Help With My First Twocan Dark Ale Please.

[slapbass351]

Hi all, next weekend i'm going to put down my first twocan dark and would like a little bit of your input.
I'm looking for thick sweet hoppy and creamy porter style beer.

Ingredients that i have are:


1x Coopers Dark Ale
1x Coopers Real Ale
1kg BE1
1kg LDME
Dextrose
Dark Brown Sugar
Treacle
Honey

I also have Galaxy, Chinook and pride of ringwood hop's.

I'd like to make it fairly strong, say 6.5% or up in the bottle and like the idea of the using the tracle and brown sugar to give a slight mallasas after taste.

Not sure if this is going to be any good but any ideas would be muchly appreciated.

Cheers Damon.

 

[enuun]

Hey Damon,

I would use:

1 x Dark Ale
1 x Real Ale
1kg DME
500g of Dex
200g Dark brown sugar
Some Maltodextrin or corn syrup if you have them. I find that 2oz works for me for a 23l batch.
2x US-05 yeast or nottingham
Dry hop 10g of your fav hops in fermenter and another 10g day 3.

It should give you a fairly rich flavourful ale that should be about 7.5% alc in the bottle if you prime with sugar.

 

[slapbass351]

Thanks very much, i'm normaly a pale beer drinker but i'm hoping this will open my eyes the the dark beer world. I'm guessing this would take a lot longer to age and mellow than by pale beer single kit brewing?

 

[enuun]

Yup it will take a long time before its at its best.
I am drinking an Imperial stout now that has been brewed last Oct and it has not smoothed out much yet.
These are good beers though and will reward your patience
Have fun brewing!

 

[DustyRusty]

have you used brown sugar in a brew before? Some people like it, i personally hate it. Thins the body, reduces head retention and gives you a sickly aftertaste. With 200g you could be ok, especially if you're using a US-05 and doing a 23L batch. But don't use any more than that. All the best with it.

 

[glaab]

if you want it thick don't use any dex, you don't need it. also a yeast with moderate attenuation will leave it thick and sweet like
windsor or so4, I've had so4 stall a few times so I prefer windsor. you could use 500g lactose for sweetness and if you like the molasses flavor add molasses. porters are more about the body than the hops for me so I wouldn't add a huge amount. none of those hops suit a porter but POR would be the pick of them IMHO, challenger is great in porters. a bit of steeped grain would be good too, like 250g carared. now i got the urge to make a porter :icon_cheers:

 

[enuun]

I think the sickly tasteu mentioned comes from the molasses.
Brown sugar can give an interesting taste especially if u burn it abit
but I agree with you, not everyone likes it

 

[slapbass351]

OK i think i know what i want to do.

Coopers dark ale
Coopers real ale
700g LDME
200g Coopers BE1
100g Brown sugar

And maybe 50-100g of treacle for slight roasted caramal taste and maybe a late dry hop of say 10- 20g POR.

I'll try and get windsor or SO4 but most likely i'll have to put up with whatever the LHBS has, they have a pitifull range of stock, if they don't have those i'll probably have to use US05.

Thanks for all your helpfull info, can anyone see any problems with this recipe? Any feedback would be great, Good or bad. My Pommy neighbor gave me the dark ale can....I was like "Geez thanks mate, you shouldn't have"...Guess i'll have to have a crack at it now.

 

[pcmfisher]

Yep, if you are a pale ale drinker its sure going to be a shock to your system

 

[slapbass351]

I had a james squire porter stubbie the other night and found it quite enjoyable, I could have put a few more away easily but not sure I could handle a session on it. It'll be a good beer to have around for xmas break.
Will this stuff give punishing hangovers? I've yet to experience a home brew hangover and I've had a good crack at it.

 

[J Grimmer]

My Dark beers don't give me hangovers in fact ive hardly had a hangover on the homebrew, unlike commercial beers. I find i get the home brew farts, which especially common with excess consumption on the darker ales.

Jan

 

[freezkat]

My Dark beers don't give me hangovers in fact ive hardly had a hangover on the homebrew, unlike commercial beers. I find i get the home brew farts, which especially common with excess consumption on the darker ales.

Jan

would you experts double the yeast, aerate and/or add any yeast nutrient on a big beer like this?

 

[Swordsman]

Recipe looks pretty good and what the guys are saying sounds great to me...most of them have alot more experience with dark beer than i do (only made two....).

I did a toucan dark porter (almost a stout but thinner and less alcohol) with the following:

1x Coopers Stout
1x Coopers Lager
400gm LDME
300gm Dex
50gm malto
200gm steeped specialty grain stout mix (has some toasted barley in it)

Had some left over hops of different types around so throw them all...was after a bit of spice/kick in the porter which i know is not really to style but i love me hops so...

5gm EKG + 5gm Galaxy 15min
5gm chinook + 5gm cascade 0min

Made to 25L. Was around 1052 OG and was supposed to come out at 1014 with SO4 yeast.l stuck at 1018 and i couldn't wake it so just used a bit less dex in the bulk priming and bottled..carbed up nicely....

Was pretty rough after initial carb up but has really come good now its a few months old. Got a decent score at a local show beer judging (one of the highest for a can of goo beer). Nice head and lots of roast flavours with a slight bitter hit at the end (but nothing like my pale ales etc.).

Will definitely make it again but will be using a better spec stout can that i got cheap from HBS....