[cycleak]

I'm looking to brew a Coconut Nut Brown Ale.  I was wondering if anyone had an idea about what type and when to add the Coconut.  I was thinking Coconut milk the last 10 minutes of the boil or possibly toasting some coconut and adding to the secondary fermenter for a week.  Or maybe some Coconut extract when bottling?

[chezteth]

I would probably toast some coconut and add it to the secondary. I would be afraid the oils in the coconut milk would cause head retention problems.  Coconut extract may also be a possibility.

Happy Brewing,
Brandon

[tschmidlin]

Yeah, I would skip the coconut milk because of the fat.  A lot of people toast some shredded coconut like chezteth mentions, and you can make your own coconut extract by soaking some fresh shredded coconut in vodka and dosing the bottling bucket.  i would go with multiple ways of adding flavor to add complexity, and wouldn't use just extract.  But that's me.

[morticaixavier]

Coconut milk is just the meat pureed with the water from inside the coconut (Plus some other stuff in the canned varieties, but if you make your own, that's all that is in it). That being said I think you would have issues with the fat either way, if there were any issues to be had.

[jptheelder]

Will coconut start fermenting if added to secondary?

[ipaguy]

If you use shredded or flaked, you might want to check the ingredients label to see if it has been treated with preservatives.  They sometimes use sulfites or sulfur dioxide, which be toxic to yeast. 

[drtanglebones]

I've done the canned milk--good flavor, but does affect head retention.  Better was a combo of flaked coconut at flame-out and then dose with a bit of extract at bottling to tweak it.  Do NOT use imitation coconut extract--that was a wasted 2.5 Gallons!

[hoser]

I toast the coconut and add it to the secondary.  Shredded or flaked will work just fine.  I have read Maui brewing adds it in the mash, boil, and secondary.  But, I can't get them to confirm this.  I have heard of people using coconut extract with good success as well.  Use the organic stuff that is free of preservatives.  You can usually find this in the organic section of your local market or some place like Whole Foods.

I would not use coconut milk as this can get rancid.

As for the myth that coconut affects heard retention due to oils, I can state this as false!   If anything, this may help?  I have made my award winning coconut porter 3 times with over 2lbs/10gallons and the head retention that I get on my beers is only exceeded by IPAs and some Belgians.  So, add the coconut without fear of losing head retention.

[1vertical]

FYI, coconut Jaggery does not yeild much coconut flavor in the end result
from my experience. Even tho the raw sugar tastes much like coconut...
weird...but true.