Many trend-watchers have declared coconut 2016’s flavor of the year. Firmenich, a Swiss company in the perfume and flavor business, credits coconut’s trendiness to the emergence of coconut water at yoga studios. Personally, I’ve observed an emergence of coconut beers at breweries. Here are seven beers brewed with the flavor of the year.
Oskar Blues Brewery Death By Coconut
This Irish porter is brewed with dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malts, coconut, and pure liquid cacao from Cholaca in Boulder, Colorado. This beer, which won a 2014 Great American Beer Festival award in the Chocolate Beer category, comes out once a year in 12-ounce cans.
NoDa Brewing Company Coco Loco Porter
Here’s another chocolate and coconut porter that comes in a 16-ounce can. It’s a year-round offering from NoDa Brewing Company (Charlotte, North Carolina) that’s brewed with cacao nibs and coconut that’s toasted at the brewery.
Creature Comforts Brewing Co. KoKo Buni
It’s not every day you find a milk porter. The Koko Buni is brewed and aged on toasted coconut, cocoa nibs from a local Athens, Georgia, chocolatier Condor Chocolates, and coffee from nearby roaster 1000 Faces. “The name actually comes from the raw ingredients we use in the beer,” says the brewery website. “Koko means coconut in Papiamento, a common language in parts of the Carribean, while Buni means coffee in Swahili, a common language in southeastern Africa.” Look for this beer, Creature Comforts’ first seasonal, in autumn months.
Maui Brewing CoCoNuT PorTeR
This Hawaiian craft brewery has made a name for itself with this coconut porter. Perhaps one of the first widely known coconut craft beers and one of the hoppier coconut beers to boot, CoCoNuT PorTeR is a robust porter brewed with six varieties of malted barley, hops, and hand-toasted coconut.
Funky Buddha Brewing Last Snow Porter
Funky Buddha (Oakland Park, Florida) Founder Ryan Sentz says that his brewery has always focused on “culinary-style beers” brewed with a huge variety of fruit, vegetable, herb, spice, and other flavorful additions beyond barley and hops. The Last Snow Porter is no exception—it’s a rich, creamy porter brewed with coconut and coffee. This beer is an “ode to that special time in Florida where the needle dips just south of 75 degrees.”
The Bruery Mash & Coconut
Here’s an unexpected, but perfect, beer style for a coconut addition: barleywine. This one is aged in whiskey barrels. The base beer for this creation is The Bruery’s English-style barleywine. Added coconut gives this beer a tropical flavor and aroma, which plays well with its existing burnt caramel and vanilla notes.
Schnebly Brewery Big Rod Coconut Ale
A lighter style of beer brewed with coconut is the Big Rod Coconut blonde ale from Schnebly Brewery in Homestead, Florida. This crisp, effervescent beer is balanced with caramel notes from its malt bill.