Dark Ale Recipe Review

[nuggetron]

enjoy an occasional tooheys old or carlton black every so often so figured i would try and brew something similar
not sure where i want to head with this so the recipe will be a bit mixed and seem slightly all over the place so hoping someone could guide me

coopers dark ale or stout and canadian lager to weaken and thin out the stout?
lindt 85% coca chocolate
honey
moccona coffee
vanilla
ldme

thoughts/suggestions
be harsh

 

[mwd]

I think honey is a waste of money in your proposed recipe it will be completely drowned out by the dark malt and chocolate. Just sub with raw sugar cheap and will go quite well with a dark. Suggest using Dark Ale as a base not the stout Lager toucan unless you are after a high alcohol headbanger.

 

[nuggetron]

yer i had the toucan as an afterthought, i dont like stouts so was thinking i could cut it back with the canadian but ill drop that whole idea
raw sugar subbed in for honey

too easy
cheers

 

[nuggetron]

any size suggestions?
i really want the chocolate and coffee to shine through

 

[syl]

Very adventurous, remember simple is better.

For the coffee, like 200grams boiled in a litre and then strained and cooled. Add it to secondary for extra punch I hear.

Never used chocolate, but I think you will want to use 100% coca of your choice not milk chocolate stuff, iirc milk chocolate is a no no.

I have stopped adding weird stuff to brews after 3 terrible batches of **** beer and 1 that I was allergic to (organic honey). Don't let my crappy experiences ruin your sense of adventure though!

With all the additions remember less is more!

 

[JakeSm]

Very adventurous, remember simple is better.

For the coffee, like 200grams boiled in a litre and then strained and cooled. Add it to secondary for extra punch I hear.

Never used chocolate, but I think you will want to use 100% coca of your choice not milk chocolate stuff, iirc milk chocolate is a no no.

I have stopped adding weird stuff to brews after 3 terrible batches of **** beer and 1 that I was allergic to (organic honey). Don't let my crappy experiences ruin your sense of adventure though!

With all the additions remember less is more!

i agree less is more, and im a fan of the odd old or black also...i have been trying to immitate a carlto black ever since i started brewing and the closest i got was:
* 1xcoopers dark ale
* 1kg Brown Sugar
* 150g Dark Choc Malted Grains (steaped for 30mins)
* 1x12g Bag Cascade Hops (steaped for 15 mins with grains)
* 1x12g Bag Cascade Hops (steaped seperatly for 10 mins and added the bag to the fermenter for the entire brew)

Hope this helps,,, i am still trying to get it just right though but this was very nice indeed.

 

[nuggetron]

just had an after thought

beer - bitter
coffee - bitter
chocolate bitter

the beer will be very bitter, any way to reduce this or counter act it?

 

[manticle]

300-500g lactose will add body and some sweetness.
Are you happy to steep some specialty grain? I find lactose and choc malt work well together to give a nice chocolate flavour (say 100-200g choc malt grain).

Sub out the moccona for 200-400g roast barley - the choc malt and roast barley will work to give a great, well integrated coffee flavour. If you don't find that's enough, you could easily add coffee in later (make a strong short black or two and add in post ferment till you hit the level you want).

Just read your second post - if you don't like stouts then go the low end of my suggested grains and maybe use a mid coloured kit as the base (real ale for example)

 

[nuggetron]

im willing to try steeping
how do we go about it?
the only reason i dont resort to grains is because the one time i went to the lhbs it took 75 minutes to get some lactose for a lemonade
but if it works well im willing to waste a day to get two items

 

[petesbrew]

enjoy an occasional tooheys old or carlton black every so often so figured i would try and brew something similar
not sure where i want to head with this so the recipe will be a bit mixed and seem slightly all over the place so hoping someone could guide me

coopers dark ale or stout and canadian lager to weaken and thin out the stout?
lindt 85% coca chocolate
honey
moccona coffee
vanilla
ldme

thoughts/suggestions
be harsh

What, Blend 43 or international roast is not good enough for you? Damn you instant coffee snobs!

+1 for Manticle's suggestions.
Steeping is pretty easy. And a great way to improve kits. Here's the link on how to do it.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=80

 

[Bizier]

I think you should stick with a light coloured kit like your Canadian or whatever, make as per normal and add a small amount of roast barley only to achieve the roast flavours.

The commercial beers you mention are basically regular pale worts with only enough dark malt to make them look black and not give you a deep roast profile. So I reckon plan to do something similar, I would also aim for a restrained bitterness and pretty light body. I haven't had one for a few years, but you might also want a tiny amount of crystal if you prefer the flavour of Old.

Honey, vanilla, chololate and coffee might be OK, but you are really making some funky specialty beer, nothing along the lines of these dark lagers.

 

[JakeSm]

i agree less is more, and im a fan of the odd old or black also...i have been trying to immitate a carlto black ever since i started brewing and the closest i got was:
* 1xcoopers dark ale
* 1kg Brown Sugar
* 150g Dark Choc Malted Grains (steaped for 30mins)
* 1x12g Bag Cascade Hops (steaped for 15 mins with grains)
* 1x12g Bag Cascade Hops (steaped seperatly for 10 mins and added the bag to the fermenter for the entire brew)

Hope this helps,,, i am still trying to get it just right though but this was very nice indeed.

i think if you want the rich coffee and chocolate flavour then try using RAW or BROWN sugar. also i like the idea of mixing the dark grains with the roasted barley that will work well together.