Snags Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hey guys, After such great success with my latest draught recipe using all malt, I've decided I'm going to have a crack at the Dark Ale. Was thinking along the lines of this. . . Coopers Dark Ale 1kg Light Dry Malt 500g Dark Dry Malt 12g Fuggles or Goldings Finishing Hops 23L Water Kit yeast, rehydrated. What do you think? Cheers, Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrendanS8 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Snags, i haven't tried to brew a dark ale yet, but when i do (very soon hopefully) your recipe will be a good starting point i reckon. Just wondering, what was your latest draught recipe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasond4 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Sounds great, but I find the Dark Ale a lacking in bitterness IMO. So I would boil 20gms of the Fuggles with 500gms of the LDM in 4l of water for 30-40 min. Mix as you would and then add the Goldings hops to finish with and use the packet yeast or better yeast...your choice. Again I find the Dark ale a bit bitterless, and you don't want too much sweetness. Good luck anyway with your brew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Snags, i haven't tried to brew a dark ale yet, but when i do (very soon hopefully) your recipe will be a good starting point i reckon. Just wondering, what was your latest draught recipe? Thanks mate, and the Draught recipe was as follows. Coopers Draught 1kg Light Dry Malt 12g Morgans Hallertau Finishing Hops (10 min tea in 250ml boiling water, added to fermenter before yeast) 21L Water Rehydrated Kit yeast I previously did one with 250g Dextrose aswell, but I like the all malt one the best so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Well, I can't get any Dark Dry Malt at the moment as I can't get to a Brew shop, but I was hoping to go ahead with just the Light dry Malt only, and was thinking of maybe adding 250g Brown sugar. I have both a Goldings and Fuggles 12g Finishing hops teabag and was wondering which one would compliment the brew better? Or should I add both? Cheers, Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Sounds great' date=' but I find the Dark Ale a lacking in bitterness IMO.[/quote'] Interesting comment - in the Original Series, our Dark Ale Beer kit is second only to Stout for bitterness level. Do you usually ferment it with significant amonts of malt extract additions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 I find the level of bitterness in the Dark Ale plenty as is for my palate. The next stout I do will be all malt next time to mellow the bitterness out a bit. 1kg LDM and 500g DDM I think would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 What do you guys think about priming with werthers lollies? I brought a pack today thinking i might try them in half a dozen or so bottles. The lollies are 5g each, so would one be enough per 750ml longneck? Cheers, Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasond4 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 To answer your question PB2, I usually go for a 50-50 blend of light/dark malts,dry type. Or other combo's of things such as using chocolate malts which help to give the perception of greater bitterness, and also using dried wheat malt for extra mouth feel. but even with these additions I just have to up the hopping levels. I still thing in it's basic form brewed with a kilo of malt and some finishing hops it still lacks bitterness. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 No need to be sorry. Everybody has their own perception of taste. We're all individuals....I'm not... [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 What do you guys think about priming with werthers lollies? I brought a pack today thinking i might try them in half a dozen or so bottles. The lollies are 5g each, so would one be enough per 750ml longneck? Cheers, Mick. I would ascertain the ingredients in the lolly first then work out which are fermentable and take that as your start to nut out how many to use. Alternatively, if you are only doing 6 bottles do 3 with 1 and 3 with 2. I am guessing to say that for an Aussie Ale you may need 2. Use PETs if you can and that way you can gauge it by the old squeeze test. I have no idea how long they would take to carb up but would assume longer than what would if it was primed with sugar/carb drops. Let us know the results Snags, I like your idea as I think a little of the flavor of the lolly will be retained in the bottle. [love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Yeah Bill, after reading the pack, I think 2 is going to be closer, as the 'sugars' is noted as being 3.7g per lolly. The ingredients are as follows; Sugar, Glucose Syrup (from wheat), Cream (7%),Condensed Whey, Butter (4.5%), Cane sugar syrup, Salt, Butterfat, Emulsifier, flavour. I might crush them up first to help them dissolve better. I think I'll try 2 in 5 bottles, and 1 in 5 bottles , and try one of each after two weeks, and one each a week for another 2 weeks. I'll put 2 of each away for a few months to age and go from there I suppose.[rightful] Hopefully the nice buttery caramel flavour shines through a bit, as I think it would be a nice addition to an all malt dark ale. Here's hoping. . . [joyful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Well, I bottled the Dark this afternoon, 14 bottles with 2 werthers each, and 14 bottles with carb drops. I ended up doing it simple, and decided against (regreting it a bit now[pinched] ) adding finishing hops, as I want a standard flavour profile to go with first. Coopers Draught 1kg LDM 21 LTRS water Will keep you all updated when I taste the first bottle. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I ended up doing it simple' date=' and decided against (regreting it a bit now[pinched'] ) adding finishing hops, as I want a standard flavour profile to go with first. I think that may be a good move, albeit may be a sacrifice of a better brew but at least you will know what you are achieving with the lollies. I can't wait for a few weeks now to hear the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Well, Werthers were a failure. . . It's only been 4 days since bottling, and I didn't like the look of the scum build up at the top of the bottle, so I chilled one this arvo and just opened it. . . FSHHHHHHH. Shot the crown cap up in the air. . . [annoyed] Not looking good. . . Poured it and had massive fizz. . . no head though, just lot's of bubbles. . . Looked at the brew. . . cloudy, greasy oily look. . . had an oily, buttery film on the surface, bubbles were unable to pop. . . like they were trapped under the oily film. . . Picture a nice clear glass of beer, and put a teaspoon of melted butter or oil in it. . . you get the picture! [crying] Tasted it. . . blah, shit! I'm glad I checked, because I think they are time bombs waiting to go off. . . and I'm going to remove them now from the cupboard and tip them out. . . Pissed off I did 14 bottles now! [pinched] [lol] Oh well, at least the 'normal primed' one's taste good. ( I chilled one of each just to guage carb levels, and clarity.) Going to go ahead with my original recipe at the top next, as I think the other additions will make it a great drop! Cheers, Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 [biggrin] [biggrin] [biggrin] Thanks for taking one for the team. At least we now know to avoid Werthers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimV Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I like the Dark Ale, but find it a bit bitter (hoppy?). Should I look at buying a different tin or just add malt? My favorite commercial product is a Naramata Nut Brown Ale. Thanks - from a relative newbie ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snags Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Hmm, I found the balance of bitterness with 1kg of LDM was good. I can't wait to try the recipe I have at the top now, as I think this is a realy nice base drop. Cheers, Mick. P.S. DON'T prime with Werthers. . . [annoyed] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Whoa, no need to shout Tim [biggrin] If you are concerned about the bitterness, you could use a lighter kit like the lager or draught and then add specialty malts and/or mix it with Dark malt extract. Or do a full extract and control the bitterness yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.