My shot at Dark Lord, brewed on Dark Lord Day!

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All beers look the same, but that isn't the point amigo ;) we still like to see what yours looks like
 
Ok you asked for it!
EmperorPour.jpg
 
ahhh, that's nice. Dark SOB for sure. It would be interesting to get a clear wine glass and swirl it and see if there are any "legs" for lack of a better word. That should show the viscosity and alcohol content. Not expecting an action shot, but for your own good might be useful.
 
This looks awesome. I bought all the stuff for this and will be pitching it onto a US-05 yeast cake which came from two packets. I'll update it as it goes.
 
Be sure to aerate the beer a lot and give it some nutrients in the boil, you are going to need help getting good attenuation with this big of a beer!
 
Brewed this as a 2.5 gallon batch today. Made some changes to the recipe, specifically going only with Warrior hops so I didn't have unused portions. Also, I had a slight bit more Molasses, .75 lbs instead of .63. Other than that no changes. After a 90 minute aggressive boil, I got 5 gallons of wort boiled into 2.5 gallons. I estimated around 60% efficiency would be my goal with such a large beer. Hit 61% with an OG of 1.136. Poured the 2.5 gallons into 6 gallon Better Bottle onto a US-05 yeast cake which came from using two packets of dry yeast on a strong brown ale and then shook the crap out of it till it was a foamy . Within 10 minutes there was blowoff tube activity. Within 45 minutes there was about 3 inches of krausen and climbing. Good thing there is plenty of headspace. Thanks for the recipe, I'll update as it chugs along.
 
One week in, it is down to 1.035, which puts it at 13.32%:tank: It still going to sit in primary for another week, and then probably two weeks in a secondary with some oak chips and vanilla bean (not sure if it will be a bean or extract at bottling). Looks like thats 72% attenuation for that US-05 yeast cake. I think it drop another few points.

The taste was actually pretty smooth and the alcohol burn was not prominent, but in the background. Black as night with a little brown around the edge. The molasses was prominent, but not overpowering, with the tast of coffee and dark chocolate in there also. I'm sure the molasses will tone down a bit as it ages and should blend well with the oak and vanilla.

More updates to follow, thanks for the recipe.
 
Left this in primary for 4 weeks. It finished fermentation at 1.032 (13.75% abv) with a very compact trub bed at the bottom. I wanted to try to Oak this so I racked it to a smaller 3 gallon carboy onto 1 Oz. of Lt. American Oak Chips which had been soaked in Vodka for about an hour. After a day on oak, you could smell the aroma similar to bourbon coming through (read Awesome). After eight days on the oak chips, I was able to bottle almost two gallons exactly. I only used 1 oz of corn sugar to carbonate it at the low end of the stout range.

Taste at bottling was great. I could notably taste chocolate, licorice, oak and some vanilla (and I don't have a good palate for these things). The alcohol was not prominent, but present. Definitely viscous, with long brown legs when swirled in the glass. My wife thought it tasted like a "desert beer" and asked that we open a bottle after each Thanksgiving for the next five years. I will have to take her up on that.

This is by far the largest and most complex beer I've constructed to date. I would recommend everyone take on at least one beer this large just for the learning involved. I think I will find myself being a BIG beer addict.

My first one will be cracked sometime around Halloween so I will update with pics then.
 
I'm thinking as soon as I get my brew system fixed and some money I'll brew this recipe. I may do the 2.5 gallon batch like FailureDrill did as that would be easier, though I would need a 3 gallon secondary.
 
After about two months in the bottle, I cracked one open.

Appearance: Black as a Coal Mine at night. Not much carbonation, though a tiny film of bubbles escorts the fluid to the bottom as it is consumed.

Aroma: There is a sweetness there, a stong aroma of licorice, the oak comes through and an obvious strong malty presence.

Taste: Interesting to say the least. At about 14%, the alcohol is not nearly as strong as I expected. Quite drinkable in that regard. The Molasses/licorice is the strongest flavor, followed on by a roasted taste which gives way to the hop bitterness at the end. I think there is some dark chocolate there also.

Overall: Definitely a sipper, a 12 oz bottle should be SHARED by a friend. I think I would certainly tone back the molasses next time to let the other flavors through, possible let it sit longer on the oak chips. Without much carbonation it has the consistency of a hearty red wine, leaving stickiness on your lips as you drink it. Overall, I would say it was a successful brew. Certainly learned a lot about my system while making it. In regards to brewing, I think using the leftover runnings as a smaller beer would make alot of sense. I am going to remake this one, but change the recipe towards a different direction. I'm also going to keg the batch, bulk age it for a while and then bottle it form the keg with Biermunchers system to give it the proper carbonation I think it needs.

Thanks for the recipe!
 
Mine was basically flat, which I think was from not enough corn sugar and the high ABV. I think with kegging I can control it and get it to the level more mirroring commercial variations.
 
I saw some activity in this thread and remembered I had a bottle of The Emperor thats been in the fridge for a few weeks, heres a fully mature review! It is MUCH better than the last time I tried it. This beer should age pretty nicely.

EmperorNov09.jpg

Appearance: Black, very very black. Thin dark tan head that sticks around and after a while settles down to a crown. Jostling of the glass during drinking seems to kick up a little more carbonation.

Aroma: Huge and complex yet approachable. Bittersweet dark chocolate, molasses, some dried fig/date and raw bready aromas, some roastiness and maybe a touch of sherry-like nice oxidization.

Flavor: Big, enticing, bold, very smooth. Again a fine bittersweet dark chocolate becomes a good comparison. A little initial almost chocolatey sweetness up front before almost coffee-like roastiness, some molasses sweetness and mead-like fermented honey characters (2lbs of honey), some dark malts and bitterness as it finishes. The flavors are huge you have to take a few sips before getting a real handle on how many things are going on here.

Mouthfeel: Ultra rich and intense, but surprisingly not super thick due to the 80% attenuation and because of this it doesn't tire on the mouth. Oily, coats the mouth and lingers for a while. It engages the mouth and takes it for a ride. Since this is a sipping beer I feel it is quite good.

Overall: This is one mother of a beer and definitely a sipper. The alcohol is well hidden but the warming in the chest is noticable. It barely avoids being too big and too sweet and doesn't come down harsh.

I'm really enjoying this beer now, I'll have to have some buddies over and we can crack open a Dark Lord and Emperor bottle and do some comparisons.
 
Wow this beer sounds amazing. Did you ever end up comparing it to the real deal? You mentioned swapping in Special B, but is there anything else differently you would do now that its matured?
 
I haven't done the tasting yet. I have a bottle of 09 and a bomber of my attempt that I need to crack open and compare. Probably in a few weeks I'll get a chance!
 
I haven't done the tasting yet. I have a bottle of 09 and a bomber of my attempt that I need to crack open and compare. Probably in a few weeks I'll get a chance!
Wait another month and you can do a vertical tasting.
 
My friends and I made pretty much this a while back and aged it in a bourbon barrel with vanilla beans. Having had DL, this recipe tastes nothing like it. It's a good beer, not a great one with actually very little stout characteristic at all. I would think of it more as a Strong Ale. DL is so much thicker and sweeter, this has nowhere near that body. That said, DL isn't really that great to begin with.

For those looking for a different beer to brew, try it out, but don't expect a stout and certainly don't expect anything like DL.
 
Another bump looking for updates. Obviously bringing back a thread this old is an attempt to hear if the aging is still continuing to mellow/improve.
 
I've only got a few bottles of this left but I've never had the chance to do a side by side with a Dark Lord. I haven't had one in over a year since I only have bombers left and its a big ass beer! If someone could donate a Dark Lord 2009 or previous (since 2010s are now 15%) I would be happy to compare! :)
 
saq said:
I've only got a few bottles of this left but I've never had the chance to do a side by side with a Dark Lord. I haven't had one in over a year since I only have bombers left and its a big ass beer! If someone could donate a Dark Lord 2009 or previous (since 2010s are now 15%) I would be happy to compare! :)

That's like asking Fatty to give up his burger
 
Curious as to how you did your mash. Did you steep anything? Or did you mash all your grains - base, roasted, carmels, etc - all at the same time with a 1.5qt/# ratio? Or something entirely different?

I just tried an RIS cold steeping my roasted grains and it was lame.
 
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