Bassman Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Has anyone had a go recently with the coopers dark ale recipe. I have started one today using a coopers pale ale can, 760g of dark liquid malt extract (country brewer brand as coopers unavailable) and 300g of coopers brewing suger. Just used packet yeast. All fermenting at 18c with the help of a converted old box freezer with a temp regulator. OG was 1.047 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT5 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I am just starting to drink my recent dark ale brew: Coopers Pale Ale tin 1kg Dark Dry Malt 250g Pale Choc Malt grains steeped overnight in cold water kit yeast It is a low bitterness beer but has a nice toasty choc/coffee taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Hey Greg and Bassman, trying my first dark Ale based brew at the moment. Kind of made it using spare ingredients, pretty much a variation of the old spiced recipe. 0.20kg - Dark Crystal 30g Amarillo - steeped 25mins Dark Ale kit BE2 2 tsp cinnamon Kit yeast Filled to 22L Not overly hopeful, but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I haven't brewed with spices before. Is 2 tsp cinnamon a lot or subtle amount in 22 litres of dark ale? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainiac Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I am just starting to drink my recent dark ale brew: Coopers Pale Ale tin 1kg Dark Dry Malt 250g Pale Choc Malt grains steeped overnight in cold water kit yeast It is a low bitterness beer but has a nice toasty choc/coffee taste. Do you think you could just steep the grains at 68 degrees for 30 minutes and get the same effect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I am just starting to drink my recent dark ale brew: Coopers Pale Ale tin 1kg Dark Dry Malt 250g Pale Choc Malt grains steeped overnight in cold water kit yeast It is a low bitterness beer but has a nice toasty choc/coffee taste. Do you think you could just steep the grains at 68 degrees for 30 minutes and get the same effect? I have never done it but it is suggested that cold steeping the dark grains will give you less astringency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT5 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I have done the hot water 30 minute steep before, but not with these grains. I just thought I would give it a go this time, having heard it gives a smoother less harsh flavour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Why doesn't anyone use the Coopers Dark Ale kit tin as the base for this recipe? [surprised Is it the bitterness level of the kit tin that people don't like? [unsure] Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilboBaggins Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I think this recipe is attempting to get closer to the commercial dark ale, which is actually nowhere near as dark or bitter as the OS dark. Happy to be corrected, but that's the recipe in the how to brew section, yeah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I think this recipe is attempting to get closer to the commercial dark ale' date=' which is actually nowhere near as dark or bitter as the OS dark. Happy to be corrected, but that's the recipe in the how to brew section, yeah?[/quote'] I'm certainly not disagreeing with you Philbo, & am aware of the recipe listed in the How To Brew section. However, given Coopers seem to want to emulate as close as possible a number of their own beers with kit tins under their own label, I do find this more than just a bit bizarre, & definitely somewhat counter productive to what their aim may be with this kit if this is the case. Like Philbo, I'm happy to be corrected here. Cheers, Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I haven't brewed with spices before. Is 2 tsp cinnamon a lot or subtle amount in 22 litres of dark ale? Just curious. I've done the dark ale with 2tsp of cinnamon and it was quite ... different. One thing I would recommend is not mixing it in the fermenter - try steeping or boiling it and then straining the cinnamon out. It clumps together really weirdly (kinda like algae or something) and you can't help but get these massive blobs of cinnamon coming through when bottling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I haven't brewed with spices before. Is 2 tsp cinnamon a lot or subtle amount in 22 litres of dark ale? Just curious. I've done the dark ale with 2tsp of cinnamon and it was quite ... different. One thing I would recommend is not mixing it in the fermenter - try steeping or boiling it and then straining the cinnamon out. It clumps together really weirdly (kinda like algae or something) and you can't help but get these massive blobs of cinnamon coming through when bottling. Why not drop a couple of cinnemon sticks or pieces of cassia bark in the fermenter. That wont cause issues at bottling time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Yep, good idea. In my case I was new to brewing and following the "Old Spiced" recipe in How to Brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I haven't brewed with spices before. Is 2 tsp cinnamon a lot or subtle amount in 22 litres of dark ale? Just curious. I've done the dark ale with 2tsp of cinnamon and it was quite ... different. One thing I would recommend is not mixing it in the fermenter - try steeping or boiling it and then straining the cinnamon out. It clumps together really weirdly (kinda like algae or something) and you can't help but get these massive blobs of cinnamon coming through when bottling. Well that's encouraging [wink]. I will cold condition the heck out of it, hopefully, the blobs will drop out into the trub. I was tossing up on whether to dry hop it, this thread has convinced me to do so. [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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