Orkney Dark ISland

clibit · Oct 30, 2015

Rather than carry on disrupting the Newcastle Brown thread, I'll stick my attempt at a recipe for Dark Island in this new thread. the brewery website tells us the ingredients:

A classic Scottish dark ale with chocolate and roasted malt flavours. Brewed with Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate and Wheat malts and hopped with First Gold and Goldings hops. So...

Batch Size (L): 23.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.045
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.42 %
Colour (SRM): 25.9 (EBC): 51.0
Bitterness (IBU): 31.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

3.900 kg Pale Malt (85.25%)
0.275 kg Chocolate (6.01%)
0.200 kg Crystal Medium 145 EBC (4.37%)
0.200 kg Wheat Malt (4.37%)

40.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
30.0 g First Gold Leaf (8.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes

(I've used First Gold as the flavour hops purely out of my love for them, it may well be the other way round. And the real thing may well use less hops than this per litre)

The pint I had was more chocolate than crystal. I've no idea which crystal it uses, so I've gone for the standard medium. But it may be dark crystal. The amount of chocolate and crystal, and the type of crystal, are the main unknown factors.

Mash at 67ÃÂ°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment at 18-20ÃÂ°C with Safale US-05 or Nottingham. The pint I had seemed very neutral on the yeast front.

MyQul · Oct 30, 2015

Fantastic Clibit! I'm going to make this next (after the mild tommorow). I'll buy some more First Gold for this as well for as a lovely bitter I'm currently slurpping on but have almost run out of.

I'll also move the thread to the completed receipe section too so I can find it again

clibit · Oct 30, 2015

Cool. It's just a guess, so you are the guinea pig. But I believe chocolate is the key malt, the yeast is neutral, having had a pint of it once, and we know what the two hops are. Hopefully this will be in the right ball park. The ABV is right, and the IBUs shouldn't be far out.

YeastFace · Oct 30, 2015

Will ad to the to do list. You guys ever had the Reserve? I had the 2012, was sublime.

clibit · Oct 30, 2015

No, never. I bet it's fantastic.

MyQul · Oct 30, 2015

Looks great. Wonder where I might get a bottle of the original to compare? Surely there must be somewhere to buy it in the Big Smoke - you can buy everything/anything else

clibit · Oct 30, 2015

MyQul said:
Looks great. Wonder where I might get a bottle of the original to compare? Surely there must be somewhere to buy it in the Big Smoke - you can buy everything/anything else

Some supermarkets stock it - check online. I should do that myself. I've only ever had one pint, in a pub. Never had the bottled version.

MyQul · Oct 30, 2015

Quick google..Waitrose stock it. There's two large ones where I work in posh kingston/surbiton

clibit · Oct 30, 2015

The above is not a completed and brewed recipe. This is the best brown ale I have made to date, it was an adaptation of a Dark island recipe I found on a forum. I changed the hops and upped the crystal, it was fantastic, but was nowt like the Dark Island I drank in the pub:

Batch Size (L): 13.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.047
Final Gravity (FG): 1.009
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.04 %
Colour (SRM): 18.5 (EBC): 36.4
Bitterness (IBU): 34.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 79
Boil Time (Minutes): 70

1.895 kg Maris Otter Malt (79.16%)
0.144 kg Brown Sugar, Light (6.02%)
0.144 kg Crystal 40 (6.02%)
0.118 kg Wheat Malt (4.93%)
0.093 kg Chocolate (3.88%)

7.0 g Centennial Leaf (11.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
7.0 g Centennial Leaf (11.5% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
7.0 g Centennial Leaf (11.5% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
3.3 g Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)

Mashed at 67ÃÂ°C for 75 Minutes.
Fermented at 18ÃÂ°C with Gervin Ale Yeast

MyQul · Oct 30, 2015

It will be in a couple of weeks time when I make it.

I'll see how the first one goes and then make the second one to compare

pms67 · Oct 31, 2015

clibit said:
Rather than carry on disrupting the Newcastle Brown thread, I'll stick my attempt at a recipe for Dark Island in this new thread. the brewery website tells us the ingredients:

A classic Scottish dark ale with chocolate and roasted malt flavours. Brewed with Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate and Wheat malts and hopped with First Gold and Goldings hops. So...

Batch Size (L): 23.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.045
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.42 %
Colour (SRM): 25.9 (EBC): 51.0
Bitterness (IBU): 31.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

3.900 kg Pale Malt (85.25%)
0.275 kg Chocolate (6.01%)
0.200 kg Crystal Medium 145 EBC (4.37%)
0.200 kg Wheat Malt (4.37%)

40.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
30.0 g First Gold Leaf (8.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes

(I've used First Gold as the flavour hops purely out of my love for them, it may well be the other way round. And the real thing may well use less hops than this per litre)

The pint I had was more chocolate than crystal. I've no idea which crystal it uses, so I've gone for the standard medium. But it may be dark crystal. The amount of chocolate and crystal, and the type of crystal, are the main unknown factors.

Mash at 67ÃÂ°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment at 18-20ÃÂ°C with Safale US-05 or Nottingham. The pint I had seemed very neutral on the yeast front.

The original is a nice, nice beer
Its dragging me from lagers to dark beers
But at two quid a bottle, its a slow progress

BreadMurderer · Oct 31, 2015

Absolutely fantastic beer, one of my fav's. The reserve is also a delicious drop, the higher alcohol really helps boost the flavours I think. I did a clone of this when I was brewing in Oz, got good reviews from the club, will see if I can find my recipe.

I'm also having my 30th birthday party at the brewery next year, that's how much I love their brews. :-)

BreadMurderer · Oct 31, 2015

Dark Island
Dry Stout
Recipe Specs
-------------------------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.300
Total Hops (g): 50.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.056
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.50
Colour (SRM): 28.8 (EBC): 56.7
Bitterness (IBU): 51.3 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency ( ): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 90
Grain Bill
-----------------------------------
4.500 kg Pale Malt (84.91 )
0.400 kg Chocolate (7.55 )
0.250 kg Crystal 120 (4.72 )
0.150 kg Torrified Wheat (2.83 )
Hop Bill
-------------------------------------
44.0 g Challenger Pellet (7.9 Alpha) @ 90 Minutes (Boil) (2.2 g L) 6.0 g Challenger Pellet (7.9 Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 g L) Misc Bill
-----------------------------------------------
Multi step Infusion at 45C for 30 Minutes, 65C for 50 Minutes, 70C for 10 Minutes.
Fermented at 20C with Mangrove Jacks M07 British Ale Yeast

clibit · Oct 31, 2015

Interesting murderer, thanks. Similar grain percentages. Different hops. Different ABV, yours must be nearer the Reserve strength. Your IBUs are much higher, and I don't think ODI is that bitter. Maybe you will glean some info from your visit. Which sounds like the perfect 30th bash to me. :thumb:

BreadMurderer · Oct 31, 2015

As far as I remember I think I did tweak the recipe a fair bit as I wanted it a tad stronger (Reserve is 10%). Was bloody tasty though, I'll need to repeat it when I can.

mirsultankhan · Oct 31, 2015

clibit said:
Rather than carry on disrupting the Newcastle Brown thread, I'll stick my attempt at a recipe for Dark Island in this new thread. the brewery website tells us the ingredients:

A classic Scottish dark ale with chocolate and roasted malt flavours. Brewed with Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate and Wheat malts and hopped with First Gold and Goldings hops. So...

Batch Size (L): 23.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.045
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.42 %
Colour (SRM): 25.9 (EBC): 51.0
Bitterness (IBU): 31.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

3.900 kg Pale Malt (85.25%)
0.275 kg Chocolate (6.01%)
0.200 kg Crystal Medium 145 EBC (4.37%)
0.200 kg Wheat Malt (4.37%)

40.0 g East Kent Golding Leaf (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes
30.0 g First Gold Leaf (8.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes

(I've used First Gold as the flavour hops purely out of my love for them, it may well be the other way round. And the real thing may well use less hops than this per litre)

The pint I had was more chocolate than crystal. I've no idea which crystal it uses, so I've gone for the standard medium. But it may be dark crystal. The amount of chocolate and crystal, and the type of crystal, are the main unknown factors.

Mash at 67ÃÂ°C for 60 Minutes.
Ferment at 18-20ÃÂ°C with Safale US-05 or Nottingham. The pint I had seemed very neutral on the yeast front.

hmmm i fancy this, but I don't have any First Gold, I could use some Styrians or some Williamette. ALL my FV's are full up so it will need to be a minibrew, 9 litres to fill up two 1 gallon demijohns.

mirsultankhan · Oct 31, 2015

Dark Island - Scottish Export 80/- (9C)
Brewer MSK
Date 31:10:2015
Batch Size 20.000 L
Boil Size 25.500 L
Boil Time 60.000 min
Efficiency 70%
OG 1.053
FG 1.013
ABV 5.1%
IBU 29.9 (Tinseth)
Color 11.3 srm (Morey)
Calories (per 12 oz.) 174

Total grain: 5.170 kg

Fermentables
Pale Malt (2 Row) UK 4.500 kg
Brown Malt (British Chocolate) 400.000 g
Wheat, Torrified 150.000 g
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L 120.000 g

Hops
Kent Goldings 5.5% 40.000 g Boil 60.000 min
Styrian Goldings 4.5% 15.000 g Boil 10.000 min
Willamette 5.0% 15.000 g Boil 10.000 min

Yeast
Safale S-04 Ale Dry 11.000 g Primary

mirsultankhan · Oct 31, 2015

in the end used 20g EKG and 14g Styrian for 9 litre batch split between two one gallon demis, will ferment one with S-04 and another with M44.

mirsultankhan · Nov 1, 2015

I gotta tell you guys that my efficiency on this one was not good,

I expected an OG of around 1053 and instead I have an OG of merely 1044. The mash I don't even think lost a full degree for the sixty minutes, it was more like half a degree and was just sitting at about 66.5 after an hour. I sparged and collected 13.5 litres of pre boil wort calculating that I would lose roughly 4.5 to the boil which was the case, give or take half a litre. I wonder if it was the relatively high percentage of dark malts that upset my mash, because the water is soft as it is and this may have lowered the PH and made the mash less efficient? I am also wondering that as the overall grain was relatively small there is more room for error when brewing small batches. I also wonder if the mash liquor has some effect on the mash efficiency, because I was advised by the calculators to use about 5.2 litres of water but used instead about 7 because i was worried that the small amount of grain might make it difficult to filter through my copper manifold. Any ideas?

clibit · Nov 1, 2015

Not sure sorry. Possibly the dark grains, which will have affected the PH. I have usually steeped dark grains separately, but last time I added them half way through the mash, and got very high efficiency.

Orkney Dark ISland

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