Dark Ale advice

[GNU]

Hey fellow brewers,

So I thought it was time to get a dark ale ready for winter. Haven't had much experience with darks and would appreciate any advice.

Coopers Dark Ale Kit
Dark DME 1kg
Chocolate Malt 250g (have 500g)
Dark Crystal 200g
Yeast US-05

I do have some hops in the freezer Cascade, Galaxy, Magnum, Centennial and Azacca.


Steep 200g of Dark Crystal with 250g of Chocolate Malt in 5L of water at 70 degrees for 30mins.
Remove Grain and add another 1L of water to wash out all the goodness. Boil for 10mins to kill the nasties.

Add to the FV with the kit can and DME. Top up to 23L and ferment at 18 degrees for 2-3 weeks.

Should I add some Vanilla Beans? Method I've used in the past is to slice 2 beans long ways and scrap all the goodness out and add it to a shot of vodka. Chop the beans into quarters and add to the shot of vodka. Allow the mixture to sit for a week to sterilize, then tip it into the FV around day 10 when I would normally dry hop (5 days from bottling).

Planning on doing this tomorrow night, so speak up!!!!

 

[Bribie G]

Probably too dark and erm dark.

One of my favourite kits in my tins days was the Morgans Ironbark dark, plus a tin of liquid malt extract. Never tried the Coopers.

I think that putting too many dark components in could result in a muddy brew. If you are after something more like Toohey's Old or White Rabbit Dark I'd use the Dark tin, Light Dried malt extract, maybe a bit of sugar (300g) to avoid the brew being too cloying, and just one more dark element, say 100g of choc malt steeped.

Choc malt can be a rottweiler, I've used it in brews where I was after just a copper colour and ended up with more of a porter. So a quarter of a kilo of Choc can be overkill.

Personally I'd let the tin plus just one more dark element do the talking, and see how you go.
In fact I'd even be tempted to make the "light" element a pack of Coopers BE2.

 

[Digga]

I do pretty much the same and have done 5 brews some of which have been 60l brews so just triple batches..
The only thing I do different is sub the dark malt for standard DME and add 1kg of dex.
I do 250-300g of both choc and dark crystal. I also add 1g per liter of goldings into the grain liquor at the end of the boil and let steep for 15ish min.
Have used the can yeast us05 and s04. The best I think has been the s04.
The brew is fantastic and I think is a very easy and good copy of white rabbit dark ale!
It hasn't ever lasted to long in the bottle/keg so can't comment on the long term storage and possibly getting better with time but I can tell you it tastes fucken amazing keged forced and drank 1hr after [emoji12]
Your on to a winner here mate enjoy.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Agreed on. Too many dark malts. I'd add another can of light malt instead of the grains. Or 1kg Dry Malt. Then you can get away with the 10minute boil. If your using grains the wort should be boiled for an hour but that's another debate. Temp right and pitch. That's it.
Or you could add a bunch of hops at end of boil steep but chill quickly or your bitterness could get too high.
That's what I would do with the Coopers Dark Can that I know. Dark malts are strong flavoured.
Cutting the crapping on. No one can actually tell you what you would like. Brew on.

 

[manticle]

I agree with the 'too much dark' sentiment but I'd go the other way. Keep the choc and crystal grain but use pale dme and a pale - mid tin as a base.

 

[Digga]

Here is a fresh brewed batch as mentioned above!
Dunno why but pics coming out sideways

 

[Digga]

Has a good depth of flavor to me it tastes kinda like Monteiths black.
Chocolate and coffee flavors are well pronounced! Fucken delishious!

 

[shacked]

Agree with the other folks about too much dark extract if you are after a dark ale but I did do a similarish leftovers imperial stout brew with:
1 tin coopers dark ale
1 tin coopers dark lme
400g dex
Plus a stovetop mash of 1.1kg pale malt + 250g Carafa special I and some oats. 60m boil with some challenger and EKG.

Topped up to 15 or 16L and ended up around 1.090 and was actually pretty nice after 6 months in the bottle. Pitched notto and the kit yeast. Bulk primed with some cold steep coffee + dex - I think.

 

[Gigantorus]

GNU,

This is my winter dark ale recipe, which I'll be doing in a few weeks. It's simple and very tasty.

Cheers,
Pete

[SIZE=24pt]Bracko Midnight Ale[/SIZE] [SIZE=16pt](20 Litres)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Figures:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* IBU: 59[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* ABV: 5.8%[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* Colour: Black[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* Body: Medium-High[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* Carbonation: Natural[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Ingredients:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* 3.0kg of Dark Dried Malt Extract (600grams in boil and 2.4kg mixed in FV later)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* 250gram Maltodextrin[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* 50grams Motueka Hops [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* 50grams Perle hops[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* 50grams Mosaic Hops[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]* American [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Ale Yeast (Safale US-05 etc.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Method:[/SIZE]

1. [SIZE=12pt]Bring 8 Litres of water to the boil in a large pot (10 to 15 Litre size) and add 600grams of Dark Dried Malt Extract and bring back to boil. [/SIZE]
2. [SIZE=12pt]The boil will be for 30 minutes.[/SIZE]
3. [SIZE=12pt]Add 25gram of Motueka hops and 15gram of Mosaic hops at beginning of the boil.[/SIZE]
4. [SIZE=12pt]Add 30grams Perle hops and 15grams Mosaic hops with 10 minutes remaining in the boil.[/SIZE]
5. [SIZE=12pt]Add 15grams Motueka and 15grams Mosaic and 10grams Perle hops at Flame-out and let sit for 10 minutes.[/SIZE]
6. [SIZE=12pt]Sit the pot in a sink of iced cold water and cool for 15 minutes.[/SIZE]
7. [SIZE=12pt]Pour through a sieve into the fermenter, then add remaining 2.5kg dark malt and Maltodextrin, stir and top-up with a mix of cold or very cold water to reach volume of 20 Litres at a temperature of 20 degrees C.[/SIZE]
8. [SIZE=12pt]Dry-Hop with remaining 10grams Motueka, 5grams Mosaic and Perle in a hop bag for the final 5 days of a 14 day fermentation period.[/SIZE]
9. [SIZE=12pt]On day 14 bottle. Allow at least 1 month conditioning in the bottle before drinking (it’s at its best at the 3 month mark).[/SIZE]

 

[GNU]

Thanks for all the replies, some great recipes I'll definitely have to try. So I took the advice and replaced the dark DME for light and added 300g of dextrose.

Steeped 200g of dark Crystal with 250g of chocolate malt in 5L for 30mins. Removed the grain and boiled for 10mins. Then chucked it all into the FV.

Thinking maybe 20g of cascade for a dry hop?

 

[shacked]

I recon you see how it tastes when you are getting close to your final gravity and make the call on the dry hop then if you feel it needs it.

 

[Gigantorus]

[SIZE=medium]GNU,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Don't discount the value of cold steeping as well. I've been using this for the darker brews when using Chocolate Malt - it gives a more mellow flavour (not the harsh bitterness when hot steeping).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Might use this with the Midnight recipe (above), which I'll now revise - thinking of cancelling the hops and replacing with 300grams cold steep choc malt (24 hour cold steep in the fridge then strain into pot and bring to boil to pasteurise the liquid to kill any unwanted bugs etc.) and the adding 100grams of freshly toasted shredded coconut at flame-out and let sit for 15mins. This will create a bit of a lamington-type flavour (choc-coconut) - tried something similar out at Bacchus Brewing last week and it was quite nice. A few months in the bottle should see a real nice winter brew.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Cheers,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Pete[/SIZE]

 

[GNU]

I'd never thought of coconut for beer, but love the idea. Haven't tried cold steeping before, but will def it it a go next time. This is only my second time using choc malt.

Hell I'm that excited I'll be putting down another dark ale straight away I think.

After a little reading there seems to be a head issue due to oil ?

 

[Gigantorus]

GNU,

If you like American pale ales etc. Then maybe also consider an American Brown Ale style. Cooper recipe call Ol Brown Dog is not bad - it uses a can of Dark Ale, can of Amber malt, some LDME and hops. Love this brew.

The oil thing may not be such an issue if you add the coconut at flame-out when doing a 30 min boil. You can skim most of the oil off the surface before you strain into the fermenter. You can also counter the head retention matter with adding carapils (or another grain know to aid head retention - there are many) and maltodextrin, which both aid head retention and mouthfeel.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Gigantorus]

I'm going to do this Coopers Recipe - Devil's Porter (as I have a can of it that I need to use) - but plan to add a couple of items to it. Namely 100grams of Shepherds Delight & 100grams of Red Back Malt added to the overnight cold steep, and then 50grams of toasted shredded coconut at flame-out. It'll be my Lamington Porter.

Cheers,
Pete