Hop Suggestions

[Gormand]

Ok so I am looking forward to some of my future brews and I want to make a very thick malty dark ale/stout and looking for the best way to go.

So far I am thinking of starting with a Morgans Iron Bark Dark Ale and using plenty of Dry dark malt, Maltodex and maybe some lactose. But Im guessing with all that Im going to need some sort of hops to counter all the sweetness thats going to be added.

So my question is what would be the best choices for that? Im not looking to make it bitter, just less sweet. Or should I forget about the hops and just use different sugars/unfermentables? If so what sort of combination should I use? Im happy playing around on my own and making a few horrible mistakes but a little guidence never hurts

 

[manticle]

The main point of adding lactose is really to add sweetness. If you want it less sweet, just drop out the lactose. There'll be plenty of body with the maltodex and dry malt anyway.

To hop something like that I'd look at a mainly bittering addition of something English - probably fuggles because of its earthiness. 30 minute boil minimum with some of the dry malt.

 

[tourist]

Yeah, I really like fuggles in dark ales - go for 30 min addition for sure, but I would also be inclined to add a 10 min addition to get a bit more hop character.

 

[Gormand]

Thanks for that. Newbee question here but how much do I boil? I typically only have a 4L boil as I dont have a bigger pot ATM.

 

[mwd]

I was going to ask a stupid question Why don't you just buy a stout kit ?

You can boil your hops in 2 litres of water with 200g of DDME and may as well chuck the lactose in there too.

Fuggles seems to be the favourite in stouts but you could use Willamette or even some of the other English hops.

 

[manticle]

Thanks for that. Newbee question here but how much do I boil? I typically only have a 4L boil as I dont have a bigger pot ATM.

Boil whatever you can at a proportion of 100g dry malt: 1 L water. Use a spreadsheet to calculate what IBU your hops will give you.

 

[Gormand]

Yeah, I really like fuggles in dark ales - go for 30 min addition for sure, but I would also be inclined to add a 10 min addition to get a bit more hop character.

So 45g for 30 min and 45g for 10 min?

I was going to ask a stupid question Why don't you just buy a stout kit ?

You can boil your hops in 2 litres of water with 200g of DDME and may as well chuck the lactose in there too.

Fuggles seems to be the favourite in stouts but you could use Willamette or even some of the other English hops.

I am planning to buy a Dark Ale or Stout Kit as my base, Morgons Iron Bark Dark ale and docklands stout are the current front runners. Subject to change at this point though as due to various issues I wont be able to put my next brew down untill Feb.

 

[manticle]

90g of fuggles seems like a lot if combined with a pre-bittered tin and in a single batch.

You can use a spreadsheet to calculate what IBU you will get. Hopefully the tin has an indication of what IBU it is. The IBU on the tin will most likely be the value of the tin itself. There is a formula you need to use to calculate what it will be when made up to your preferred volume.

 

[Gormand]

90g of fuggles seems like a lot if combined with a pre-bittered tin and in a single batch.

You can use a spreadsheet to calculate what IBU you will get. Hopefully the tin has an indication of what IBU it is. The IBU on the tin will most likely be the value of the tin itself. There is a formula you need to use to calculate what it will be when made up to your preferred volume.

Thanks for that, yeah I may have caused myself some issues there. Still not sure on the IBU side of things yet, this will be my first real test at trying to control that.
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