# Monteiths Black



## New2thebrew (2/7/10)

During a trip to NZ last year, I discovered the mothers milk that is Monteith's Black.

I've only been home brewing for a few months now, and have found I really enjoy using grains & hops (though still using tins of goo for ease at this stage).

I would love to try & brew something close to the commercial beer, I have been on the Monteith's website and found the following information;

'Monteiths Black Beer is distinctive, with a higher alcohol content than mainstream beers and a crisp dark maltiness. This complex malty characteristic shines through from the use of five different premium malts. With biscuit, nutty, caramel, chocolate and coffee malt characteristics'

'Monteiths Black Beer has an Original Gravity (OG) of 1051, alcohol of 5.2% and a final gravity of 1012+. This combination provides a rich smooth body that continues to develop as the beer is enjoyed. Monteiths Black Beer has a medium perceived bitterness of 16 from the use of a single premium hop variety. This method of hopping adds to the dry-roasted notes of darker malts and is balanced with the sweeter nutty tastes of the tawny malts'

Don't know if this helps, but if anyone has a recipe, or an idea for a recipe, it would be greatly appreciated.


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## enoch1973 (2/7/10)

Looks like it would have a lot of different specialty grain in it. Ever tried an extract brew? 
It would be easier to make a recipe using just a pale malt extract, a mix of some light and dark grains and a single hop.
Having never tried the beer I can't comment on the hop. An extract brew would be better for something this complex.
That's just my opinion.... someone else may be able to comment on the kit to use... 
If you want to copy it you're going to need to use some specialty grain whether you go kit or full extract.

Edit: look for a Dark Ale recipe... I think that style would be close to what you're after...


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## New2thebrew (2/7/10)

PeteRepeat said:


> Looks like it would have a lot of different specialty grain in it. Ever tried an extract brew?
> It would be easier to make a recipe using just a pale malt extract, a mix of some light and dark grains and a single hop.
> Having never tried the beer I can't comment on the hop. An extract brew would be better for something this complex.
> That's just my opinion.... someone else may be able to comment on the kit to use...
> ...



I haven't tried an extract brew yet, planning my first one at the moment (a James Squire Amber Ale, based on a recipe I found on here).

I assumed there would be a number of grains, just not sure what grains (or amounts) based on the description from the Monteiths website. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

As for the hops, I read somewhere it could be sticklebract, which is a NZ hop with an avg alpa of 12%.


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## enoch1973 (3/7/10)

Gonna have to wait until Craftbrewer is back up to check the grains... 
Go grab this spreadsheet. It will help with the boil (how much malt, water to add) and will assist with hop additions and bitterness.
Spreadsheet is here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=29655

If your going to use Sticklebract and it's a 12% alpha hop and are aiming for the same bitterness I would be doing the following additions for a 60 minute boil:
10g - 60 minutes
10g - 20 minutes
10g - 10 minutes
The above additions are based on a 6l boil and will give you an IBU of 15 or so...
The size of the boil will effect the utilization of the hops. 
Have a play with the HCF (hop concentration factor) on the spreadsheet. You will see the bitterness drop or increase based on the amount of liquid you're boiling. Depending on how much you're boiling you can add or remove hops. The liquid will include any liquid from the grains you're steeping and sparging. 
Try the amber ale first and see how you go. I would also grab the spreadsheet and plug the amber ale into it so you can get a feel for what it does.
How big a pot do you have?
11l pots are dirt cheap at KMART... usually around $15 - $25 and are a good investment for anyone doing extract brews.
Pete


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## New2thebrew (4/7/10)

PeteRepeat said:


> Gonna have to wait until Craftbrewer is back up to check the grains...
> Go grab this spreadsheet. It will help with the boil (how much malt, water to add) and will assist with hop additions and bitterness.
> Spreadsheet is here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=29655
> 
> ...



Cheers Pete, have had a bit of a play with the spreadsheet this morning, and I'll be taking you up on your suggested LME & hop additions.

I have an 18Lt pot that I bought from Big W a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of starting extract brewing.

Getting a little excited about Craft Brewer opening up the new store about 10 mins from home next week, will be calling in to see Ross & pick his brain about the grains I'll need.

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated. :icon_cheers:


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## RobboMC (5/7/10)

Looking at some web links it looks like this is a Swarzbier style which means you should be using lager yeast and fermenting at around 12 deg C. For a quick and easy version just get yourself a dark ale kit, throw in about 1.5 kg of liquid malt and ferment with Saflager and you'll get something close.

To get those nutty and caramel flavours start with Muntons Nut Brown Ale and use Morgans Caramalt instead of plain malt.

And as PeteRepeat says, you'll need to steep some grain to get the chocolate and coffee flavours, 100g each of chocolate and black grain should do the trick, and don't care too much about temps and grain yields, it's the flavours you're after, so the steeping is about as easy as making a cup of tepid black tea.

Here's a recipe I had a sip of on the weekend that I made last year:

Volume 16 litres abv 5.3%
1 can Muntons Nut Brown Ale
0.75kg Morgans Caramalt
0.6 kg Morgans Roasted Black
0.25kg Brown Sugar
100g Black malt steeped
25g Saaz Hops ( boiled 30 min, 15 min, 5 min )

Yeast: Saflager Primary: 4 weeks @ 14 deg C


I leave out the chocolate as I don't like it, but just add 100g of Chocolate Grain as well and you should get a really nice beer
that is close to the style of Monteith's and from what I've read on-line perhaps it will be better again!

I made some at 7.7%abv as well and that stuff is just heavenly.


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## voskar (5/7/10)

Try this link to Robs Blog
http://helms-deep.cable.nu/~rwh/blog/beer/?cat=4

It about half way down is a reference to Montieths Black.

Good luck with the project.


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## Darkblade (30/8/11)

RobboMC said:


> Looking at some web links it looks like this is a Swarzbier style which means you should be using lager yeast and fermenting at around 12 deg C. For a quick and easy version just get yourself a dark ale kit, throw in about 1.5 kg of liquid malt and ferment with Saflager and you'll get something close.
> 
> To get those nutty and caramel flavours start with Muntons Nut Brown Ale and use Morgans Caramalt instead of plain malt.
> 
> ...



Thanks for that info.
I too am in love with Montieths Black & am going to harrass the lads at my brew shop to supply me with a recipe.
Your recipe may give us a heads up on where to start.
Cheers


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## DU99 (30/8/11)

1.7kg Cascade Choc Porter
1.5kg Amber Liquid Malt Extract

500g Aromatic Malt or Munich II
250g Roast barley
150g Chocolate malt
150g Simpsons Crystal

30g Tettnanger/Hallertau/Livery/Spalt or any German style Noble hop

Crush and steep grains in 2.5L at 60C for 60 mins
Raise to 70C and remove bag- rinse/sparge with 1L @ 68C
Boil for 15 mins then add 30g Hops, remove from heat.
Add LME's and chill asap.
Ferment at 12-15C with W34/70 or Liquid yeast equivilant.

Quick conditioning
Once gravity stops dropping and ferment is complete, allow the fermenter to reach 23-26C for 2 days.
Then return to fridge and chill to 2C-5C for 2 weeks then keg...should be good to go after another day or two.


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