Dark Beer (not stout) recipe suggestions?

[techtone]

I am really enjoying my all grain and particularly the pale ales with lots of amarillo, cascade etc. and have done a few traditional bitters, HSB, london pride, 49'er etc. Also a couple of Irish Stout. All great!

At the beer festivals, I normally encounter the occasional "dark beer" and they have that distinctive taste.(different to stout) It appears to me, to be more of an acquired taste and one that I would grow to like, although not as a session beer.

Trouble is I am not particularly familiar with this style and cannot remember any beer names but would like to try making one.

So can anyone suggest any recipes, ideally clones of something that might be available at the festivals?

I do have black malt in my stocks (is it this that gives that taste?) Have only used 50g in a 5g batch which would only have been for colour.

[arkadiuszmakarenko]

Baltic Porter

4kg pale malt
4kg vienna malt
0,5kg carapils malt
0,2kg crystal
0,12kg chocolate malt
0,2kg black malt

Mashing 66C for 70 minutes.

Hops:
40g Marynka hops for 90 minutes boil
30g Lubelski hops last 20 minutes
some Irish Moss last 15 minutes

I uses Wyeast California Common slurry, a lot of it. But US05 would do the same job. But for this beer i think 2 packs would be required.

SG aprox 1.090

[techtone]

Getting drunk just looking at the ingredients list but getting confused too. So are all dark beers "stouts"/"porters" or is there a separate style. (I guess it depends on the degree) So what is the flavour I associate with "dark beers" that are not prevent in the stouts I am familiar with?

[arkadiuszmakarenko]

Getting drunk just looking at the ingredients list but getting confused too. So are all dark beers "stouts"/"porters" or is there a separate style. (I guess it depends on the degree) So what is the flavour I associate with "dark beers" that are not prevent in the stouts I am familiar with?

It is Baltic porter, it is different than porter aviliable in UK, but you have other dark beers as well like:
scottish ales
Dunkel weizen - dark german style wheat beer with banana/clover aroma.
schwarzbier ,
Bockbeers ...
or stuff like Dark IPAs and many many more

Every one with different profile.

In stouts you use roasted barley in quite large quantities, so it has huge impact on taste ,which not everyone like.
But dark malts like chocolate, dark crystal, or even wheat chocolate malt will give you different profile.

[GARYSMIFF]

dont start me on style;) you want to make a Dark beer go for it, I made a Dark beer and called it a stout and was shot down because it had no Roasted Barley in it!!

last 2 Dark beers I made are here

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=41609

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=41757

one is Porter the other a Stout

[dave-o]

Do you want a roasty taste, a malty taste or just the colour?

[leedsbrew]

For a dark ale, nice and malty but without the 'roasty' flavour of a stout I don't think you can do much better than Hawkshead's "Brodie's Prime"!

I did a clone of it last year and it turned out great! Very close to the original!

23L
OG 1.054
FG 1.013
ABV 5.4%
IBU = 38.8
23.8 SRM

Mash 66oC 60 mins
boil 90 mins

Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
UK Pale Ale Malt 3.921 kg 65.0 % 3.6 In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal 0.603 kg 10.0 % 11.0 In Mash/Steeped
UK Wheat Malt 0.603 kg 10.0 % 0.4 In Mash/Steeped
UK Rolled Oats 0.603 kg 10.0 % 0.5 In Mash/Steeped
UK Chocolate Malt 0.302 kg 5.0 % 41.2 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
UK Fuggle 3.9 % 56 g 21.2 Loose Whole Hops All Of Boil
UK Bramling Cross 5.7 % 46 g 11.8 Loose Whole Hops 15 Min From End
US Cascade 7.6 % 20 g 2.7 Loose Whole Hops 5 Min From End
UK Bramling Cross 5.7 % 15 g 0.0 Loose Whole Hops At turn off
US Cascade 7.6 % 15 g 0.0 Loose Whole Hops At turn off


Other Ingredients
Ingredient Amount When
Protafloc 6 g In Boil


Yeast
White Labs WLP005-British Ale


I did a batch as a present for my brother and he loved it!

[techtone]

Do you want a roasty taste, a malty taste or just the colour?

Was thinking more smoky dry burnt than roast but hey, maybe I need some more research It is quite a strong flavour I am after, almost overpowering. I like the roasted flavours of a stout but the beer I have in mind for this recipe is definitely different.

[dave-o]

"Smoky"? Hmm, I wonder how rauchmalz and roast barley would go together...

Something like:
10% rauch
3% roast barley



Although i wonder if what you are looking for for this beer is chocolate malt. And no it doesn't taste of chocolate, it tastes roasty, although not as roasty as roast barley.

[Barley Water]

Humm, sounds to me like the lad go hold of something with a bit of brown malt in it. Might I suggest a brown porter along the lines of Fuller's London Porter (one of my favorite beers by the way). You should be able to find a fomulation on these forums easily. It's the brown malt in that beer that makes it along with the Fuller's yeast which leaves a bit of diacetyl, one of the great beers of all time (Meantime also makes a damn good porter, just as good in fact).

[Dr. Dextrin]

I think of chocolate malt as tasting like a really dark-roasted instant coffee (the "chocolate" refers to the colour, not the taste). It's quite an intense, sometimes sharp, flavour that can easily take over.

I think of roasted barley as like the black bits you scrape off burnt toast. Very dark, burnt-tasting but not nearly as sharp as chocolate malt. It can often produce a smooth, dry flavour (e.g. in stout) but lets other flavours show through much better than chocolate malt. So it works well if you just add a bit to a recipe for, say, a strong bitter (much less than you'd use for a stout, though).

Most dark UK beers I can think of probably lie somwhere between the two flavours, so probably use a bit of each.

Does that help at all?

[leedsbrew]

one of the great beers of all time (Meantime also makes a damn good porter, just as good in fact).

Your right there matey! I've still got a keg of porter based on their recipe left in the garage that is 3 months old now and tasting awesome!


Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
UK Pale Ale Malt 5.431 kg 48.3 % 3.2 In Mash/Steeped
UK Munich Malt 2.653 kg 23.6 % 2.9 In Mash/Steeped
UK Brown Malt 0.888 kg 7.9 % 9.8 In Mash/Steeped
German Smoked Malt 0.888 kg 7.9 % 0.4 In Mash/Steeped
UK Medium Crystal 0.506 kg 4.5 % 5.9 In Mash/Steeped
UK Wheat Malt 0.281 kg 2.5 % 0.1 In Mash/Steeped
UK Chocolate Malt 0.247 kg 2.2 % 21.6 In Mash/Steeped
UK Oat Malt 0.225 kg 2.0 % 0.1 In Mash/Steeped
UK Black Malt 0.124 kg 1.1 % 13.0 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
UK Fuggle 3.9 % 99 g 20.8 Loose Whole Hops All Of Boil
UK Fuggle 4.5 % 53 g 4.5 Loose Whole Hops 10 Min From End
UK Fuggle 4.5 % 53 g 0.0 Loose Whole Hops At turn off


Other Ingredients
Ingredient Amount When
Protafloc 8 g In Boil


Yeast
Danstar-Nottingham

[TC2642]

"Smoky"? Hmm, I wonder how rauchmalz and roast barley would go together...

Something like:
10% rauch
3% roast barley



Although i wonder if what you are looking for for this beer is chocolate malt. And no it doesn't taste of chocolate, it tastes roasty, although not as roasty as roast barley.

Using a small proportion of peat malt is quite tasty in a porter.

[arkadiuszmakarenko]

"Smoky"? Hmm, I wonder how rauchmalz and roast barley would go together...

Something like:
10% rauch
3% roast barley



Although i wonder if what you are looking for for this beer is chocolate malt. And no it doesn't taste of chocolate, it tastes roasty, although not as roasty as roast barley.

Using a small proportion of peat malt is quite tasty in a porter.

IMHO
Beechwood smoked malt yes! Peat malt ... leave this malt for whiskey