# Jet Black Heart - Brew Dog DIY Dog recipe queries



## bingggo (8/7/17)

hi folks,

I'm brewing this tomorrow and wondering if anyone has done it, or has tips.

Like some previous brew dog recipes I've done, the SRM and IBU in Beer Smith are about half what Brew Dog calculates. I found this recipe on Beer Smith, which had some notes claiming brew dog say they could achieve higher SRM and IBU with its ingredient suppliers than homebrewers could. Not sure I see how they could get double the numbers though. There was also a comment that over 40 SRM is not noticeable anyway. 

I've usually upped the hops and not cared about colour, but would like a nice black stout. From googling, I found one guy saying they used the recipe as is and was happy, while another added cold steeped Carafa III for extra colour. I thought I might add 100g or so of that to bump me over 40 SRM. Not sure whether to double one or both of the hops (Sorachi I'm guessing is a 20m addition).

On the lactose front, I think the commercial version is just right in terms of sweetness. But I have had another commercial milk stout which has the same percentage of lactose and seems too sweet. But guess it's the other malts at play which effect final sweetness.

Any thoughts or tips?

Cheers,
B


----------



## Hpal (9/7/17)

I've brewed it mate, a few times in fact, got a second place a couple of times too at comps. It's dark and awesome. I made mine about 4.5% abv, it doesn't taste sweet at all. My last version I no chilled and had some late sorachi ace but it's a bit too prominent. I'll tone it down next time. But it's a great recipe.


----------



## bingggo (9/7/17)

Thanks! When you no chilled, Did you just follow the diy pdf exactly in terms of hops? Beersmith reckons that's 24 IBU (assuming Sorachi goes in for 20m) compared to the pdf's 45 IBU. But maybe the number aint that important


----------



## Reedy (2/3/18)

Hpal said:


> I've brewed it mate, a few times in fact, got a second place a couple of times too at comps. It's dark and awesome. I made mine about 4.5% abv, it doesn't taste sweet at all. My last version I no chilled and had some late sorachi ace but it's a bit too prominent. I'll tone it down next time. But it's a great recipe.


I'm brewing this tomorrow & will be no-chilling. Was going to move the Sorachi Ace addition to 10mins to account for NC, how much did you add & when did you add it (given you mentioned it was a bit prominent)?

@bingggo - interested to hear how yours turned out & if you'd change anything.


----------



## awfulknauful (2/3/18)

Looks good, anyone brew this with an alternative hop to Sorachi Ace?


----------



## bingggo (15/3/18)

Reedy said:


> I'm brewing this tomorrow & will be no-chilling. Was going to move the Sorachi Ace addition to 10mins to account for NC, how much did you add & when did you add it (given you mentioned it was a bit prominent)?
> 
> @bingggo - interested to hear how yours turned out & if you'd change anything.



Howdy! How did it go @Reedy?

I was pleased with mine. Came fourth in a State Comp. I used the same grain bill from the DIY pdf adjusted for a 33.5L boil (26.5L into fermenter). Hops was 20g Topaz for 60m (27 IBU); 15g Sorachi Ace for 20m (9.6 IBU). Yeast was US-05 fermented at 19 degrees.

My memory of differences from to the original:

Colour: less dark at 71 EBC compared to 200 EBC, but still pretty black. Anything over 80 would be hard to notice anyway?
Body: less body/mouthfeel, I had trouble with my mash temp being lower than 65, but perhaps even 65 is too low.
Head: I think I undercarbonated at 2-2.2 in bottles and don't have significant head or retention. Guessing more carb would help.
Aroma/Taste: good, with a hint of vanilla, presumably from the Sorachi. I think the original actually has vanilla on the can's ingredient list from memory - the original does have a more significant vanilla note.

Next time, I would:
- bump up IBU and flavour hop addition and perhaps bring Sorachi forward to 15m (maybe the bittering too as too much Sorachi may not be good).
- increase the Carafa a bit for more colour - maybe Carafa II or III.
- carb at 2.5+ volumes
- add vanilla?

Cheers,
B

PS. I suspect EBC comes from a few factors, including what EBC is attached to their grains? I take Dark Crystal as 250EBC and


----------



## awfulknauful (15/3/18)

A bit of midnight wheat will get the colour up, dont need much, and you may need some other adjunct to get the body and head retention, or a different yeast.


----------



## malt and barley blues (15/3/18)

Its the time of the year to start a damn good Stout recipe thread, dry, oatmeal and sweet, I have a good sweet milk stout recipe I will have to sort out.


----------



## Reedy (16/3/18)

bingggo said:


> Howdy! How did it go @Reedy?
> 
> I was pleased with mine. Came fourth in a State Comp. I used the same grain bill from the DIY pdf adjusted for a 33.5L boil (26.5L into fermenter). Hops was 20g Topaz for 60m (27 IBU); 15g Sorachi Ace for 20m (9.6 IBU). Yeast was US-05 fermented at 19 degrees.
> 
> ...



Brewed as per the recipe about a fortnight ago (except I moved the 30min hop addition to 10min to account for no chill). I'd agree it's not as dark as the original, but I can live with that.

I kegged this tonight, the sample tasted pretty good & smelt fantastic. I'm going to give it a bit of time so hopefully will continue to improve.


----------



## Wobbly74 (21/3/18)

I drank a pint of this at one of the brew dog pubs in London last weekend. It was about 1C on the day and it was the perfect beer for it - beautiful body, velvety mouthfeel and great flavour!


----------



## wide eyed and legless (26/3/18)

Going to have a crack at this one watched a review on YouTube looks the goods.


----------



## awfulknauful (7/4/18)

This is my next brew, wil, stay with the original hops see how it goes, any feed back from others?


----------

