Hi,
Does anyone out there have a recipe for the Dark Side stout from Bath Ales?
Have found lots of offerings for their Gem, but not this one.
Would love to have a crack at it, it's got to be one of the nicest, smoothest stouts I've ever had...
Please?!?!
Bath Ales Dark Side Recipe...?
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seymour
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Re: Bath Ales Dark Side Recipe...?
Very good question. I can't find anything more specific than the brewer's own description on their website. If their marketing is to be trusted, we can infer it contains base malt, wheat malt, plus roasted malt (as opposed to roasted barley, which is a key distinction in making stouts, as Guinness is the paradigm for so many people...) and Fuggles hops.
We're left to guess, so I suggest playing around with your favorite brewing calculator, website, spreadsheet, software, etc (many of which are free) and build a recipe containing:
50-80% English 2-Row Pale Malt
10-45% Wheat Malt (I suspect this is where the smoothness you describe comes from, and surprisingly, there are some nice stouts containing up to 50% wheat)
8-16% Black Malt, maybe combined with a little Brown Malt and/or Chocolate Malt
up to an expected 4% ABV
Fuggles hops, most in the full boil, a little bit at 15 minutes remaining, up to around 25 IBU
Ferment with a classic English ale yeast of your choice, depending on your impression of Dark Side, expecting low 70's% apparent attenuation.
I don't know if that helps you much, but it should be a fun learning exercise.
One last thought:
Many times, regional craft breweries are very cool and friendly toward homebrewers. They won't give away the shop for free, but I've found if you do your homework, pump their ego a bit, and show them your proposed clone recipe, they'll be flattered into giving you some very specific tips and tweaks. This is more effective with the actual brewers than owners, by the way. It looks like this is an up-to-date email address: roger@bathales.co.uk
We're left to guess, so I suggest playing around with your favorite brewing calculator, website, spreadsheet, software, etc (many of which are free) and build a recipe containing:
50-80% English 2-Row Pale Malt
10-45% Wheat Malt (I suspect this is where the smoothness you describe comes from, and surprisingly, there are some nice stouts containing up to 50% wheat)
8-16% Black Malt, maybe combined with a little Brown Malt and/or Chocolate Malt
up to an expected 4% ABV
Fuggles hops, most in the full boil, a little bit at 15 minutes remaining, up to around 25 IBU
Ferment with a classic English ale yeast of your choice, depending on your impression of Dark Side, expecting low 70's% apparent attenuation.
I don't know if that helps you much, but it should be a fun learning exercise.
One last thought:
Many times, regional craft breweries are very cool and friendly toward homebrewers. They won't give away the shop for free, but I've found if you do your homework, pump their ego a bit, and show them your proposed clone recipe, they'll be flattered into giving you some very specific tips and tweaks. This is more effective with the actual brewers than owners, by the way. It looks like this is an up-to-date email address: roger@bathales.co.uk
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holley_dave
Re: Bath Ales Dark Side Recipe...?
Many thanks for that!
Will have to have a play around with that idea and may well sent the brewer an email at some point...
Thanks again!!
Will have to have a play around with that idea and may well sent the brewer an email at some point...
Thanks again!!