Hey Guys-
I recently had a beer at Two Brothers called Pahoehoe. It was a pale ale made with coconut water, milk sugar, and toasted coconut. It was freaking delicious and very refreshing. Perfect for a hot day. Anyway, I'm going to try to clone it, and was hoping to get some input from the club.
-First, when would one add coconut water to a beer? During the boil? Any idea how much to use?
-Same questions for milk sugar. Have never brewed with milk sugar before.
-Any suggestions for a grain bill that wouln't be too bland but would still let the coconut be the star? I'm thinking a base of 2-row, maybe some Caramel 40 L, and a little Carapils for head retention.
I'm planning on toasting the coconut myself and dry hopping with it. Probably use Citra and Simcoe hops to get a little pineapple flavor going.
Pahoehoe has been bottled! My attenuation was near the high end of the strain's range, so my ABV is almost exactly at my target 5%. The lactose gave it a lot of body, so even though it's a light beer, it's got a rich mouth feel. The coconut flavor is really coming through after a couple weeks in the secondary, especially in the aftertaste. Should definitely be conditioned in time for the next meeting.
Alright, here's the recipe for a 5 gallon batch:
10.00 lbs - 2 Row Pale Malt
0.25 lbs - Crystal 10 L Malt
0.25 lbs - Munich Malt
Mash @ 148 for 60 minutes.
60 minute boil.
0.25 lbs - Lactose @ 60 min
0.3 oz - Norther Brewer hops @ 60 min
0.5 oz - Hallertauer hops @ 15 min
1 cup - Coconut water @ 0 min - (they have this at whole foods)
Pitch Wyeast American Ale Yeast, White Labs California Ale Yeast, or Equivalent Dry Yeast
Toast 1/2 pound of unsweetened coconut meat at 350 in oven until very light brown and add to secondary.
I brewed this up yesterday. Mashed a few degrees higher than what they recommended as I'm still trying to dial in my new AG system and want to keep my mash temp constant for the first few batches. Efficiency was about 75%, but I miscalculated my boil-off rate and ended up with a little too much wort, so unless my attenuation is abnormally high, I'm going to end up around 4.6% ABV (the recipe should get you to 5.0%). The wort tasted fantastic. Had a really creamy mouthfeel that is probably from the lactose. Couldn't really taste the coconut water, so I'm guessing the bulk of the coconut comes from the toasted coconut meat that comes in later.
I'm going to use beersmith to convert the recipe into a 5 gallon batch tonight, and then I'll post the recipe. I think it would make a good beer even without the coconut. The lactose gave it a creamy texture that I really liked, and it was very refreshing.
David Williams said:
interesting beer. I tried it a few weeks back at the brewery. I wasn't crazy about it, but definitely thought it was interesting. Definitely share the recipe. As for Milk sugar...aka Lactose, There are two places you can add it. The first between 15min and flameout. The second is after fermentation has been going for a little bit and some alcohol is present. The key idea in both of these is to ensure that you are adding it sanitary. The 15 mins before the end of the boil is my suggestion, helps the lactose disolve and sterilizes. Of course, lactose is a non-fermentable....so expect it to bring some sweetness to your brew.
seriously?? that is very open for a seemingly specialty recipe. maybe they figure someone would reverse engineer it eventually anyway. mad kudos to them tho.
you'll have to share the recipe.
dont think ill have the free time on saturday, but possibly.
Sean Colleran said:
...igz...
I actually e-mailed two brothers to see if they would offer up any hints, and they responded a few days later with the entire recipe, down to the smallest details. They even described what the toasted coconut should look like when it's done. I was really blown away by their openness.
Going to brew it on Saturday. Would be happy to host anyone from chaos interested in learning about / helping with an all grain batch.
sounds (coco)nuts!!
i would do a test batch of heating up the coconut water to see how the profile changes when boiled, also test how it would taste half watered down if you addeded it after the boil.
the milk sugar seems more complicated. a very brief search yielded few results. what form does it typically come in?
im not versed enough on designing the bill, but the book 'how to brew great beers' might be a good reference for that.
...igz...