Description

Dark Rock | Fireside Spiced Winter Ale | All Grain Beer Kit

A rich amber coloured ale which is perfect for cold winter nights by the fireside. A lightly spiced aftertaste is provided by a blend of seasonal spices, coupled to a complex malt base, and Candi Sugar. The hop balance is achieved through the addition of Challenger and Goldings hops. The result is a rich comforting winter ale, which is perfect for seasonal celebrations.

This top of the range kit will produce a beer that you can be proud of. No compromise has been made on quality and only the freshest hops and malts have been selected. The kit also includes a sachet of Pure Brew water conditioner and yeast enhancer to ensure a pure commercial taste is achieved.  The kit is suitable for vegans as it contains no animal-based products.

Limited Edition Range

Only small batches of these beers are produced and are produced and are made available for a limited period to commemorate special occasions, or to try out new flavours. Each kit contains the highest quality malts and a premium yeast. Only the freshest hops are selected and they are supplied vacuum packed in light-proof foil pouches. A sachet of Pure Brew and Starbrite beer finings are included to ensure you produce a commercial quality beer. Please provide feedback on your experience and you may see these kits launched as a permanent addition to the Dark Rock beer kit range.

What Makes The Dark Rock All-Grain Range So Special?

Dark Rock Brewing’s All-Grain Beer Kits provide everything you need to make a superb ale.  All-grain brewing is a rewarding process, which puts you in full control of your brewing. It takes a little longer than making a standard beer kit or partial mash but the results are absolutely stunning. All-grain mash brewing is great fun and really allows you to develop the necessary skills to master your craft. We use commercial-quality malt and hops in each kit, placing a strong emphasis on freshness.

Dark Rock’s All-Grain Mash Kits represent fantastic value too. You only buy the exact amount of ingredients you need so there is no waste. Unlike making up your own recipe you will not have leftover quantities. With all grain brewing, it is important not to keep stocks of grains and particularly hops at home for long periods. The quality deteriorates quickly. Therefore, it does not make sense to buy larger quantities of grains and hops than you actually need. We weigh Dark Rock All-Grain Kits to precise quantities required for each brew, ensuring the freshest ingredients and excellent value. We store hops in temperature-controlled rooms and vacuum-pack them immediately upon opening. This ensures the optimum quality of your brew.

What’s Included?

• 6Kg Malt
• Hop Pellets
• Premium Beer Yeast
• Candi Sugar, Selected Spices
• Starbrite Beer Finings (Vegan-Friendly)
• Pure Brew (water treatment and nutrient)
• Fermenter / keg ID sticker
• Full instructions

Allergy Advice: Includes barley and other cereals, containing gluten

Specifications

• Makes: 40 pints / 5 gallons
• Starting Gravity: 1060 (approx)
• Target Finishing Gravity 1010 (approx)
• ABV Approx: 6.5 %
• Bittnerness: 25 IBU
• Colour: 63 EBC
• Fermentation time: 10-14 days approx
• Conditioning time: 4 weeks minimum

INGREDIENTS

Malts: Pale Malt, Biscuit Malt, Caramunich Malt, Crystal Malt, Torrefied Wheat, Chocolate Malt
Hops: Challenger, Goldings
Yeast: Choice of Premium Beer Yeast
Extras: Britewort, Beer Finings, Pure Brew, Candi Sugar, Spices

What Equipment Do You Need?

Basic beer making equipment (5g fermenter, airlock, syphon tube with sediment trap, hydrometer, Suresan sanitiser, bottles or barrel). These are available under the starter kit section on this website. You will also need specialist equipment to make all grain beers. The process involves three stages. The first stage is mashing. Your mash equipment will need to maintain the grains and water at a constant temperature for an hour (usually 66C). This is important as only slight variations in temperature can affect the taste of the final beer. The second part of the process is sparging. This involves rinsing the grains with water slightly hotter than the mash (77C). Finally, the wort will need to be boiled for around 70 minutes and then cooled to fermentation temperature as fast as possible. From this point, the fermentation process is similar to standard kits.  There are numerous techniques equipment styles that can be used to make full mash beers. In the past, the most basic method used was a floating mash tun and insulated ice box. Alternatively, a Pico style Electrim Bin was used. Whilst these are still available, there are now easy to use all-grain brewing systems available. The initial cost is higher but these systems are superb and allow you to achieve bang on results every time. They also cut down the time that you have to be present during the process. All grain systems are so effective that most commercial breweries use them for testing experimental recipes prior to full-blown scale-ups. The Grainfather brewing system is highly recommended. The system can be expanded as your skills develop, to include conical temperature controlled fermenters, sparge water heaters, and even an integrated Glycol Chiller to ensure precise temperatures down to 4 degrees centigrade (useful for lager production and summer brewing). A wide range of all-grain brewing equipment is available on our website and we are always available to offer advice.

Tips

A sachet of Pure Brew is included with this kit in order to achieve a commercial quality. Pure Brew is a professional beer enhancer. It feeds the yeast with essential nutrients, which supercharge the fermentation and support yeast development (even in limited oxygen conditions). Pure Brew also treats brewing water to eliminate problems caused by Chlorine and Chloramine (which can create a medicinal or as it is sometimes referred to, a “homebrew” taste).

The condition of brewing water is critical to achieving optimum results but this important area is often overlooked. By using Pure Brew, you can effectively and easily condition brewing water, and maximise effective fermentation. We strongly recommend using Pure Brew with all of your beers to improve their quality.

The addition of beer finings will improve the final quality of your beers. Starbrite finings are included with this kit. They will help your beer to clear quickly and the sediment will be more likely to stay at the bottom of bottles or barrels. If you are using Corny Kegs then it is important to clear the beer as much as possible before kegging. Beer Finings will promote a faster and more efficient fall out of sediment and haze particles prior to kegging (crash chilling your beer with a Glycol Chiller will also help to eliminate sediment). Harris Starbrite is a highly effective vegan-friendly beer fining, which is rapidly becoming a firm favourite with home brewers. It is suitable for all beers.

You could consider investing in a metal hop spider to effectively manage hop additions into the boiling process. The hop spider would sit inside your boiler and allow you to drop hops into the boil in a controlled way. Hop Spiders allow hops to boil with more free flow space around them. They are easily cleaned and can be re-used over and over again. They also prevent hop sediment (known as trub) from clogging up pumping systems when using all in one brewing equipment.