Best Bitter.....??

[GuyG]

Hi all,

First post on forum (except introduction).

I have just poured my 2nd brew for it's first tasting this evening.... The intention for the recipe was a best bitter.

My first thoughts were wow this is alot darker than i was expecting

After doing some investigating it turns out the recipe i devised called for 50g black malt and I somehow ordered 100g and threw it all in the mash

I'm still very happy with the depth of flavour and how it has turned out despite my mistake!!

Question is do you think that this could still pass as a bitter or is it too dark (my inital thoughts were it is way too dark).

Should I label it as a ruby ale or something of that sort?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Guy

 

[The Baron]

Labels don't matter when its for yourself.
Be careful using black malt as it can give a bitter acrid taste to some ales and should be used in smaller amounts and preferably the last 10 minutes of the mash to eliminate too much bitterness and just to extract the colour

 

[GuyG]

Labels don't matter when its for yourself.
Be careful using black malt as it can give a bitter acrid taste to some ales and should be used in smaller amounts and preferably the last 10 minutes of the mash to eliminate too much bitterness and just to extract the colour

Thanks Baron... very true, just didn't want to mis-identify when i was offering it up to my friends

I appreciate the heads up with black malt and will certainly take that into account moving forward

 

[Clint]

Tell them it's a "dark ale"...any hints of them not approving of your brew...kick em out!
You'll find this a good starting point as you'll aquire many friends being a home brewer.

 

[NormanHurst]

There will be an official answer based on BJCP guidelines. No one gives a monkey's.

It's your beer and you can call it what you want. In professional breweries, it's called Marketing .

Clint's suggestion of a Dark Ale sounds spot on.

 

[GuyG]

Thanks guys will do. The fact i called it Harley Quinn (as the prominent hop is Harlequin), dark ale is probably quite fitting

 

[Nucbrewer]

Maybe it’s a black bitter?

 

[MrRook]

Thanks Baron... very true, just didn't want to mis-identify when i was offering it up to my friends

I appreciate the heads up with black malt and will certainly take that into account moving forward

You: "Have a beer."
Your friends: "Thank you."
Problem solved.

 

[Sadfield]

Alternatively, you could just say "it's a Bitter that accidentally came out a little to dark from too much Black malt".

"What's Black Malt?"

"Well, it's......"

Everyone learns something.

 

[GuyG]

Thanks all... gotta make a few schoolboy errors along the way haven't I!

 

[Twostage]

Labels don't matter when its for yourself.
Be careful using black malt as it can give a bitter acrid taste to some ales and should be used in smaller amounts and preferably the last 10 minutes of the mash to eliminate too much bitterness and just to extract the colour

Didn't know that about the last 10 mins

 

[Sadfield]

Thanks all... gotta make a few schoolboy errors along the way haven't I!

Not necessarily by error, but exploring the scope of additions is the best way to learn IMO. It's difficult to ruin a beer with ingredients.

 

[Nucbrewer]

You never know when your going to get an OOPS (outstanding opportunity presents suddenly) innovation can be a happy accident.

 

[Deadhead]

I have been brewing for 9 ish years - and several months ago I was trying brew an American Amber Ale. Except I didn't add of the malts that make it amber. The water profile was all set for the amber ale, etc, etc,. It was only after it was in the fermenter that I realised. Anyways, dry hopped it and had myself a West Coast IPA. Not my best brew, but certainly not one to chuck down the sink. So always learning! And always worth slowing down and checking the recipe to make sure you've got everything the correct weights , in the right order!

Enjoy your dark ale/black bitter/whatever beer

 

[GuyG]

Thank you all

I've gotta say with a bit of time bottle conditioning it has rounded out really nicely and is a very enjoyable pint despite not being quite what I was originally intending... a crystal clear dark ruby ale when lit up but also a bit low on the percieved bitterness... it is almost like a bitter and broadside mix.

I am doing a red IPA on Tuesday and then in a couple weeks I'm going to do a v2 of the Harley Quinn with slightly higher IBUs and swap out the 100g black malt for 50g carafa special and see how that goes.