and my chloride is 103. Too bad Iā€™m not a stout/porter kinda guy.

Yeah, you can toast it in the oven. Iā€™ve never had infections adding coconut after fermentation. Alcohol and pH provides a little protection if your procedures are reasonably sanitary.

1 Like

To be honest, I did not. The style of my carboy wouldā€™ve made it very difficult to get a full bag in and out, so I followed the recommendation of several experienced brewers and just dropped the coconut right in. It actually wasnā€™t too difficult in doing it that method, I plan on doing it the same way on my next batch. However, if you are using a bucket and could use a muslin bag, it would probably make things even easier without a doubt.

The final decision was to use a Williamette Golden Ale base and add 7 oz of toasted unsweet coconut during the last 5 min of the boil, and then another 7 oz in the secondary for 3 weeks. I also added 2 rings of fresh pineapple that was soaked in vodka during the last 2 weeks of the secondary. I also added 2 oz of coconut extract into the bottling bucket. Sounds like a lot of coconut, but the flavor is very mild. I wonder if the hops counteracted some of the coconut flavor. The beer almost has a tropical hint to it. Turned out very interesting.

The next batch I plan to use a English Brown Ale as the base and use 2 bags of coconut in the secondary. Hoping to get a little stronger coconut flavor.

I just brewed a batch of English Brown Ale and added 1 lb of unsweetened toasted coconut to the last 15 minutes of the boil. I then poured the whole thing, coconut and all into the primary (Iā€™m using a Big Mouth Bubbler). My main concern was that the dry yeast wouldnā€™t be able to make it down to the wort through the thick layer of coconut. So far though it appears to be quite active, although there really isnā€™t any noticeable kreusen, again due to the coconut layer. Iā€™ll most likely scoop out the coconut layer off the top with a slotted sanitized spoon before racking into the secondary this weekend. Hmmmmm, what should I do with the coconut then!? Cookies come to mind!
I was then planning on dry hopping with another 2-3 lbs in a muslin bag while in the secondary.
Iā€™ll keep you posted of the results!