Dark Ale ?

[nathanR]

I made a dark ale from a kit

coopers dark ale x 1 can
500g of dark malt
1kg of dextrose
18lt water
kit yeast
OG 1053
FG 1010

I did not put any hops in it as this was only my 2nd brew I was unaware of hops ect

My question is will this turn out to be a nice brew in a month or so or should I be starting again

I was trying to make a brew like coopers stout but stronger alc%

I might try making the stouts at the end of summer now and just get better at draughts and wheat beers that I can drink over this summer :icon_drunk: :beerbang:

 

[Adamt]

For your first couple the ingredients don't matter so much; focus on the basics. Make sure your sanitation is up to scratch and keep the fermentation temperature under control.

If you covered those points you should have a fairly nice beer. It won't be much of a stout, you probably shouldve used the stout kit, but it'll be clos to coopers dark al but stronger.

Hope this helps.

 

[petesbrew]

+1 for what Adamt says.

It should be okay. The Dark ale's a nice kit. If anything I'd be using a brew enhancer, or malt in place of the dextrose next time.

I would only start again if it was infected.

 

[The Big Burper]

That sounds OK. Leave it in the bottle for 6 weeks and you will have a
nice brew, I reckon about 5.5% - 6.00% ABV.

I would be careful of adding extra hops to an already hopped kit, you
can't do much about it if it gets too bitter.

An addition of 12g or so of some aroma hop chucked in after fermentation
has quieted would be OK. Goldings or Progess would be nice. :icon_cheers:

cheers
BB

 

[nathanR]

the hops I have used in my other kits are the tea bag type leave in a cup of hot water for 10mins and then throw bag and water in fementer before adding yeast are these are aroma hops ?

 

[Pennywise]

Yes, they are for aroma, you'll also get a little flavour from them.

I find the dark ale kit to be quite nice once you spruce it up a bit. Willamette goes really well with this kit IMO. Once you get your process down pat, if your keen to venture into steeping some grain then some choc malt (bout 3-400g) and just a kilo of light dry malt with some Willamette thrown in the fermenter make a really nice dark ale, and you get a really nice choc aroma and taste. If you want it stronger, just make a smaller batch with the same ingerdients. I make mine to 21 litres

 

[boingk]

The teabag sort are fine to start with, but pellets are much cheaper and more versatile. Also, you don't need to bag them as the hops settle out over the course of the fermentation anyway. Try this site:

http://www.esbeer.com.au/category11_1.htm

Thats a link to the hop section, where theres a breif description of the flavour each imparts and its common usage in various beer styles. Its a good start to learning what each hop is about. Every hop can be used as an aroma hop (added dry 4 days before you bottle, or boiled as below for 2 minute) but some have more pleasing aromas than others.

Try ditching the teabag and boiling the hops in a litre of water with a tablespoon of malt extract (or a tablespoon of the kit) thrown in. Simmer for 10 minutes or so and then throw the lot into your fermenter to help dissolve the ingredients. Top with water, add yeast, and you're flying. Do this until you get used to the different flavours each hop gives, and seriously consider buying pellets insead of teabag hops.

Cheers - boingk

 

[nathanR]

looks like I am off to go get some hops and do some reading up on the use of hops

how much do you use about a tablespoon per 20lt ?

 

[Pennywise]

Your better off measuring in grams, as this allows for more chance of repeatability. For me I start with 20g when doing any addition at or after flameout. But really it's all personal with this kind of thing, some peaople find 20g too much for an aroma hop. I'd say just go for it, start with 20g and work from there with your next brews. Personally, most of my flameout additions are 30g, but I've become a bit of a hop head of late

 

[Barley Belly]

It just so happens I have a Cooper's Dark Ale on the go for a mate at the moment.

I've done a few of em now and have added hops to the last few.
With a couple using Pride Of Ringwood and this time Amarillo Gold.

Recipe as follows:

Cooper's Dark Ale
1kg LDME
10g Amarillo Gold or 10g POR
Kit yeast

Put 5litres or so of water in pot
Pour in LDME & stir to get rid of lumps
Bring to boil
Add hop pellets directly to pot and boil 10 minutes
Tip into fermenter (rough strain, kitchen strainer)
Add Cooper's can to fermenter and top up to 22l. I find 2 trays of ice and 9 litres of water outta the fridge and the rest tap water gets me to around 24deg
Pitch yeast
Ferment @ 18deg around 2 weeks
Bob's ya uncle
Dead easy & not a bad K&K

 

[bowie in space]

Check out CM2's kenzie dunkel recipe in the partials Data Base. It's killer. Turns out it was my last partial before moving to AG, but I may have to revisit it again. SWMBO loved it too. Love the tettnang hops in a dark ale. :icon_drool2:

Bowie

 

[levin_ae92]

Yes, they are for aroma, you'll also get a little flavour from them.

I find the dark ale kit to be quite nice once you spruce it up a bit. Willamette goes really well with this kit IMO. Once you get your process down pat, if your keen to venture into steeping some grain then some choc malt (bout 3-400g) and just a kilo of light dry malt with some Willamette thrown in the fermenter make a really nice dark ale, and you get a really nice choc aroma and taste. If you want it stronger, just make a smaller batch with the same ingerdients. I make mine to 21 litres

Thats sounds quite good HB79. Did you only dry hop? Makes it a bit easier with no boil

 

[Hop Me]

Check out HowtoBrew.com. The site is free and you can get a really good start into kit/extract/AG brewing. I used that kit as my second brew and it came up really nice even without knowing what the hell I was doing, but keeping things clean. I think I wasted the hops, but I used the brew enhancer and 250gms of dark (bulk) LME. It came out awesome! Got even better at the 2 month mark.

 

[petesbrew]

I assume from your final gravity reading that you've already bottled it?
If it's still in the fermenter, throw in a teabag of goldings, willamette or fuggles, and it'll definitely make a difference.

Here's a couple of hop substitution charts I've grabbed off this site in the past that are very useful.
Thanks to whoever made them.
View attachment Hop_Varieties_and_How_to_Use_Them.doc
View attachment hopsguide.xls

 

[Pennywise]

Thats sounds quite good HB79. Did you only dry hop? Makes it a bit easier with no boil

When steeping grains you'll still need to do a small boil of the liquor that is washed off the grain (do not boil the actual grain) to kill any nasties, and also because I used dry malt I wanted to be sure there were no nasties in that either. It was only about 5 litres so it doesn't take long for it to cool.

I didn't put them in the fermenter because I always forget to do it, I just chucked them in the boil pot when I turned the flame off. You'll get more aroma though if you throw them in the fermenter after about 3-4 days, once the majority of the ferment has been done as vigorous fermentation can strip some of it away.