MONKEYBREW DOUBLE VISION STOUT

[seymour]

UPDATED: MONKEYBREW DOUBLE VISION STOUT

…being Seymour's all-grain clone of Monkeybrew's popular two-can extract brew, corrected to reflect Wally's whiteboard information about Coopers' extract composition. Thanks!



6 US gallons = 5 Imperial gallons = 22.7 Litres

GRAINBILL
75.5% = 11.1 lbs = 5034 g, Pale Malt (best/freshest you can get, Joe White Aussie Traditional is authentic)
6.5% = .96 lb = 433 g, Wheat Malt
9% = 1.32 lb = 600 g, Black Malt
9% = 1.32 lb = 600 g, Cane Sugar (added to boil kettle, DON'T FORGET!)
TOTAL: 14.7 lbs = 6.67 kg

MASH @ 151°F/66°C for 60 min. Optional: stir in a pinch of Calcium carbonate

SPARGE to collect 7 US gal/5.8 Imp gal/26.5 L

BOIL 90-120 minutes, as vigorously as possible. I don't usually boil so long, but this maximizes kettle caramelization just like extract brews. Optional: add pinch of gypsum to make the hops sing.

HOPS
2.7 oz = 75 g, Pride of Ringwood, 90 minutes (single bittering addition)

CHILL, then AERATE in true Ditch fashion: using a gauntlet, Hitachi drill, and paint stirrer, then PITCH yeast.

YEAST
Coopers Brewery ale strain, available as WLP009 Australian Ale, or cultured from bottles of Coopers beer. The dry packet from Coopers kits is a different bugger, but still very good. Ferment at 65-72°F/18-22°C.

APPROXIMATE STATS
OG: 1071
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 50
COLOUR: opaque black with beige foam and lace
BJCP STYLE: 13D. Foreign Extra Stout

[Clibit]

Sounds good. Quite a lot of sugar.

[seymour]

Sounds good. Quite a lot of sugar.

Yeah, that might look like a lot of sugar to us all-grain homebrewers, but it's not really excessive. Many revered English ales contain(ed?) >10% simple sugar, especially these higher-gravity Foreign Extra Stouts and such.

But mainly, I think, this demonstrates a paradigm shift between extract and all-grain brewers. In Monkeybrew's original two-can extract brew, he calls for 600g cane sugar, which by all accounts brews a delicious stout. Once I converted his recipe from extract to all-grain, the same 600g of sugar seems excessive even though it should produce an identical end result.

For context, the lower-gravity Ditch Stout calls for "One mug full of organic, raw cane sugar." I don't know for sure, but I'd guess that's something like 2 cups/15 oz/425 g? Since Ditch only calls for one can of Coopers Stout, that actual sugar percentage would be higher.

In any case, I look forward to trying-out this recipe. Cheers!

[wally]

Seymour, have you actually brewed and tasted this beer? IMO a recipe that obtains 65 - 70 IBUs from Pride of Ringwood(POR) would be very harsh.

Coopers are using isohop these days in their brews and kits and the beer has lost it's earthy taste from the POR.

Edit. You also need a little wheat malt in there about 6.75%

Checkout the Coopers whiteboard photo from the book Amber and Black by Willie Simpson.

I can't remember their brew length at the time. I'll see if I can dig up the info.

[Clibit]

Sounds good. Quite a lot of sugar.

Yeah, that might look like a lot of sugar to us all-grain homebrewers, but it's not really excessive. Many revered English ales contain(ed?) >10% simple sugar, especially these higher-gravity Foreign Extra Stouts and such.

I have put sugar in a number of my AG brews, and have exceeded 10% once or twice. I have no problem with it, and have generally done it because of recipes I have come across that contain sugar. I'm still on a steep learning curve and I'm open to all options, and like to find out for myself what effect different grists have - as well as all the other variables in terms of ingredients and methods. Kit brewers learn to add a kg of sugar from the off, and are generally taught to drop the sugar if they move on to other brewing methods. But I know that many English beers over the years have contained forms of sugar and I think it provides another variable in the never-ending search for recipes I like!

[seymour]

Seymour, have you actually brewed and tasted this beer? IMO a recipe that obtains 65 - 70 IBUs from Pride of Ringwood(POR) would be very harsh.

Coopers are using isohop these days in their brews and kits and the beer has lost it's earthy taste from the POR...

Great info Wally, thanks for sharing. No, I haven't yet brewed this recipe but I plan to. As is, it's an extract-to-all-grain conversion. That whiteboard photo is great. Perhaps my research is outdated, but I have that Thomas Coopers Irish Stout uses Fuggles, but their Coopers Best Extra Stout uses Pride of Ringwood at the beginning of the boil and Styrian Goldings at the end of the boil. Have you heard otherwise from the source? Considering most of Australia's acreage is still Pride of Ringwood, and it's by far the highest alpha acid content cultivar, wouldn't their isohop extract still be comprised mainly of Pride of Ringwood? I really am asking that as a question, not suggesting you're wrong.

Here's a possible explanation: I know Pride of Ringwood has (had?) the reputation for being harsh, but apparently the cultivar has been much improved in recent years. See: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/aust ... llets.html

Typical alpha: 9-10.5%. This Australian hop is used mainly for bittering, but aroma is profoundly resinous, fruity, and pleasant. Widely used in Australian ales and lagers. Required for Australian Sparkling Ale. Australia's hop growing industry has made substantial efforts to improve the quality of their hops - whereas this varietal used to regularly express cohumulone values above 40%, it's now closer to Cascade, around 32%.

[wally]

Seymour, there is a variety called Super Pride ( A/A ~ 14%) which was developed from Pride of Ringwood (POR). It has a higher alpha than (POR) and has a low cohumulone figure when compared to POR. Super Pride has largely superseded POR as a commercial cultivar as it is more attractive to growers as it is more "bang for buck". POR was at one stage approx 90% of the crop, not sure how much is left. I currently have two POR plants that are flowering.

The Super Pride is a much better bittering hop than POR, and no doubt is used to produce ISO hop. Seehttp://www.hops.com.au/products/super-pride for details of Super Pride.

There is also quite a bit of acreage under Galaxy as well, plus other varieties like Nugget and Cluster.

I can't provide any information re the hops used in Coopers Best Extra Stout. I was under the impression that it was a single addition of POR or Super Pride.

Coopers Vintage Ale used about 3 varieties, but the recipe used to change annually. Unfortunately, it is now only a shadow of it's former self. Seems like the accountants had too much say in it's production.

Cheers,

Wally

[seymour]

More great info, thanks again for sharing Wally.

So how do you use your homegrown Pride of Ringwood hops, recipe-wise?

[wally]

So how do you use your homegrown Pride of Ringwood hops, recipe-wise?

For the POR, I make an assumption as to their A/A%. I generally work to about 8% A/A as the commercial growers are able to get higher values generally.

They are used in an all-grain "lawn-mower" style ale to emulate, but not that closely, Coopers Sparkling Ale.

Pale Ale Malt 93.5%
Wheat Malt 5.0%
Dark Crystal 1.5%

Single infusion mash at 63C, for 1hr. Raise to 76C for mashout.
The low mash is to ensure a highly attenuative wort. Alternatively you could mash higher, say 66C and add up to 5% liquid invert sugar syrup.

Boil for 60mins.
POR 25 -30 IBU at 60mins.

plus your usual kettle finings and yeast nutrient.

Ferment at 16C using Coopers re culture or White Labs 009. The ferment temp needs to be low or the yeast almost goes hefeweizen like at higher temps.

[seymour]

That sounds great. How many batches do you usually get outta your own plants?

[wally]

That sounds great. How many batches do you usually get outta your own plants?

I generally get between 250-300g in total when dry from the two plants. That gives me about five 40l batches. I only do enough to fill a couple of "Corny" kegs at a time. It's good to drink in summer, but I prefer bigger darker beers in winter.

Unfortunately, my POR got burnt by the sun in a hot spell we had just before Christmas, and it looks like my harvest won't be as good as in the past. Surprisingly, my Chinook plant didn't suffer during the same hot spell and I have already harvested and dried approx. 350g from the one plant that I have.

Cheers,

Wally

[seymour]

Seymour, have you actually brewed and tasted this beer? IMO a recipe that obtains 65 - 70 IBUs from Pride of Ringwood(POR) would be very harsh....

Edit. You also need a little wheat malt in there...Checkout the Coopers whiteboard photo from the book Amber and Black by Willie Simpson.

Such great info, thanks again for sharing! I have corrected my original post above.
-Seymour