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If anyone out there can help me with a recipe or some secrets as to how to brew a nice dark drop like tooheys old it would be much appreciated.

grogmonster wrote:If anyone out there can help me with a recipe or some secrets as to how to brew a nice dark drop like tooheys old it would be much appreciated.

The can kit comes out prety good. My father in law and grandfather both favorite this brew and do a Tooheys kit with a kilo of LLME which comes out better than the original IMHO. More like a Carlton Black.

thanks kevnlis

If you like Carlton Black more than Tooheys Old (which I do) you should be pleased by this result. Give it a go and if you don't like it we can try to get a bit closer. But this is a good easy place to start!

The Tooheys & coopers darks are nice kits indeed.
Quick edit: I prefer the coopers kit.

Have done them both with good results.
The basic recipe i used was
1 can of either brand
kg DLME (might have the abbrev wrong) Dark Liquid... or a Brew Enhancer
150g Choc malt (steeped for 30 min)
15g Goldings (steeped 10min) ...or maybe try fuggles

petesbrew wrote:The Tooheys & coopers darks are nice kits indeed.

Have done them both with good results.
The basic recipe i used was
1 can of either brand
1kg DLME
150g Choc malt (steeped for 30 min)
15g Goldings (steeped 10min) ...or maybe try fuggles

I have not tried DLME as it is not available in my area, but I have done this brew as follows which was one of the nicest yet, in fact I only have 3 bottles left and I am thinking of doing another

1 tin of Morgans Old (forget the exact name)
1 tin of Mogans Choc Malt
500g Dextrose
15g Fugles @ 60 min
15g Hallertau @ 60 min

I might raise the bittering additions to 25g each? Maybe steep 150g Roasted Barley with it? Dry hop 10g of Willamette? Even my wife calls this one "sweet" and I think she means the flavour not the quality

you shouldnt need to add any bittering hops to that morgans kit. tooheys old isnt really all that bitter. The morgnas kit is good, coopers kit is also good but turns out more bitter than Old. IMO the tooheys dark kits are crap. I've given them a good go, probably 7 or 8 batches and it just turns out bland compared to the other kits, but thats just me.

the main thing that i find is missing from most of the Old recipes out there is grains. my last couple of batches i have added a 'dark ale pack' of grains from the HBS which i beleive is a combo of crystal and chocolate. this is getting closer but its still not quite the same grain taste that Old has. im gonna try roasted barley and see how that goes but that mysterious flavour still alludes me.

if anyone konws what gives old its toasty grain flavour then please let me know!

oh and btw Old is way better than carlton black......IMO

btw the basic recipe i have been using is

tooheys/coopers/morgans kit
1.5kg morgans dark liquid malt
dark ale grain pack (i think theyre 150gms?)
20gms of willemette
british ale liquid yeast

i usually steep the grain for 30mins, then boil this with the malt, add the hops at 20mins and add the kit at flameout.

No 16
Brewed 29-Apr-07
Racked 10/5 (Threw in 1 Large tablespoon of dex)
Bottled 16-May-07
Cascade Choc Mahogany
Morgans Dark Liquid Malt
Standard Yeast
Fuggles teabag 10 Mins in cup (Leftover sachet, fresh IMO would be better)
16g of Cascade dry hopped at rack
170g Dex Bulk Primed
Racked 10/5 (Threw in 1 Large tablespoon of dex)

Cut and pasted from my Brew Book

This brew turned out excellent, all gone now

Will have to do a couple for Summer as they are on special at Coles for $9.50.

It tasted a little like Tooheys Black, but not as bitter. You could add say 20g of POR for 1 hour in a pot with the Dark Malt to make it more bitter.

Cheers

Boonie

Nice signature, Boonie. Too true.

The brew as I made it was too sweet. I know Old should not be bitter, but it needed a bit more bittering to suit my taste. The grain may have helped that as well. I will have another crack when I get through the long list of brews I currently have in line and let you know

Kevnlis wrote:The brew as I made it was too sweet. I know Old should not be bitter, but it needed a bit more bittering to suit my taste. The grain may have helped that as well. I will have another crack when I get through the long list of brews I currently have in line and let you know

I don't know about Old not bitter, I find it has a bit of bitterness to it. Mine had the "burnt" taste to it but just lacked the umm...... oomph that I get from the black.

Nice signature, Boonie. Too true

My mate told me that one, very true

Cheers

Boonie

This is a link I posted some time ago...I liked the outcome.

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... t=dark+ale

i read on another forum just yesterday that apparently tooheys use a particular specialty grain in Old that isnt commercially available to the rest of us. im not sure if this can be taken for gospel....from the sound of it this is 5th hand information but it could explain why noone seems to be able to replicate the almighty old. In a way im happy because i no longer need to scoure the internet looking for that magical recipe.

not that im not happy with my dark beers, but i REALLY like old.