Dark Knight - Dark Lord Clone

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stoneman

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I know the chances of me ever making it out for Dark Lord day are slim to none, so I have been wanting to try making a clone.

This is what I have so far. I think I am going to do a batch of oatmeal stout first, and then I thought I would rack this onto the yeast cake. I found a recipe on line and have modified it slightly.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: nottingham yeast cake
Yeast Starter: no
Batch Size (Gallons): 2.5
Predicted Original Gravity: 1.127
Original Gravity:
Predicted Final Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity:
Predicted ABV: 13
IBU: 100
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 53
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F

11.75# Pale malt
1# Crystal 120
0.5# Roasted Barley (350l)
0.5# Chocolate (330l)
0.5# Special B
0.5# Barley Flakes
1# Treacle
1# Honey
1 cup Tim Horton’s Coffee Grinds
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 vanilla bean (secondary)


2oz Zeus (Columbus) hops at 60 min
.5 oz Cascade hop at 15 min
nottingham yeast

Single infusion mash at 154F for 60 min.


Add Treacle, Honey, Cascade hops & Irish moss for last 15 minutes.

At flame out add Coffee grounds & steep for 15 minutes.

Rack onto vanilla bean in Secondary

I have never tried making a beer this big (or expensive!). Any Suggestions?
 
Mash the barley flakes in a separate tun if you can. Even with rice hulls, it would gum up your MLT, and with all that grain pushing down, whatever you use for a manifold/braid is going to get clogged.

OMG, wait, I just saw that this is for 2.5 gallons?!?!?! I'm at work and can't run the numbers, but I would think your ABV would be MUCH higher. I don't know if Notting will chew through that much... I'm guessing you're more like 20% ABV.
 
OMG, wait, I just saw that this is for 2.5 gallons?!?!?! I'm at work and can't run the numbers, but I would think your ABV would be MUCH higher. I don't know if Notting will chew through that much... I'm guessing you're more like 20% ABV.

I ran the numbers through "the Brewer's Recipe Calculator" to get 13%, but I might have screwed up the calculations somewhere.http://powersbrewery.home.comcast.net/~powersbrewery/mastercalculator.html
I thought Notting was okay for higher gravity brews, I guess more research is in order.

Any other comments or concerns you guys might have?:mug:
 
Yep I screwed up the numbers, nottingham has higher attenuation than the yeast strain I had listed. I have found a closer match and I am reformating the numbers.
 
New numbers (upped to 3 gallons)

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: nottingham yeast cake
Yeast Starter: no
Batch Size (Gallons): 3
Predicted Original Gravity: 1.117
Original Gravity:
Predicted Final Gravity: 1.03
Final Gravity:
Predicted ABV: 13.1
IBU: 101
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 54
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F

12# Pale malt
1.25# Crystal 120
0.6# Roasted Barley (350l)
0.6# Chocolate (330l)
0.6# Special B
0.6# Barley Flakes
1# Treacle
1# Honey
1 cup Tim Horton’s Coffee Grinds
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 vanilla bean (secondary)


2oz Zeus (Columbus) hops at 60 min
.5 oz Cascade hop at 15 min
nottingham yeast

Mash at 154F for 60 min.


Add Treacle, Honey, Cascade hops & Irish moss for last 15 minutes.

At flame out add Coffee grounds & steep for 15 minutes.

Rack onto vanilla bean in Secondary
 
Has anyone here ever actually checked the FG of DL? I have and it's in the 60's (07 batch)! Hard to believe I know. This beer has massive bitterness from the dark malts and hops to balance the sweet malt. I'd make the original gravity MUCH higher, and plan on finishing in the 40s-50s.

Also, one cup of finely ground coffee is an awful lot. You don't want it to overpower the beer. It's barely noticeable in Dark Lord. I'd say 1/2cup of coarsely ground beans would get you close.

What is the predicted SRM on this beer? I'm thinking you need some darker, higher kilned malts in there.
 
Okay 1/2 cup coffee.
SRM is coming in at 54.
What SRM do you think I should be aiming for?

I'd say 70+. That is merely my opinion though. Also plan on a really long boil. 2+ hours to really get it carmelized, and to also to get your gravity up.

For a 5 gallon batch I'd say at least 1.5 lbs of Roasted Barley, and nearly as much Chocolate. You want this thing BLACK, roasty, and bitter chocolate to offset the sweetness. I'd also cut down on the 120 a bit. You won't need the extra residual sweetness that provides. Somewhere around .25-.50 should suffice. Hope this helps!
 
I decided to try making a big beer for my next batch.
I initially asked in the All grain forum, but It really should have been in this area.
I know my chances of making it out for dark lord day are slim to none, so I wanted to try making a big rich beer of my own.
For my initial recipe I had fudged the numbers, so I fixed it and reposted.
Then it sounded like I had too much crystal and coffee, but not enough roasted barley and chocolate Malt.

So here is my most recent recipe, do you guys have any more advice or suggestions?

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: nottingham yeast 1.1 packages
Yeast Starter: no
Batch Size (Gallons): 3
Predicted Original Gravity: 1.116
Original Gravity:
Predicted Final Gravity: 1.029
Final Gravity:
Predicted ABV: 13%
IBU: 104
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 78
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14days @ 65F

10.5# Pale malt
1# Crystal 120
1# Roasted Barley (350l)
1.5# Chocolate (330l)
0.5# Special B
0.5# Barley Flakes
1# Treacle
1# Honey
1/2 cup Tim Horton’s Coffee Grinds
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 vanilla bean (secondary)


2oz Zeus (Columbus) 15%hops at 60 min
.5 oz Cascade hop 7% at 15 min
nottingham yeast

Mash at 154F for 60 min.


Add Treacle, Honey, Cascade hops & Irish moss for last 15 minutes.

At flame out add Coffee grounds & steep for 15 minutes.

Rack onto vanilla bean in Secondary


I was initially just going to rack it onto the yeast cake of my current batch of Oatmeal stout, but research here has frightened me off. Mr Malty suggests 1.1 11.5 gram packages. So I was thinking I would pitch it with 1 pack and sightly underpitch, and keep another pack for later pitching if required.

Do you guys have any other advice or suggestions?
 
I'm going to attempt this one tomorrow, I decided to use pure (fancy) molasses instead of the treacle. I'm still debating on pitching 1 pack and slightly underpitching (Mr. Malty suggests 1.1), while keeping another pack in reserve. Or just throwing them both in and hoping for the best. I also decided to mash at 150.

Any last minute tips or suggestions?
 
I pour half a glass every couple of weeks, to see how it is coming.
It's still a little too hot and needs more conditioning time, but one day I hope I can report back that the trial was a success.
I have never had the dark lord, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
 
I pour half a glass every couple of weeks, to see how it is coming.
It's still a little too hot and needs more conditioning time, but one day I hope I can report back that the trial was a success.
I have never had the dark lord, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
 

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