Robin Shepard
I’m not one who usually gets excited about coconut beers. Most fall into the pumpkin and holiday spice type of brews that tend to push the beer into the background. However, there’s a sweet spot when it comes to finding the right way to blend coconut and dark roasted chocolate malt. Bent Kettle Brewing gets close to that for me.
What is it? K’Paui by Bent Kettle Brewing of Fort Atkinson.
Style: The porter is a brown to deep black ale that offers a range of caramel, chocolate, toffee, and roasted coffee flavors, depending upon the type and amount of dark malts used by the brewer. The origins of the style are traced to the 1700s, when it was a favorite beer of the porters who worked the shipyards in London. Today’s craft brewers distinguish their version as American Porter when most of the ingredients, especially the hops, are U.S. grown. A standard porter style falls within 4-6.5 percent ABV, while more robust and imperial porters can extend upwards of 10 percent ABV.
Background: “What I wanted was a beer that would be like a candy bar in a glass, and this has a boatload of coconut flavor,” says Bent Kettle founder Mark Cook.
That’s almost an understatement for K’Paui. Cook worked on the recipe for several months. His challenge was getting the coconut aroma and flavor to blend with malts, which would allow the sweetness to emerge but not be cloying and sticky. After several trial batches using flaked coconut and coconut milk, he eventually decided to go with a liquid extract because it was more predictable. He adds it to the beer as it’s being carbonated, which helps maintain a fresh coconut aroma and flavor. Flavor extracts are often used by homebrewers, but they can be tricky to use in commercial-size batches because of the amount needed. The richness of extracts can overwhelm the beer’s other qualities, too.
Cook says he’s a fan of Death by Coconut, a beer produced by the Oskar Blues Brewery of Longmont, Colorado.
“I was talking with a friend about not being able to get that beer, and he said, ‘Well, why not make your own,’” says Cook.
The porter style behind K’Paui has a rich malty core, which provides lots of chocolate and roasted toffee to combine with the coconut for a candy-like sweetness. It also has a touch of Nugget and Willamette hops for spicy balance.
The name K’Paui was chosen to reflect the beer’s “wowie” factor in its assertive coconut flavor. It seems to be living up to that hype. “We’ve had this beer on tap at several hot summer festivals, and people started standing in line to try it,” says Cook. “That coconut gives it a tropical note I didn’t expect,” he adds.
Initially, Cook wanted to use the name K’pow, but in researching names and trademarks he discovered that name (or similar spellings) had been taken by several other breweries (K’pow by Mystic Brewery of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and Kapow by Rainhard Brewing of Toronto).
K’Paui is Bent Kettle’s fifth packaged release since it started brewing beer a little more than a year ago with the help of House of Brews in Madison. K’Paui finishes at 7.3 percent ABV. It’s available in four-packs of 16-ounce cans for around $10.
Tasting notes:
Aroma: Assertive coconut and chocolate (think of a Mounds candy bar).
Appearance: Very dark black, with a thick rocky brown head.
Texture: Full-bodied, soft, with a thick mouthfeel.
Taste: Lots of coconut aroma and flavor. The roasted malts add a semi-sweet taste of chocolate, toffee and caramel.
Finish/Aftertaste: Rich maltiness, and coconut that lingers.
Glassware: I like the tulip glass because it seems to go with the tropical image of a drink with coconut. The outward flare of the lip will allow the coconut aroma to waft under the nose, while the shapely glass shows off the jet-black color.
Pairs well with: There’s so much coconut in this beer it’s a dessert all on its own! For those who like ice cream floats, a scoop of sweet French vanilla will make this a decadent treat.
The Verdict: This is definitely a beer for those who enjoy strong assertive “added” flavors in beer. It’s not a tame beer by any means. All that chocolate malt and coconut help it live up to Mark Cook’s goal of being a candy bar in a glass. Its coffee-like roastedness from the malt and the coconut and vanilla may have even exceeded his expectations. I’m a fan of this beer because it’s different, and its intense aroma and flavor really surprised me on that first sip. However, there’s so much flavor and richness that this is a beer where one 16-ounce can in an evening will go a long way.
