Sea_of_Shells

Recipes 

Okay, so check it out. I've read DeathBrewer's tutorial extensively, but I still have questions. First I'll post the recipe I'm using, and then I'll ask away. I'm going for a black IPA.

Grain
3lbs. 2 Row
1.5lbs. Crystal 120L
.5lbs. Carapils Dextrine
.5lbs. Chocolate
.5lbs. Roasted Barley


That's 5 lbs of grain, so I'm thinking of using 2 gallons of strike water (as Deathbrewer suggested). One thing I'm not sure about is the mash temperature, and length.

Fermentables
3.3lbs. Dark LME
.5lbs. Cane Sugar
.5lbs Molasses

Just like my extract/steeping grain recipes, I'm going to boil for 60 minutes.

Hops
3/4oz. Columbus at 60
1/4oz. Columbus at 30
3/4oz. Columbus at flameout
1 1/2oz. Centennial at Flameout
1oz. Centennial dry hop

Wyeast London Ale 1028

Okay, I guess I need to know the amount of strike water, the amount of sparge water, the mash temperature and length. Also, maybe some feedback on the recipe?

Cheers,
Travis

Yooper

Recipes 

As far as the recipe, it's good except for the dark LME and molasses. The reason I don't like dark LME in this is you've already got crystal malt and LOTS of it, and then you're using dark LME which also has crystal malt in it. So you're doubling the crystal malt, but without knowing exactly what.

If you can change it, get light or pale LME or DME.

Fermented molasses is pretty terrible, so I wouldn't use it. Especially .5 POUND of it. It's pretty dominant, and fermented molasses tastes bad as it is, so I would leave that out of any beer but especially a hoppy beer.

You've got a LOT of roasted barley, so this is more of an American stout than black IPA. With that chocolate malt as well, you'll have far more roast than a black IPA.

It depends on what you want. If you want a black IPA, reduce the roasted significantly or switch to carafa III. Cut the 120L, as it's very raisiny and strong.

But if you want an American stout, the recipe is good except for the molasses and the dark LME.

For mashing, use 1.25-2 quarts of water per pound of grain. For sparging, sparge up to your boil volume.

__________________
Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006