Black IPA help

Ok, so i was reading a thread on here about black IPAs and rememberd how much i love midnight sun brewing co.'s XXX aniversary black IPA.

I found a little information about it on their site. click here and from that came up with the following 3 gal AG recipe.

I am pretty new at formulating recipes and just took my best guess on the amounts. The original is a nice semi-hoppy dark beer, with a good mouth feel, not thin, nice malty almost coffe touch to it.

here is my shot, i would love for some more experienced recipe artists to chime in and help me out. I would like to brew this in the next month or so.

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Boil Size: 4.50 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients

5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 62.86 %
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 2.86 %

0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (90 min) Hops 42.1 IBU
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 30.2 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (10 min) Hops 8.7 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.8 IBU

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

Est Original Gravity: 1.078 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.019
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.84 %
Bitterness: 85.8 IBU
Est Color: 29.9 SRM


thanks

SNB said:

Ingredients

5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 62.86 %
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 2.86 %

Click to expand...

I've not had this beer, so keep that in mind (other midnight sun products are good though!)

23% seems quite high for wheat malt. Malted wheat is usually used for fuller mouthfeel, but too much and you get hazy, sweetish beer. I would adjust downwards to 8oz and make up the difference with 2-row.

The carafa is almost certainly cold-steeped or a late mash addition. Almost every black IPA I've had the pleasure to sample was quite dark but had little roasted flavor. You can get that effect by finely grinding the carafa and adding it in the last 10 minutes of the mash.

Hop schedule looks nice.

Hope this helps.

I am by no means an expert, but a Black IPA should differ from the traditional in nothing other than color, hence the Carafa. Other color adding grains may impart a flavor that is not IPA'ish.

dwarven_stout said:

I've not had this beer, so keep that in mind (other midnight sun products are good though!)

23% seems quite high for wheat malt. Malted wheat is usually used for fuller mouthfeel, but too much and you get hazy, sweetish beer. I would adjust downwards to 8oz and make up the difference with 2-row.

The carafa is almost certainly cold-steeped or a late mash addition. Almost every black IPA I've had the pleasure to sample was quite dark but had little roasted flavor. You can get that effect by finely grinding the carafa and adding it in the last 10 minutes of the mash.

Hop schedule looks nice.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

After doing a little more reading it appears that you are correct, the carafa should be steeped for just the color.

I will look at lowering the wheat content.

thank you for the input.

northernlad said:

I am by no means an expert, but a Black IPA should differ from the traditional in nothing other than color, hence the Carafa. Other color adding grains may impart a flavor that is not IPA'ish.

Click to expand...

With this particular beer it does have a bit of a roasty almost coffee note to it. I would think this would come from the special B, but could be wrong. I have not used Carafa much so i am not sure exactly what flovor it will impart.

I think this one will take a few attempts to get it right, but that is what brewing is all about.

You can leave the carafa in the whole mash as long as it is carafa "special" III (dehusked) which it likely is if you bought it in N. America. It adds very little roasted flavor. It will give a little chocolate malt type flavor and dryness in the finish (if that makes sense). I would leave it in the whole time to get as much of that as possible, it won't be a ton.

I happen to be in the camp that thinks a dark IPA should have roasted flavor. If you just wanted color, it seems easier to just get some Sinamar extract and brew a normal IPA and color some of it up. I think it is more interesting to make a completely different beer.

I made the Black Ale in my sig with Carafa II and there is a nearly imperceptable roast flavor that turned out quite nice.

I would drop the special B and up the carafe. 8oz as a minimum, 1 pound for a truly black beer.

I use carafe quite a bit and 1/2 to 1 pound adds that mild coffee flavor that you are looking for. I always just add it to the mash like any other grain.

alecoholic said:

I would drop the special B and up the carafe. 8oz as a minimum, 1 pound for a truly black beer.

I use carafe quite a bit and 1/2 to 1 pound adds that mild coffee flavor that you are looking for. I always just add it to the mash like any other grain.

Click to expand...

OP is trying to recreate the Midnight Sun version, which has Special B according to the website.

alecoholic said:

I would drop the special B and up the carafe. 8oz as a minimum, 1 pound for a truly black beer.

I use carafe quite a bit and 1/2 to 1 pound adds that mild coffee flavor that you are looking for. I always just add it to the mash like any other grain.

Click to expand...

dwarven_stout said:

OP is trying to recreate the Midnight Sun version, which has Special B according to the website.

Click to expand...

dwarven_stout is correct, i pulled the ingredien list off the breweries site. I think this is going to be my winter project. I will brew this up a few times and vary the ingredients until i get it close to the original.

alecoholic, you are saying that the carafe will add a slight roasty coffee tone to the beer? the original has that slight coffee taste to the finish, and i think it is what makes this beer have the little extra. This is only a 3 gal recipe, would you still go with the 1/2 to 1 lb of carafe? i don't wanth the roast to be to over powering, but i want it to be there.

Northern Brewer has a Black IPA kit and you can check out the recipe and compare your grain bill to theirs. Not sure if this will help, but I just read your post and remembered seeing this kit.

SNB said:

This is only a 3 gal recipe, would you still go with the 1/2 to 1 lb of carafe? i don't wanth the roast to be to over powering, but i want it to be there.

Click to expand...

i did black IPA with a pound of carafa III in a 6 gallon batch. i think the rest of the bill was 15 lbs 2 row and a pound of c60. there was a noticeable roasty/chocolate taste and aromoa to it.

i'm thinking about doing another 6 gallon batch tomorrow. ~1.080 OG, ~100 IBU
it'll be something like 16-17lbs pale, .5lb C60, .5lb c120, .75 lb debittered black...
i'm looking for a black IIPA with just slight hints of coffee/chocolate.

i did a recipe similar to the Norther Brewer Black IPA kit but i sub'd Chinook for the Summit. Weird though becuase I had this recipe for a while and its basically the exact same as the NB black IPA but instead of the 1lb of corn sugar i used a lb. of amber DME. I am brewing later today i will let everyone know how it goes.

jbambuti said:

Northern Brewer has a Black IPA kit and you can check out the recipe and compare your grain bill to theirs. Not sure if this will help, but I just read your post and remembered seeing this kit.

Click to expand...

I will check that out and see how it compares to what i have.

cookietruck said:

i did black IPA with a pound of carafa III in a 6 gallon batch. i think the rest of the bill was 15 lbs 2 row and a pound of c60. there was a noticeable roasty/chocolate taste and aromoa to it.

i'm thinking about doing another 6 gallon batch tomorrow. ~1.080 OG, ~100 IBU
it'll be something like 16-17lbs pale, .5lb C60, .5lb c120, .75 lb debittered black...
i'm looking for a black IIPA with just slight hints of coffee/chocolate.

Click to expand...

So maybe .5 lbs in my 3g recipe wouldn't be crazy then. I think i will order the supplies to make this one and see how it goes.

orangeandblue302 said:

i did a recipe similar to the Norther Brewer Black IPA kit but i sub'd Chinook for the Summit. Weird though becuase I had this recipe for a while and its basically the exact same as the NB black IPA but instead of the 1lb of corn sugar i used a lb. of amber DME. I am brewing later today i will let everyone know how it goes.

Click to expand...

I have used Chinook in most of my IPAs, i really like it, but i want to try to get a smoother bitterness than it has given me in the past. i have not used columbus so i want to see what results that will give.

yea i have never used Chinook before and have herd that it must be boiled for no less then 60 min because it is pretty bitter but all in all the brew went well. Nice and black. I used California V ale yeast as well. Cant wait to see how this turns out!!!

brewed mine. runoff 7.25 gallons. end boil around 5.75 gallons. ~5 in fermenter. the color right now is dark dark brown*. it might be black when it's in the glass. i'm kinda thinking it will be a very dark brown though.
OG is 1.084, i used 18 lb 2 row, .75 lb C60, .75 lb C120, .5 lb debittered black that was supposed to be 375-450L...no carafa.

i just pitched california V yeast as well.

*i think the first black IPA i did was the same though, really dark brown in the fermenter but black after fermentation and trub settling.

edit: oops, forgot hydrometer is off, gravity was actually 1.086.
also, i did a 1.5L starter for the yeast, let ferment out for 2 says. decanted and pitched. within 4 hours the airlock was bubbling and the krausen was forming. this morning krausen is large and it's chugging along at 67*F.

orangeandblue302 said:

yea i have never used Chinook before and have herd that it must be boiled for no less then 60 min because it is pretty bitter but all in all the brew went well. Nice and black. I used California V ale yeast as well. Cant wait to see how this turns out!!!

Click to expand...

I have made an IPA with all chinook hops, 60min, 30min, 20min, 10min, 5min, and flameout and dryhop. it was very tasty, but you have to like big IPAs to enojoy it.

Ok, i think this it what i will brew and see how it comes out.

6 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 70.59 %
1 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 11.76 %
8.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.88 %
8.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 5.88 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 5.88 %

0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (90 min) Hops 42.8 IBU
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (30 min) Hops 30.8 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (10 min) Hops 8.8 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.8 IBU

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

1 Pkgs Nottingham Yeast (Lallemand #-) Yeast-Ale

bump to see how this turned out. i'm wanting to brew a black ipa this weekend.

My Black IIPA recipe turned out with a little more roast than the typical IPA, but was damned good.

brrman said:

My Black IIPA recipe turned out with a little more roast than the typical IPA, but was damned good.

Click to expand...

thanks!

i'll check it out. looking to make a smaller beer so i can pitch an RIS onto the yeast cake.

NP - Mine was a big beer - but no reason it can't be dialed down

deepsouth said:

bump to see how this turned out. i'm wanting to brew a black ipa this weekend.

Click to expand...

this one is yet to be attempted. i will try and order it in the next week or so and get it brewed in a couple weeks. i will report back the results.