Specialty IPA: Black IPA Darth Vader - Black IPA

Mine was in primary for 4 weeks and even with the addition of yeast nutrient (eventually) and lots of stirring/swirling it is stuck at 1.030... I used a 3L starter too! I am scared that so much came out in the blow off (filled 2 growlers) that the yeast pooped out too early.

I transferred it to secondary a week ago and haven't sampled since but I'm doubtful of any significant further fermentation. Any ideas/advice?

voicelex said:

Mine was in primary for 4 weeks and even with the addition of yeast nutrient (eventually) and lots of stirring/swirling it is stuck at 1.030... I used a 3L starter too! I am scared that so much came out in the blow off (filled 2 growlers) that the yeast pooped out too early.

I transferred it to secondary a week ago and haven't sampled since but I'm doubtful of any significant further fermentation. Any ideas/advice?

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You could add some dry yeast and/or hit it with a pound of sugar to try and get it to dry out more

Doing a 5.5 gallon batch of this tomorrow. I have just over an ounce of first year cascades I've been looking for a recipe for and this one seems just the ticket for the dry hop addition.

Scooby,
I see you did no secondary. When did you add the dry hops and for how long?

I dry hop in a keg but I think any way of dry hopping will do. You can go with or without a secondary, whatever works for you. I hope you enjoy this recipe

Sent from my DROIDX using Home Brew Talk

This is my first time dry hopping so I have been doing some research on it. I was leaning toward dry hopping in a keg from reading a few threads as well. How long do you leave the hops in for. It seems some people say you get a vegetable taste if you leave the hops in too long.
Also the sample going into the fermenter was amazing so I'm sure I'll be enjoying this one.

Just moved my batch to secondary to dry hop. The sample tasted great but the color was more dark brown than black. Anybody tried the briess blackprinz? I'm wondering if that will bring an even darker color without adding more dark bite.

I had the same problem with this recipe, it came out brown. I just did my own recipe for a BIPA and used a pound of debittered belgian black malt 500L. It looks like motor oil, but has a smooth, only ever so slightly roasty flavor. I also used a pound of dark candi sugar.

My recipe was pretty basic
12 lbs 2 row
1 lb crystal 60
1 lb debittered black malt
1 lb dark candi

Nice!

bottlebomber said:

I had the same problem with this recipe, it came out brown. I just did my own recipe for a BIPA and used a pound of debittered belgian black malt 500L. It looks like motor oil, but has a smooth, only ever so slightly roasty flavor. I also used a pound of dark candi sugar.

My recipe was pretty basic
12 lbs 2 row
1 lb crystal 60
1 lb debittered black malt
1 lb dark candi

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Sounds interesting. Did you use the same hop addition?

I used and ounce of nugget for bittering, then added 3 ounces each of chinook, willamette, cascade at 15 minute, and the same at 5 minutes, dry hopped with 2 ounces of cascade pellets. OG came in at 1.074 finished at 1.016, and I did use the wlp029 kolsch strain. It was an outrageous amount of hop flavor, but not too bitter. Ill definitely make it again.

Brewed this last night! Used the extract recipe, but added 1.5# Pils 2-row to make it a mini-mash as a step towards all-grain! Had a few bugs to work out, but came in at 1.072.
Used Centennial hops I grew this summer! :rockin:
Came out nice & black, but is bubbling slowly 12 hours later.
Can't wait to taste this one! Thanks!

I finally got around to transferring this and dry hopping it today. My og was 1.068 and it finished a little high @ 1.017. Beersmith says that's an abv 6.66. How creepy is that considering the name?

Update: This turned out very good. The hop bitterness compliments the roasty flavor nicely. I'm normally not a big fan of IPA's but after this and a few others I've been brewing lately I'm slowly moving over to the darkside.

This is my project for this weekend. However, I'm going to brew it with Warrior at 60 minutes... Should be nice and perfect by mid-late April. Will be my drink of choice at a local BBQ Competition. Can't wait!!!!

I'll be brewing this next! Sounds like a great brew.

Is there a big difference between carafa II and III?

CliffMongoloid said:

Is there a big difference between carafa II and III?

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Yes the 3 is around 100 lovibond darker than the 2, and I'm sure tastes a little different. I prefer Belgian debittered black malt for this recipe at 550 L and no real astringency

Is there a substitute for carafara II?

CliffMongoloid said:

Is there a substitute for carafara II?

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For this recipe, I don't think so. I mean you could use some chocolate malt or black malt or mix of both, but you won't get the same taste. Carafa II Special Dehusked... it's sort of it's own thing.

Thanks for the recipe! I made a 6 gal batch of the extract version made a couple slight changes due to supplies I already had on hand and it was fantastic. I added 1lb of extract and used Willamette as the bittering hop with 3 additions of Amarillo and dry hopped with Amarillo. Also added some flaked oats. To me it tastes similar to Heavy Seas Black Cannon which is just what I was looking for.

Do you think that transform this stout IPA in a Red IPA are correct? (near a irish red ale; IPA)
Thanks for your advice!

i will put only a little quantity Carafa II Special and special roast to make a red ale with it.

This was my first all grain brew about two months ago. It came out great! Got a few compliments from people, including one of my friends who was amazed it wasn't a store bought brew.

Just made this recipe last night! I was impressed that my LHBS had every ingredient on the list as well. Tried out a new home made counter flow cooler. It was only 25ft long and used only fresh tap water to cool. Brought it down from near boiling to 91 degrees with one gravity fed pass. We need to add a pump and recirculate the water through an ice chest. I think I can improve efficiency there a bunch.

To anyone that has made this and dry hopped, how long did you dry hop for and how long was it in primary before you dry hopped it?
Thanks

abbysdad2006 said:

To anyone that has made this and dry hopped, how long did you dry hop for and how long was it in primary before you dry hopped it?
Thanks

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Same as anything. 3 weeks in primary 1 week DH

I dry hopped at 1 week, and continued to let it sit in the primary for another week, then bottled.

ClunkClunk said:

I dry hopped at 1 week, and continued to let it sit in the primary for another week, then bottled.

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So 2 weeks dry hopping?

No, 1 week.

usfmikeb said:

No, 1 week.

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Oh ok. Thank you.

I don't claim to have any real reason to dry hop the way I did, I just only had one fermenter at the time, so I dry hopped after I checked gravity for a few days and it wasn't dropping any further, which was 1 week after brewing. I let it sit another week, then bottled.

abbysdad2006 said:

To anyone that has made this and dry hopped, how long did you dry hop for and how long was it in primary before you dry hopped it?
Thanks

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I dry hop with one week left before bottling.

I bottled this brew two weeks ago and cracked open a bottle a week early to see how it was goin. Amazing brew. Definitely my best finished product AG thus far. Simple recipe but has a great all around balance of malty sweetness and enough bitter hop aroma from the cascadian hops. will definitely brew again. hints of burnt coffee that I love about Guinness.

Dry hop 7 to 10 days, then bottle and start drinking in one week. You will be happy.

Hey Scoob, just wanted to thank you for creating such a great recipe. I made the extract version and its fantastic. I upped the DH to 2oz cascade 1oz Willie. Simply delish!

I'm glad you like it and thank you for the complement.

Scooby_Brew said:

I'm glad you like it and thank you for the complement.

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Hey ya gotta give credit where credit is due.

This was my first time using the briess special roast. How'd you decide on that malt instead of something like victory or biscuit? It's some real interesting stuff, pretty nutty. I accidentally used 10oz instead of the 8oz called for in your recipe. It's definitely got noticeable nuttiness in the aftertaste. Next time I brew Darth I'll be keeping the special roast to around 6-8oz. Still, it's some good suds!

dickproenneke said:

special roast. How'd you decide on that malt instead of something like victory or biscuit?

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This beer was my first attempt to brew a clone of the Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA. I went to their website and simply copied their malts and hops, and then I just adjusted IBU and SG using a computer program. I guessed the amounts of the special malts and I don't think it's a perfect clone, but it was a very good beer anyway, or maybe even better so I decided to leave it the way it was.
Anyways, I am glad you enjoy the brew!

I made the extract of this with C40 instead of C10 and Wyeast 1056. Positively delicious. Thanks!

Thank you, and I am glad you enjoyed the brew!

I've read through this thread and am still unsure on what to use instead of Carafa II to ensure that this is a dark beer, and not just brown. If I replaced it with debittered black malt, what would that do to the flavor profile?
Should I simply buy double the carafa II (if my LHBS has it) and cold steep the other half and add it to the brew pot?

brevity said:

I've read through this thread and am still unsure on what to use instead of Carafa II to ensure that this is a dark beer, and not just brown. If I replaced it with debittered black malt, what would that do to the flavor profile?
Should I simply buy double the carafa II (if my LHBS has it) and cold steep the other half and add it to the brew pot?

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If you have access to debittered black malt I would highly recommend that over carafa. A pound of 550l debittered black malt will give you a 40SRM black beer.

bottlebomber said:

If you have access to debittered black malt I would highly recommend that over carafa. A pound of 550l debittered black malt will give you a 40SRM black beer.

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Apparently Carafa III is the darker roast vs Carafa II. I'll see if I can find any. As far as flavor difference, will I just get a lot more roastiness?
How about midnight wheat as an option? http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Bitterless.htm