Opinions/Advice: Imperial India Black Ale

I've tried to combine some recipes to come up with an Imperial India Black ale. This is the first partial mash recipe that I have modified and wanted to get some opinions/advice on it.



BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Imperial BS (Black Simcoe) Pale Ale

Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 3.00 gal
Post Boil Volume: 2.78 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.092 SG
Estimated Color: 46.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 101.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 60.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
1 lbs Carafa III (525.0 SRM)
2.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
2 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)
1 lbs Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM)
6 lbs Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 15 min]
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Aroma Steep 20.0 min
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Aroma Steep 20.0 min
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

I plan on mashing for an hour at around 155*F with 2 gallons and sparging with 1 gallon at 165*F for about 15 minutes going by Deathbrewer's process. My first partial mash efficiency was really low so I'm only shooting for 60% this time.

I must falling behind on the black beer styles. Is Imperial India Black Ale like an American Black Ale, a Black IPA, a Cascadian Dark Ale or something else?

Anyway, looks good to me. The only question I have is why you're planning to use two us-05 for a three gallon batch. I'm pretty sure that's overkill.

No idea about the style name, I just kind of crammed the two names together. I assume there is a better name for it, I just didn't know what.

My boil volume is 3 to 3.5 gallons, but I'm going to top it off to 5 in the fermenter. I don't have the equipment, or space for a full boil yet.

i would cut back on the crystal malt and add a little bit of chocolate malt

make sure you get the dehusked carafa (special) not just regular carafa

if you want to cut back on some of the roastiness you can add the carafa at mashout/sparging

I was thinking about the chocolate malt. I definitely want some dark malt flavor to it, not just an IIPA that happens to be black. I've never used the Carafa before and just couldn't find if Beersmith had a separate item for the dehusked type. The LHBS just calls it debittered black malt.

Do you think mashing the 1lb of carafa would be too much roastiness along with the high IBUs? I want the dark malt flavor, but don't know how much it would conflict with the hop bitterness. I haven't had many black IPAs and the couple I've had were lacking in the malt department.

it won't be overpowering roastiness but it may mute some of the hop character

i brewed an imperial IBA last year with 1lb of dehusked carafa III and i believe 6oz of chocolate malt - it came out amazing (got 2nd place in a contest for a general "imperial anything" catagory but next time i plan on adding the carafa at mashout

Two pounds of C 80 would be a little high for my taste (I'd prob go more like 1-1.25 lb) and I'd probably mash a little lower: 152ish if this was all-grain, maybe even slightly lower since it's a partial mash and extract, as I recall, produces wort that generally doesn't attenuate super well.

Also, 2.5oz of FWH sounds like a lot. And, not necessarily a problem but more of a headache, with over 3/4 lb of hops in a 3 gal boil your going to loose a ton of your fermentables to absortion (I'd bet a good 25% of your concentrated wort) unless you're diluting pre-transfer in which case you'll still loose the same amount of liquid but less of your fermentables.

Edit: Sorry, just realized some of those hops are dry but still with 1/2 lb + in a 3 gal boil you're going to loose a lot of sugars.

Also, debittered blk and carafa aren't exactly the same but are similar. I like to do a cold steep with mine on BIPA's but you'll be fine mashing or adding at sparge.

I planned on pellet hops. Will pellets still absorb that much of the fermentables? I was shooting for around 100 IBUs. Is there any way to hit that reasonably in a 3 gallon boil or would you recommend dropping that lower and using less hops? I've never done a big beer, a high IBU beer, or dry hopped before so this is all new to me.

Yes, they'll absorb a lot and you'll be left with a ton of hop sludge in the bottom of the kettle. If you're pot's big enough I'd top off to 5 gallons pre-transfer to be sure you hit your gravity.
As for hitting 100 IBUs (calculated), you could add half of your fermentables late in the boil (if you're not already) and use less hops.
Also, you don't have to hit that number. My BIPA comes in around 75 IBUs (calculated) and I think it's great, though my OG is more like 1.079.

Thank for all of the advice. Just an update, I ended up brewing this today. The LHBS was out of chocolate malt so I used the original recipe I posted but just substituted 1lb of the caramel for more 2-row. Boiled just over 3 gallons and topped up to 5 and had actually overshot my estimated OG by 8 points at 1.100. So, I diluted down to my estimated 1.092 and set it to cool down some more before pitching. (both SGs are corrected for temp).

I'm not sure how I managed to increase my efficiency by nearly 25% but I'm not gonna complain. I'm thinking the crush on my last batch, my first partial mash, wasn't very good so that probably had a lot to do with my low efficiency last time.