Crazy For Coconuts

“I like coconuts; you can break them open and hey smell like ladies lying in the sun. And if I had my way, I’d give a coconut to everyone.”
Craft beer in America is a trendy state of affairs. And I mean this in a few different ways. On the one hand, craft beer is very trendy at present, much like Mumford & Sons, taking pics of your food, and designer breed dogs; these are all hot items that people today either want or do a lot.
On the other hand, craft beer is trendy in that certain styles, techniques, breweries, or developments pop up and become of interest to many drinkers; if not completely take the industry by storm. A few years back it was barrel-aging. Sure, barrel-aged beers have been around, well, for ages. But the trend came anew, and some of the best beers on the shelves were those that had sat in wood for a spell.
More recently, and still ongoing as far as I can tell is the sour trend. Again, sour beers are nothing new, with the likes of Lambics, Gueuze, and the Flanders ales — red and brown, being some of the oldest styles in existence. But a year or two back, it seemed that every brewery at the festival was offering at least one sour beer, and many were not the typical ‘sour’ styles, with porters, stouts, IPAs, and more getting into the sour game.
Maybe not a trend, yet, but I have noticed many beers over the last year or so making use of a tropical friend in the mix, a bizarre seed and not a nut but a drupe?! Coconuts anyone?
Now, I have to say that I’m not a big fan of coconut, very much disliking it in/on cakes or treats. Yet, a cold, freshly chopped top and a straw for the coconut juice inside is quite acceptable to me. In the beer realm, it seems to have begun with coconut porter a few years ago. Just a dash of coconut juice or flavor went right along with that dark ale; much like oatmeal or chocolate does with stout.
More recently, coconut has become the star of several interesting if not fantastic brews. I have written of late about Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra. Less so a ‘coconut beer,’ more so a dark, delicious curry meal in a beer. If you have not had the pleasure, I highly recommend finding and deeply drinking in this wonderful import stout.
Next up you get R&R Coconut IPA, collaboration between two homebrewers, Rip Current Brewing and Stone Brewing. R&R is less a coconutty beer than a solid IPA, lots of citrus and tropical fruit notes, and just a touch of coconut juice (water?) that slides over the tongue and is quick and refreshing.
“Freddy likes the sound of cold drink, he used to pop tops on Saturday, sipping in the sun. And if Freddy had his way, he’d give a cold drink to everyone.”
Last and my favorite new use of the ingredient is Coconut Curry Hefeweizen, in the Lips of Faith series from New Belgium. A more summer beer than Indra Kunindra, CCH has all the classic hefe flavors plus the creamy addition of coconut curry. I paired this beer with yellow curry chicken and cinnamon and cayenne sweet potatoes with much success.
Summer is slowly fading friends; I suspect the coconut beers will soon fade too, grab them while you can. Enjoy the brews … Cheers.
 
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. While they don’t have every beer the Beer Snob writes about, they probably have most. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.