In Need Of Some Advice..

[Coach_R]

G'day fellow beer lovers,

I have been mulling over this recipe for around 2 weeks and would like some advice on whether adding grain (1st time using any sort) to this brew will give enough body and flavour to warrant just using the one kit can.. here is the recipe --

2x coopers dark ale kits
150g choc malt
150g cara aroma
500g dex
20g POR @ 20 mins
20g POR @ end
yeast not sure yet prob just both coopers yeasts..

From looking at this have i got the correct amounts etc..

Have posted this elsewhere but wanted a seperate thread for my precise answers (hopefully that isn't a problem)

The aim for this is to be a nice drop for the colder months

Cheers all

 

[sav]

I thought I have read this before,If was me I would use about 50gr of choc,can the dex,how many litres are you doing.

 

[WarmBeer]

Looks like a good beer, should end up looking like a pretty dark porter, and pretty high alcohol as well.

Only suggestion would be to get a pack of Danstar Nottingham yeast, rather than the kit yeasts. It will ferment out cleaner, but still have no problems chewing through all those fermentables.

Enjoy in moderation

 

[peas_and_corn]

I personally would cut back on the spec grains, that's a bit much (assuming a 22L batch). IMO you should use something a little lighter, like biscuit malt or perhaps a medium to light crystal malt- it'll add flavour but not make it too crazy like the choc would.

 

[WarmBeer]

I personally would cut back on the spec grains, that's a bit much (assuming a 22L batch). IMO you should use something a little lighter, like biscuit malt or perhaps a medium to light crystal malt- it'll add flavour but not make it too crazy like the choc would.

Not being a smart-ar$e, but wouldn't biscuit need to be mashed?

IMO, 150g of Choc in a twocan isn't going to overwhelm, just give it a roastiness that the Dark Ale can doesn't intrinsically have.

Maybe bypass the Cara-aroma, it will not be noticed in a big beer like this.

 

[Coach_R]

Doing 23 litres.. is the choc really strong?? what about the levels for the cara aroma?

was aiming for a slight choc taste i guess, like i said never used grain so dont really know what to expect?

should be left as a toucan??

Edit: only going to use grains that i can steep/no mashing required

 

[Fourstar]

Just to get a completly different answer. Two dark ale kits with dex will give you a rather overtly bitter (80-85 IBU~), alcoholic dark beer. Something pushing an export stout, top end robust porter or even a RIS if you use more dex. To keep it a little more in balance i would opt for one of the cans to be a light coloured, lower IBU tin, especially considering you are adding hops too.

Maybe something like a canadian blonde or cerveza? Atleast that way you will be around 60 IBU and still very dark ale-esque with your grain additions.

Oh w/my adjustment, the grains are perfect where they are. Keep them

 

[Coach_R]

Ah yes, cheers fourstar.. i put this in the spread sheet and it gave my high IBU's should have posted this in original question but totally spaced haha,

with this advice (using one dark tin and one lighter) would the grain amounts still be ok or should they be knocked back a bit?

 

[Fourstar]

Ah yes, cheers fourstar.. i put this in the spread sheet and it gave my high IBU's should have posted this in original question but totally spaced haha,

with this advice (using one dark tin and one lighter) would the grain amounts still be ok or should they be knocked back a bit?

Should be fine bud. Personally when i was doing kits and bits, i liked todo darker beers with all of my dark malt flavours coming from the grains. it tastes soo much better.

If you where interested in doing that you could try:

1 Coopers English Bitter
1 Coopers Cerveza
350g Choc Malt
100g Roast Barley/Black Malt
150g Caraaroma
100g Medium Crystal.

That should give you a decent porter assuming the Bitter kit gives you some crystal sweetness already. Opt out of the 100g roast barley/black malt if you want the roast to be a little milder.

 

[Coach_R]

Cheers mate since this is the 1st attempt with grains prob stick to just the 2 types to start with..

so i reckon ill just leave the recipe as is except minus the 2nd dark for whichever of the blonde/cerveza is cheaper

 

[manticle]

Not being a smart-ar$e, but wouldn't biscuit need to be mashed?

Mashed with other base malts with surplus diastatic power. This is something I only learned recently as in all other respects it's like a specialty malt and I think I've suggested using it like a spec grain in the past. Something like cara-munich might give a similar toastiness.

@Coach R - unless you really want the high IBU count, you could drop the 20 minute addition (or lessen it) as some bitterness will come from that.

 

[Coach_R]

G'day manticle,

put this into the beer spread sheet i got off here (awesome help i might add)

1x coopers dark ale kit
1x canadian blonde kit
150g choc malt
150g cara aroma
500g dex
20g POR @ 10 mins
20g POR @ end

23 litres of and it gives me an IBU of 61.4

I have no idea what an actual dark ale from coopers IBU number is??

Does anyone else no this so i can get a rough idea if i am on the right track with this?

also should the grains be changed (getting mixed answers about these)

Just trying to get as much info as possible cheers all

 

[Fourstar]

G'day manticle,

put this into the beer spread sheet i got off here (awesome help i might add)

1x coopers dark ale kit
1x canadian blonde kit
150g choc malt
150g cara aroma
500g dex
20g POR @ 10 mins
20g POR @ end

23 litres of and it gives me an IBU of 61.4

I have no idea what an actual dark ale from coopers IBU number is??

Does anyone else no this so i can get a rough idea if i am on the right track with this?

also should the grains be changed (getting mixed answers about these)

Just trying to get as much info as possible cheers all

it think its around 40, check their website, its usually calculated by "the IBU they state * by the total weight of the tin / how many L you are brewing.


e.g. 540 * 1.7kg /23L = 39.91 IBU (this isnt the dark ale figures mind you, just an example)

 

[manticle]

What kinds of beers do you normally like? A lot of darker beers are bittered in the lower regions (20 -30 IBU) to allow the malt to shine through (not a hard and fast rule). That said some styles like Russian Imperial Stouts might sit comfortably up around the 60 IBU mark but they tend to be high alcohol and well aged.

Do you like other highly bittered beers like India pale ales or Russian Imperial Stouts?

I think the dark grains are looking fine myself although it is a lttle dependent on your expected final outcome.

Do you want high alc, warming, bitter, sweet,malty, dry, roasty etc etc stout, dark porter, brown etc etc etc?

 

[bum]

it think its around 40, check their website, its usually calculated by "the IBU they state * by the total weight of the tin / how many L you are brewing.


e.g. 540 * 1.7kg /23L = 39.91 IBU (this isnt the dark ale figures mind you, just an example)

I was always told it goes 540IBU/23l*1.25=29.34

The 540*1.7 has you multiplying itself by itself and I don't understand why.

In any case the reported IBU of the tin is 590. Which I don't think is greatly overpowering as long as OP is expecting it. About 64IBU plus whatever the late hops might add.

[EDIT - just checked the Coopers page and yours is the method they describe, Fourstar. My apologies. Will delete my misinformation once you've had a chance to read this so I don't mislead anyone down the road.]

 

[kelbygreen]

I always thought it was that way aswell bum.

this is from the toucan thread

Guys,

Got the following info from Coopers, as I was planning on making a Brown Porter using a supermarket Coopers kit as the base :

Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Draught 130 EBC 420 IBU
Real Ale 230 EBC 560 IBU
Bitter 420 EBC 620 IBU
Dark Ale 550 EBC 590 IBU
Stout 1800 EBC 710 IBU
Canadian Blonde 70 EBC 420 IBU
Bavarian Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Mexican Cerveza 53 EBC 300 IBU
Australian Pale Ale 90 EBC 340 IBU

This is for the concentrated form in the can - to get the figure for 23litres: multiply by 1.25 and divide by 23.
To convert EBC to SRM: SRM = (EBC - 1.2)/2.65

Keep in mind that these figures are a guide only and that the colour of extract changes from the time of packaging.

Special thanks to Paul Burge from Coopers for supplying the inf

hmm so wonder what one is right??? as the brew softwear for kits and extract brews posted on this forum works it out like the above post which means all the kits in there are calculated wrong if it is the way fourstar says :huh:

 

[Fourstar]

I always thought it was that way aswell bum.
this is from the toucan thread
hmm so wonder what one is right??? as the brew softwear for kits and extract brews posted on this forum works it out like the above post which means all the kits in there are calculated wrong if it is the way fourstar says :huh:

Use the method i posted as its what coopers calculate and as bum has realised his was wrong. (dont worry, i made a simillar assumption thinking the figure they noted on the website was for the whole tin, not per kg.)

 

[Coach_R]

yeah big fan of IPA also coopers best extra stout is great and also there dark ale..

what i meant before about the IBU was not the kits IBU but the IBU if you were to drink a tallie of coopers dark ale bought... or is the same?

i guess i am hoping for something in between a dark and a stout if that helps at all?

 

[kelbygreen]

ok thats handy to know so my last beer i was aiming under 30IBU it was 28IBU with the way its said in the toucan thread. but it really works out to be 35.2IBU working it out that way lol could be why it seems a bit bitter but should be alright still

 

[bum]

i made a simillar assumption thinking the figure they noted on the website was for the whole tin, not per kg.)

Ah. That'll explain it.

Left it too late to edit. Beware, kids.