dark ale

[McFrankel]

i snuck a coopers dark ale kit home [bandit] and now wondering what is best to do with it? normal dextrose or a be 1 or 2 and perhaps a malt extract? i was thinking of using the dark one?

 

any help greatly appreciated[ninja]

[Muddy Waters]

Hi Mark,

 

I've never used it on it's own but here is a recipe from the how to brew section: Coopers Dark Ale

 

Otherwise you could team it up with a can of Pale Ale and make the ever popular Smoty Ale

[PB2]

The Coopers Dark Ale beer kit + BE2 goes okay or 1kg of lIght Dry Malt [cool]

[Trusty1]

I know it exceeds the 20% rule, but I have put down a dark ale kit with 1kg of dex + 500gms of LDM. I had a spare fresh yeast kit from a pale ale kit, and given the dark ale recipe in the How To Brew section uses Pale Ale kit + yeast, I thought I would use it with this brew. Made it to 23L and brewing at around the 18-20C mark. Good krausen, which died down after 4 days, has the eggy smell happening from the lager yeast, I guess. Can't wait to try this one, as I am a black drinker when out at a lic. establishment (the pub[cool])

[McFrankel]

thanks gents most accomodating [joyful]

[Robbo]

Hi all,

 

As a fairly new arrival to Australia I had my first taste of Tooheys Old about two weeks ago. Although I think it lacks the body and mouthfeel of a darker beer, the smokey/burnt flavour that it had was interesting. I don't think that I would want such a strong burnt flavour as Old has but would like to try to introduce a hint of it into my next dark brew.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how the smokey/burnt taste can be achieved?

 

(Also, forgive my ignorance but what is the 20% rule?)

[Matty H]

I think the 20% rule is to try and keep simple sugars like dextrose to 20% of fermentables

[Trusty1]

yeah, sorry for the delay, Mat is on the right track, Paul (a very helpful homebrew expert, who works as a HB guru, I think he has a title including the terms 'product' 'development' and 'manager', with Coopers i.e. he knows what he's talking about, unlike most of us who just do what he says[biggrin]) suggest the 'simple' sugars don't exceed 20% of the total fermentables, there are disclaimers, and by-laws[rightful] etc (he lives in SA[pinched]), but it's something to use as a guide when considering brewing a beer you would like to consume relatively soon, like.

[BoE]

Maybe too late for the OP. But I recently made a Dark Ale with the kit, and 500g of medium and 500g of dark dry malt. Replaced the kit yeast with Safale US-05.

 

It came out both smooth and rich: If someone has presented this to me as a M\xfcnchener Dunkel -a favorite (lager) style of mine- I would have believed it.

 

Will probably experiment with doing away with the brew sugar again. And will certainly redo this Dark Ale recipe once this batch has gone.

 

[McFrankel]

BoE thanks for the idea sounds great. I actually haven't actually put this one to bed yet. I ended up putting down a simple lager whilst waiting for inspiration. I think you have provided that. [happy]

[weggl]

Paul, which would you say was best for the Dark Ale? The BE2 OR THE 1KG of DME?

Warren

[McFrankel]

Warren when I finally made my dark ale up I used the yeast from the kit, 1kg of dex and 500g of LDM. Taste was fantastic. I was a little disappointed with the head retention but it is getting better the longer it sits in the bottle. When I make my next one I think I will change teh dex to a BE1 to give better head retention.

Mark [lol]

[PB2]

Another option you might like to consider - bump up the Light Dry Malt to 1kg and use just 500g of Dextrose.

[weggl]

I was led to believe that the amount of sugar in a brew should not exceed 20% of the amount of fermentables. However Coopers Dark Ale as per instructions on the can calls for 1Kg of sugar. According to my calculations 20% should be around 470g of sugar. Maybe I\u2019m wrong.

If the can contains 1.7Kg = 1.36 of fermentable malt at 80% plus 1 Kg of sugar gives a fermentabe combination of 2.36Kg. 20% of that is .472 Kg not 1Kg, why is it so?

 

[PB2]

The instructions on the side of the Original Series cans are very basic. They don't specifically say what type of sugar - many long term brewers use white sugar exclusively. That well and truly blows the 20% rule [devil]

 

You will find that using a box of B/Sugar, BE1 or BE2 also blows the 20% rule (BE2 almost gets there with 500g dextrose). Doesn't mean the beer won't be palatable, though.

 

I advise brewers, looking to formulate their own recipes, to run with the 20% rule. Particulalry if looking to drink the beer early. [biggrin]

 

I generally run to a max' of 10% simple sugars for my own brews. [wink]

[Trusty1]

the beer I described earlier has been brewed and drunk. What a beer. Simple, tasty and rebrewed (kegged and emptied in Feb and have another in the tub right now)! Like I said , it goes over the 20% rule, but I find the dark kits, especially when using a reasonable amount of LDM (500gms) can be more sympathetic to a reasonable brew than the lighter styles. Time helps, but was not required for that particular batch.

 

I would recommend this simple brew to anyone who likes the dark side. the other black I brew regularly is simply the can with a LHBS Dark Brew Booster (DBB) which is 600gms each of Dex and Dark Dry Malt and 200gms of Maltodextrin. Again, a simple dark beauty that gets drunk with vigor and much backslapping!

 

I brewed a mild black for my Dad recently. Started out with the recipe of kit and 500gms of LDM but swappaed 150gms of the LDM for white table sugar, made to 23L. Great easy drinking beer. I get toffee and biscuit aromas, but the older blokes I have described this to look at me funny, probably thinking, "it's a bloody black beer, biscuithead!" Is around the 3.8ish%

[weggl]

Hey, Trusty what is LHBS?Is it the Local Home Brew Shop, or some thin else?

Warren

[Muddy Waters]

You got it Warren [biggrin]

 

LHBS = Local Home Brew Store/Shop

[weggl]

Started to confuse me for a moment I thought it might be one of those LME,DME,LDME, WDME, WLME,DDT OR ANOTHER LHBS?

[LeonardC2]

In response to the smoke flavor question,those sort of flavors come from what the Germans call rauch malt. It's malted barley roasted over a beechwood fire,giving a light,smokey flavor. I've heard there are places to buy it,might take some searching.