Double Diamond...

[monk]

I'm thinking of brewing this beer, though a little bit of research on the web leads me to believe that it sucked. The recipe looks niiiice, though:

19L

4kg Maris Otter
230g medium crystal
170g toasted victory malt
85g amber malt
114g cane sugar

30g Northern Brewer for 60 minutes
14g Goldings for last 10 minutes
14g Fuggles for last 10 minutes
14g Goldings steeped
14g Fuggles steeped

1.056
37 ibu

I'm thinking of using the tim taylor yeast for it, so it will be dry but malty (in theory). I was originally looking at recipes for Worthington White shield, but the recipes I found didn't sound as good. Maybe I can restore the former glory of the Double Diamond!

[monk]

I've been poking around a little on the internet and I think I see why it was getting some bad reviews--last brewed by Carlsberg and OG was 1.037!

[monk]

As a historic brew, was it pretty good at some point? It seems that both of these recipes would make a nice pale ale. I kind of like the idea of giving it a chance to come back to life in it's former glory.

I like that lantern, and I can relate. In my hometown there is an old "mainstreet" type strip (it's sort of on the outskirts, now), and one building still has the old painted advertisements for the butcher's shop that it contained. No graffiti over it yet. That street used to abut the old railroad line that came out from Texas/Oklahoma. We were the wild west then.

[Jim]

As a historic brew, was it pretty good at some point?

I'm not quite old enough to remember but I believe it was beers like this and Watneys Red barrel that were the reason CAMRA was formed.

Yep, the last pint of DD I had sometime in the seventies was dire. That recipe, if done properly, will make a great beer totally unlike the weak, gnat's piss that was DD from the keg.

[Dennis King]

One of the worst I can remember. When Ind Coope launched their cask Burton ale in the mid seventys I was told it was a higher gravity version of DD. When served right it was a big improvement.

[Graham]

One of the worst I can remember. When Ind Coope launched their cask Burton ale in the mid seventys I was told it was a higher gravity version of DD. When served right it was a big improvement.

Double Diamond and Triple Diamond were originally famous bottled beers before the name got debased in the keggyflade era. Bottled versions of these beers were always available for export; indeed I have consumed both in Europe in the 1980s/1990s and they were indeed decent beers - Double Diamond was 1053 and the Triple Diamond considerably stronger - 8% or more. It was bemusing that brand-name British beers were often better quality overseas than here. Apparently bottled "Diamonds" are still brewed at the Tetley brewery in Leeds; presumably for export.

This accounts for the disparity in opinion between Brits and Furriners; the furriners got better stuff!

[monk]

Did they have a big hop flavor and aroma, Graham? Because the recipe I've got seems like it will impart quite a bit of character from the hops.

[Graham]

Did they have a big hop flavor and aroma, Graham? Because the recipe I've got seems like it will impart quite a bit of character from the hops.

My recipe for Double Diamond in the "Brew Classic European Beers":
OG 1.053
Pale malt 89%
Crystal malt (around 120EBC) 6%
Flaked maize 5%
Target bittering hops to 35EBU
Late hopped with Goldings.

Looky at what I've just found:
Linky to Triple Diamond

Ruddy foreigners get all the luck. There are a few Brits that 'ud love to get their chops around one of those -1.085!. Still, I don't suppose Finland is too far away for the really keen. Double Diamond is on the same site, and it is still 1053, or 5.2% to be more accurate.

[monk]

Just thought I'd update on this brew. Bottled it last Saturday and it tasted slightly sulphury, but not in a bad way. Nice nutty, slight caramel flavor, with bready malt. The hops came through well, as it's bitter and has a spicy hop flavor and aroma. I experienced some difficulty with my mash (probly due to using distilled water & consequent high ph--something I never check) and it ended up at 1.048 for 21L, lowering the bitterness a tad as well. But it seems to have turned out great. I'm impressed with the Tim Taylor yeast and wish it could be my regular. The beer fell bright quickly and is not overly dry or estery. I'm always looking for a pretty neutral yeast that doesn't attenuate overly. Thanks for the encouragement, guys! Double Diamond lives again!

[monk]

Thanks Chris. I had half a pound of crystal in it too, would that have brought the ph down? If so, maybe it wasn't the ph after all. I've heard that Maris Otter tends to yield less sugar than other pale malts, do you think that could be it?

[Bopper]

Did they have a big hop flavor and aroma, Graham? Because the recipe I've got seems like it will impart quite a bit of character from the hops.

My recipe for Double Diamond in the "Brew Classic European Beers":
OG 1.053
Pale malt 89%
Crystal malt (around 120EBC) 6%
Flaked maize 5%
Target bittering hops to 35EBU
Late hopped with Goldings.

Looky at what I've just found:
Linky to Triple Diamond

Ruddy foreigners get all the luck. There are a few Brits that 'ud love to get their chops around one of those -1.085!. Still, I don't suppose Finland is too far away for the really keen. Double Diamond is on the same site, and it is still 1053, or 5.2% to be more accurate.[/quote.


This is the right grist for Double Diamond

Pale and chocolate malts with liquid brewing sugar: English hop pellets with styrain goldings added for aroma in the cask.

[Normski]

5 years and you dig up a recipe for Double Diamond. Nice going Bopper.

[Bopper]

5 years and you dig up a recipe for Double Diamond. Nice going Bopper.

Hahahaha Better late than never. ! haven't done a lot for abt 3 yrs...due to being the owner of two Huskies, but now i've invested in a Brewtroller+accessories, so be up and running very soon!

Richard