" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

[SOS_OPA]

I went ahead and did it - I'm 90% sure it was the right stuff. The base of the can was stamped 'DARK' and as it happens my last brew was a wheat (with Wheat LME) and this definitely seemed darker.
I also added the end of a packet of cane sugar (280g for those who like figures)

Then, having decided I'd make it up to 23L to balance out the extra fermentables, I cocked up and filled it to 24 :-/ So the OG is 1.043 - a little bit weaker than I wanted, but no harm.

God it smells great!! I have it well wrapped up in bin bags and I feel like Frankenstein's kid on Christmas Eve - can't wait to go down in the morning to see my new brain

[simco999]

Top man - whatever its All fermentables- might be a monster!!

[undeadjed]

Cheers for the guide Ditch.Coopers stout was surely sent by the gods.
Got a few bottles put by but the keg emptied fast
Will be doing another asap.

[crafty john]

Cheers for the guide Ditch.Coopers stout was surely sent by the gods.
Got a few bottles put by but the keg emptied fast
Will be doing another asap.

You meed to do 5 kits at a time to do the proper Ditch's Stout, that guy sure has a mean paddle arm

[Ditch]

'That guy' has an Artex Paddle and a power drill, mate!

F**k thrashing five in a row! Christ; I'd need to go and lay down between FV's! As it is? My drill allows me to knock up five kits in about the same time as it would take a 'Paddler' to do two

[Ditch]

Adding Coffee / Chocolate ~ An Eternal Question. And, the latest round of / typical discussion has kicked off Here.

Food for thought ....?

[SOS_OPA]

Okay, mate. Ye've got me completely lost and confused now. What in gods name is " Wheat Malt Extract "

I always just figured that malt came from Barley. But, then, people do make " Wheat Beer ", don't they? Dunno what that means either.

How the hell come the labels were switched? Could it possibly be that this stuff was simply wrongly labelled in the first place, so they just said, " Oops! " and stuck the right labels over the top?

Dunno. It's all a bit too confused for me. Very mysterious. Perhaps ye should call this one " Ditch's Stout; The Enigma Variation "

For what it's worth, here's a thread from the Coopers Talk Brewing forum: http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-g ... sts&t=3379

and the quote at the end (in case the link doesn't work!): 'Wanted to post a follow-up to this to say that the beer is delicious. I don't know that the wheat dme made any difference at all, honestly. Either way, I am quite pleased.'

[Ditch]

Err ..... No. I'm afraid that link just led me to the portal, rather than the post. I'm not a member there and can't be arsed to register, just to see a single post.

But, from what ye saying? Looks like your stuff'll be fine, regardless. Simple fact seeming to be; It's f**king hard to make a bad drop of gear with Coopers ingredients!

[Ditch]

Ditch's stout if left at least a month is bloody lovely, it's a great drink young but with the benefit of age is fantastic.

That quote is taken from the 'Chocolate Stout' thread mentioned above. I posted the following response, before realising I was merging both threads and my response would serve better here. So .....

I've said this before, on this thread, but, because it's probably buried beyond many peoples ability to plough through twenty odd pages .....

" Ditch's Stout ", I find, is lovely. Full stop. But; In the summer, when it's not as cold out of the keg? Then it can be absolutely f**king w@nking material!

I'm drinking it as I type. Beer's cold. Even the glass is cold. (No heating in this place just yet. Haven't lit the stove yet, this winter). It's lovely. I'm enjoying it. But, I know, come the warmer weather? Served at something nearer to body temperature? 'Oral Sex'! Because that's when the fullest range of flavours come through.

And, yes; When it's not cold? The flavours from a keg can literally change from day to day. Beauty is that they're All good!

Ah! Here ye go: I just thought to look at thr fridge thermometer I happen to have laying around here. It reads about 13c, in this room. Likely a tad cooler in the room my keg's in. And this stuff is leaving a frozen line down my chest! That cold!

Yet, when I rack off a FV and drink a pint straight away? That'd be at 21c. That makes it taste weird. Too warm and it's no way right.

So, what;s the potential, optimum temp' to drink this stuff at? Dunno. What's 17c in F. ? That'd be the place to start, I guess?

[Mucknbullets]

17C is 62F (thanks www.convert-me.com a free website that will convert just about any unit into any other. Not found one yet it doesn't do(I am in no way affiliated but just find it really useful) )

Went to bottle my DS today, after 2 1/2 weeks (only stopped bubbling a few days ago and hydro reading seems steady), got all my gear out,moved all the bottles I had sterilised last night and left on bottle tree, sterilised priming/ bottling fv etc and then f*ckwit that I am realised I didn't have enough crown caps. To be precise I was only about 32 short!! As they say p1ss poor preparation leads to p1ss poor results. Trip to Wilkinsons tomorrow on the way home for several bags so I don't run out again.

[Ditch]

Oh, what a bummer! And here's me, sat here with a bloody great bag of Coopers crown caps, which their UK rep' kindly sent me in a goodies box. I, of course, don't bottle .....

If only they'd mastered teleportation by now .....

[Mucknbullets]

Ok rub it in

Not for me anyway but may have to have a taste just to see as not drunk anything black and white since some of that commercial crap shipped over from the Emerald Isle many a year back.

[Ditch]

Blasphemy in the temple!!! That generic, tasteless sh!t they produce in Dublin couldn't hold a candle to Coopers! More especially so now that they insist on it being sold at little above ice cold.

No. The nearest connection between what I'm drinking, right now, and That stuff is that they're both black and both liquid. If my gear tasted like Guinness? I'd have given up on it, in disgust, after my first kit. As it is? I've made one or two more of these .....

Try for yeself. Taste why

[Mucknbullets]

I daren't speak its name for incurring the wrath of Radegast and the other brewing Gods (http://socyberty.com/folklore/10-ancient-gods-of-beer/) (some good names there for later use)

" I've made one or two more of these ..... " 10 or 20 thousand pints by now

I shall as it smells lovely (this is from a man who loves his Stella Artois. Beer or Cidre I ain't picky) and hopefully the Bro in law will appreciate its fine taste over that Ice Cold Crap he drinks in the pub. Heathen!

[Mucknbullets]

Well all bottled now and 2nd fermenting to add a little bubble. A swift taste of the sample jar and stout is still not my thing but was a pleasant after taste of caramel and liquorice. Should be appreciated by those who drink it.
As an aside it worked out about 5.5% so about spot on really.

Ta for the recipe, it will be passed onto the guy at work who got me started on the home brewing.