Type: Modified Kit Brew
Sugars: 1 Coopers Original Series Stout, 1 Coopers Original Series Dark Ale, 500g Medium Dry Malt Extract, 206g Chocolate Malt, steeped from 0 deg to 70 deg in dry malt plus 5l water, 500g Unrefined Demorera Sugar.
Yeast: Kit Yeast x 2
Additions:Water de-chlorinated with 1/2 Campden tablet.
Time in Primary: 3 weeks
Secondary method: Bottle
Time in Secondary: 3 weeks
O.G. 1064
F.G. 1014
Right, so here is the procedure I used.
1. The ingredients.
The idea was based on the 'tucan' stout on the Coopers website ( one can of Original Stout, plus one can of Original Dark Ale), modified to allow the use of chocolate malt steeped in some dissolved DME, and with some simple sugars, 500g of natural unrefined brown sugar in this case, to add some alcohol 'oopmph' and to give the yeasts something to get their teeth into to ensure a thorough fermentation.
2. The Sanitization.
This is my usual method. All the 'stuff' I need is placed in a plastic container filled with thin bleach solution. The FV is filled to the top with the same, as is the wide necked FV, which, once rinsed, is filled again with water treated with 1 teaspoon of Campden powder to dechlorinate it.
.
3. Dissolving the Medium Dry Malt Extract.
About 5 - 6 litres of water is put into this stock pot, and once blood warm, the DME is thrashed in.I fond it mixes in really well as the water heats up without excessive clumping.
4. Weighing out the Chocolate Malt.
I was aiming for 200g of malt, but the odd gram here and there in a 23l brew length won't hurt!
5. Starting the steep.
The choc malt is then placed in a muslin bag, which is lowered into the heating dissolved malt and the end tied to the stock pot handle.
Using a thermometer, I keep an eye on this, and leave it in until the dissolved malt mixture hits around 75 degrees C. It then looks like below, having taken on the chocolate malts colour, and (hopefully) its lovely taste.
6. Removing the bag
I then remove the bag (you can see how dark the liquor has become from the little drips in the container below. The malt was then given to a friends pigs (who gobbled it all up).
Meanwhile, the stock pot is left to come to the boil for half an hour or so to kill off any nasties that would taint the beer.
7. Heating the cans.
Meanwhile, the two kit cans have their labels removed and are placed in a sink of really hot water so that the malt extract pours out easily.
8. Adding the sugar.
At this point, after the boil, I stir in the sugar into the stock pot, which as it's a hot liquid, dissolves easily.
9. Pouring the kit cans into the FV,.
10. Washing out he cans.
Once they have been poured into the FV, the cans were then washed out with the boiled wort, and added to the FV from a decent height, and it all thrashed around.
Once cooled to about 25 degrees C, the two kit yeast sachets are pitched, the FV placed in a builders bucket, with water poured in to bring it up to the top level of the FV. A 25W immersion fish tank heater is added, and set to keep it at a steady 20 degrees C. I didn't put the usual airlock in the bung, as I knew the dark coopers kits like to go mental, so I used a sanitized old syphon tube as a blow off tube, running down to the liquid in the builders bucket as a sort of improvised air lock. Thank god for that, as it went well and truly mental;
11. Batch priming and bottling.
Not many photos here, I'm afraid, but the FV was left for 3 weeks, and the gravity had dropped from 1064 to 1014, steady over 3 days. It was bulked primed with 60g of sugar, and bottled. 3 weeks in the warm, then 2 and a half months in the cold, resulted in the following;
The result was amazing. Really chocolate, coffee notes, and real body. I can't really explain how fantastic this was. Anyway, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so after applying some labels designed by a family fried who is an artist, we had the following ready for Dad's birthday dinner party;
Did they go down well? Oh yes........
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