In Need Of Some Advice..

[Screwtop]

Thought Coopers Dark Ale tins were 1.7kg

To calculate the bitterness of the brew: multiply the quoted product bitterness by the weight of the product (1.7kg)* and divide by the total brew volume (normally 23 litres).
* We use the weight because our quoted colour/bitterness figures are base on a weight/volume dilution.

Screwy

 

[Coach_R]

OK.. so after a little bit of tweaking and some great info and help from you guys this is what i have decided to brew..

1st Punt Porter

1x Coopers Dark Ale Kit
1x Coopers Mexican Cerveza
150g x Cara Aroma
150g x Choc Malt
20g x POR (10 minutes)
20g x POR Flameout
2 x Coopers Yeast

Brewed to 23 Litres this gives predicted IBU of 53.3 and EBC of 45.4 with an ABV of 6.1% little higher because i bottle.

This will be my 6th Brew all my others have worked out great so far (i like them thats what matters most) but this is definately my most ambitious. So far the only thing i've really made diff to the kit + BE2 is making hop tea. Pretty excited about this great new Hobby cheers for all the help and info..

 

[Fourstar]

if you have never added grain i'm sure it will be your best... next thing you know you will be doing all grain and wondering why you bothered with kits and bits! B)

 

[manticle]

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?

Pretty sure neither the coopers stout not dark ale sit quite as high as 53 IBU. That's not to say it won't be a great beer - just make sure you know what you're in for. You say you like IPA so think of the bitterness of that combined with the maltiness/roastiness of the coopers stout.

If that sounds good to you then go for it. I'd consider some roast barley (maybe 50-75g) in place of some of the choc in that case. It looks like a nice beer - just that it will be on the higher end of the bitter scale so you should be aware and make sure that's in keeping with what you want.

 

[glaab]

53 IBU sounds about right to me, 31.6 from the dark tin + 14.5 from the cerveza + 7ish from the 10min POR.
Not sure about mixing dark with the cerveza, I suppose if you like black n tans it'll save you opening 2 bottles to pour one! :icon_drunk:

 

[Coach_R]

Manticle.. i recently did a two can lager and spreadsheet says the IBU for that was around 43 and i haven't found that to bitter at all, really looking forward to getting this one done and can't wait for winter to roll around to knock the top off of a couple of these on some cold nights

Also i am really hoping for i nice creamy head.. im hoping the added grain will give me this am i right in assuming this??

 

[Fourstar]

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?

The IBus may be simillar but the kits are not modelled on coopers beers themself (exception of the pale ale).

Also i am really hoping for i nice creamy head.. im hoping the added grain will give me this am i right in assuming this??

The crystal malt will help do that along with a mild carbonation. You have to increase the dextrins in the beer to aid in head formation/creaminess and crystal malt adds dextrins. If you want to have abit more body without the added crystal sweetness, a couple of hundred grams of carapils added to your current recipe would assist with a creamy head a a lucious body. You will just end up with a slighlty higher final gravity as it wont fully ferment out.

 

[Coach_R]

Carapils it is then cheers 4star..

since i will be buying these most likely in Kg bags what is the best way to store? just in bags from which they came?

or nice and air tight or atleast in a tuppaware container..?

 

[manticle]

You want to limit oxygen and pest access. You can keep them in the same bags with a rubber band, tupperware or ziplock bags. Any will work.

 

[Coach_R]

Too easy thanks mant

 

[Coach_R]

With these additions of grains is there still any real point of making this a toucan?

Or would the grains shine through more if the 2nd tin was removed?

 

[Fourstar]

With these additions of grains is there still any real point of making this a toucan?

Or would the grains shine through more if the 2nd tin was removed?

keep it a toucan w/ the lighter tin as we discussed as you will most likly need it for your fermentables. I dont have beersmith on hand so i cannot give you a estimate but i would assume it would be around 6%ABV

 

[Coach_R]

yeah i had it in the spread sheet at home and i reckon it was 6ish.. cheers mate

 

[Coach_R]

So finally got around to making this on thurs night, first time steeping grain and boiling etc. seemed pretty easy don't know why i hadn't tried it sooner!! as for the recipe only small changes were made from the one posted above..

1x Coopers Dark Ale Kit
1x Coopers Mexican Cerveza
200g x Cara Aroma
100g x Choc Malt
200g x Carapils
10g x POR (10 minutes)
2 x Coopers Yeast

Made to 23 litres with an OG of 1060

Can't wait to get stuck into this one! will post pics and review when i start drinking

Cheers again all for the great help

 

[Coach_R]

So just some results for anyone that is interested...

Beer tastes great the head is improving weekly and the amount of choc (slight hint) is perfect, so happy with this beer. Easily my best!!

it is currently just over 7 weeks old, been drinking since about 4 weeks but now its really balancing out well...

Thanks to all that helped me out with this one!

Cheers :beer:

 

[Steve]

If thats your bar n table you're way cool

 

[Pennywise]

Damn straight, that's an awesome set up mate. Great that ya brew turned out trumps

 

[manticle]

53 IBU sounds about right to me, 31.6 from the dark tin + 14.5 from the cerveza + 7ish from the 10min POR.
Not sure about mixing dark with the cerveza, I suppose if you like black n tans it'll save you opening 2 bottles to pour one! :icon_drunk:

Replying very late but I was referring to the commercial versions of the beers (stout and dark) as a measure of the OP's personal tastes.

@OP - glad it worked out.

 

[Coach_R]

Yeah thats the answer i was looking for, i've also bottled a stout that i made pretty much right after this one recipe was -

1x Coopers Stout Can
1x Coopers Dark Ale Can
250g x Caraaroma
250g x Carapils
200g x Choc Malt
500g x Dextrose
20g x POR @ 30mins
2 x kit yeast

This one is also pretty good, been just under 1 month in the bottle so it still has a bit to go i reckon..

Anyway my point is the above brew is still no where near too bitter for me :icon_cheers:

 

[RobboMC]

Reading through this thread shows how easy it is to go from K&K to a magnificent looking 6% black beer with just a little grain steeping.

The final product doesn't look 'black and tan' at all, just black.

Next step is to replace the dex with dry malt, the exrta sweetness will balance more of the cans IBU's.

For stout, I'd include a very small amount of black grain, even as low as 100g.
I did this with my last porter and the extra dimension of flavours was great.

The toucan is easy, but better beer would come by replacing the Cerveza with a can of unhopped malt extract and boiling
in your own hops. I see you've gone with POR in these brews, try some Halletau, Fuggles and Goldings ( not all at once though )
for a variety of flavours in your dark ale.