brewing with the darker malts

[daydreams]

I have aquired some chocolate and black malt and woud very much like to brew up a heavy ale/porter flavoursome drink.
After toiling through recipes i still cannot decide, reason being i want to use up my store of challenger and goldings before i invest in some more adventurous varieties.

Is this wise or are the challenger and goldings more suited to pale ales and bitters? If so why is this? I understand that each strain impart their own flavour and attributes as well as the bitterness but can anyone give me some more detailed info on the matter?
Cheers, daydreams

[mattmacleod]

I would have no problem at all using those hops in a porter or stout.

Just try it and see what happens.

[Jymbo]

I used both challenger and goldings in my last stout (a rehash of PoPs stout) and it turned out excellent. They are mainly used for bittering so the flavour and aroma is of little importance as it is mostly masked out by the dark grains in any case.

[daydreams]

Just what i thought! Theres only one way to learn..
What sort of ratios of choc/black to pale malt is reasonable - how much is too much?!

[mattmacleod]

I wouldn't go much beyond 10% of the dark malts. Though really it depends on what you want to make, and what you want the dark malts to do.

I tend not to like the harsher flavours that dark malts (esp. black and roasted barley) can impart, so I keep them to a minimum and use chocolate instead in something like a porter.

However, black malt can create a wonderful red colour in your beer if just a small amount is used. Something to think about.

[Jymbo]

If you're interested in learning more about the ingredients (and their quantities) that go into different styles of beer, I would recommend the Ray Daniels book "Designing Great Beers". I have learnt a lot from this book. It has a chapter for each of the major styles.

[daydreams]

excellent, thanks guys
i shall bear in mind how to get that red hue in my further brews - great piece of info. I shall also take a look at that book as it sounds right up my street Jymbo, nice one!

[Calum]

I did a Porter a while back - link here.

If you were to swap the Northern Brewer for the Challenger and the Fuggles with the Goldings you wouldn't go far wrong. Hope it gives you some ideas.