Spiced Dark Ale (Julebryg) - choc malt? roasted barley? crystal?

[bingggo]

Hi folks,

I'm the mood for a dark spiced ale, and like the sound of good chocolate coffee notes to boot.

I was thinking of using the Coopers Julebryg recipe as a starting point, and adding choc malt or roasted barley? And crystal or is that getting carried away

http://coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/strong/detail/julebryg/

• 1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale
• 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Amber Malt
• 250g Brown Sugar
• Various spices
• 20g Saaz Hop Pellets
• S-04

I haven't used roasted barley or chocolate malt when pimping kits before, and appreciate any tips on whether it's a good idea, how much to add, how to use it

B

 

[bingggo]

Or maybe start with a stout/dark ale toucan and merge in another recipe I found, to create:

Steeped for an hour?
0.20 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L
0.10 kg Chocolate Malt
0.10 kg Roasted Barley

30.00 g Fuggles - Boil 75.0 min
30.00 g Goldings, East Kent - Boil 60.0 min
20.00 g Fuggles - Boil 20.0 min
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)
20.00 g Goldings, East Kent - Boil 10.0 min

Add
Coopers stout kit
Coopers dark ale kit
1kg dextrose or light dry malt (or half and half)

Kit yeasts or s-04?

Top up to 15L for a few days, then to 23L.

Any thoughts?

B

 

[bingggo]

Ps. Plus the spices

 

[bingggo]

Found yet another recipe, and think I'll actually try the Coopers English Bitter kit as the base for a change. It's the SteveL Porter Recipe from the Cooper's forum, with spice Thought I should experiment with discovering the speciality grain flavours without hops getting in the way. But might crack and dryhop with fuggles!

[SIZE=medium]1 EB tin[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]300g chocolate grain[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250 medium crystal grain[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]100g roasted barley[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]200g dark brown sugar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1kg LDM[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]21g coopers yeast[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1 star anise[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1 vanilla pod[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]2 cinnamon sticks[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]2 tbsp coriander seeds[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]made to 21 litres[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]---[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Simmer spices and brown sugar for 15m in 2L. Then steep for 30m and strain into FV.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Steep the grains in 2L for 30 minutes at 70. Remove the grains then boil the wort for 15 minutes with 500g DME + 3L boil. Add to FV.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Add EB Kit and 500g DME. Top up to 21L. Stir vigorously.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Pitch yeast at 21 and ferment.[/SIZE]

 

[mofox1]

I've got a Dark Spiced Ale on regular a production cycle - can't get enough of the stuff! You're certainly in the same ball park as my brew... I'll dig up the recipe when I get home. B)

Cheers,
Mick

 

[mofox1]

RIGHT! Here we go....

Foxy's Dark Spiced Ale - 26L

Extracts:
1.7kg Coopers Australian Stout LME (hopped)
1.5kg Coopers Wheat LME (unhopped)
0.5kg Dark LME (unhopped)
0.5kg Brown Sugar

Hops - poured unstrained into fermenter:
50g Fuggles 30min
25g Fuggles 0min (flame out)

Adjuncts - added to boil and fermenter:
1 Star Anise
3 Tspns Cinnamon
4 Cloves
1/2 Tspn All Spice

Yeast:
SAF-04

Boil the spices up with the hops - add brown sugar at end to dissolve. I usually use ~2L water for the boil and use the hop tea to rinse out the kit cans... but do it however you usually do.

This recipe gave me a starting SG of 1.054, and finished with 1.010. After factoring in priming sugar (for bottling) that works out to ~6.3%.

Be warned on the star anise though - my first batch I used 2, and I had to wait about 4 months before it mellowed out enough!! You still want to give this one a couple of months conditioning before drinking... if you can wait.

Cheers,
Mick

 

[mofox1]

Also don't ever use dark brown sugar... I used that once in a brew and it just ended up tasting like treacle. If in doubt, just use raw sugar or DME.