Smoked Black IPA

Well I'm shooting for the moon on this one. I'm trying to design a beer that captures my take on a winter ale. Mostly posting this up to follow the beers process and see if it turns out, more than looking for advice (I'm sure there are at least 3 things everyone here would change or just not brew it all together). Well here are the logistics:

5.5 Gal Batch
69% Brew House Efficency (85% Mash)

13.5 lbs Domestic 2-Row (Great Western)
1.25 lbs Briess Cherry Smoked Malt
1 lb Midnight Wheat
8 oz Cara-Pils
4 oz Belgian De-bittered Black Patent

.5 oz Simcoe FWH
.25 oz Chinook FWH
.5 oz Columbus 60 min
.5 oz Simcoe 30 min
.25 oz Chinook 30 min
.75 oz Simcoe 15 min
.5 oz Chinook 15 min
1.25 oz Simcoe FO
1 oz Citra FO

1 oz Citra DH 12 days
1 oz Simcoe DH 12 days
.5 oz Columbus DH 12 days
1 oz Citra DH 4 days
1 oz Simcoe 4 days

WLP 001

OG 1.074
FG est 1.013
ABV 8.0%
IBUs 86.6
SRM 37-43 (depending on method of calc)

FWIW, I find that Columbus late in the Boil or as a DH lends a Smokey type flavor. YMMV

looks cool though, hope it turns out for ya

Yankeehillbrewer said:

FWIW, I find that Columbus late in the Boil or as a DH lends a Smokey type flavor. YMMV

looks cool though, hope it turns out for ya

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Thanks. I'll keep that in mind if I find the smokey flavor too strong on this one.

I'm trying to capture a Tucson (desert) winter with this one. The pine for all the christmas trees being brought into the homes. The smoke for the faint scent of various fireplaces going. Black because our days are so much shorter. And the Citra aroma because our orange tree is just starting to ripen its fruit. It may end up being a complete disaster though. Isn't that half the fun of homebrewing though, taking the risks?

Absolutely, you never know until you try.:fro:

So the brew day passed and there were a few changes to the recipe.

12 lbs 4 oz Domestic 2-row (I weighed out 13.5# at the supply store, but at home it was only 12.25, gonna have to talk to them about that next time I'm there).

1 lb 10 oz Briess Cherry Smoked malt (6 oz more and a total of 10% of the grain bill)

.75 oz Chinook FO (would have had them just sitting around so I decided to make use of them).

The brew day went fairly well, except for a problem pumping wort through my CFC, and it actually tasted pretty decent. The smoke didn't make much of an impression, but we'll see after it ferments. Here's keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

For anyone who cares, this one came out pretty good. The smoke element is completely absent and the roast is just a touch too high for me. I would back it down to 13-14 ounces and up the smoked malt to 15% or so. The hops are spot on for this one. Huge pine and fresh hop flavor and a nice piney/fruity aroma. Going to enter this one into a competition coming in February to see how it does.

This is inspiring my next brew. How long did you let it age before finding it ready to drink?

Glad to hear this. With IPA's I don't let them age. I ferment them until they are done, in this case 12 days, drop the temp to 55 for a few days to encourage flocculation, raise it back up to 67 and dry hop for the required time (I only did 8 days, not 12 like the original post, and a 4 day charge). Then I bottle it and as soon as it is carbed up I refrigerate them and start drinking. In this case it was a little over 5 weeks from grain to glass.

Smoked experience as of today. I smoked 2 row with beechwood in my smoker and used 18.5% smoked 2 row. Turned out as smokey as I would want. 5.75 gallon batch: 7 lbs 11.2 oz 2 row, 2 lbs 9.6 oz smoked beechwood 2 row malt, 14 oz crystal 40L, 14 oz crystal 80L, 14 oz Munich 10, 10.6 oz Chocolate malt, 7.25 oz black patent malt, 1 oz EK Goldings - 60 in, .75 oz Williamette 30 min, .5 oz williamette - 15 min, .25 oz EK Goldings...at Flameout and .25 oz Williamette at flameout ... Used US-05 yeast. Starting SG = 1.068 Finished at 1.012

It is a winner!

I'm surprised to see you guys using Black Patent Malt in a smoked dark lager. Not only is it pretty far off-style, but it has a bitterness and flavor that IMHO is overwhelming for the subtleties of a smoked lager. I find there to be much better ways to do it, namely any of the 3 Carafa malts. I've made several dark smoked lagers and found Carafa to be perfect -- lends a slight chocolate roasty touch with zero bitter notes. Just my 2c.

pigroaster said:

Smoked experience as of today. I smoked 2 row with beechwood in my smoker and used 18.5% smoked 2 row. Turned out as smokey as I would want. 5.75 gallon batch: 7 lbs 11.2 oz 2 row, 2 lbs 9.6 oz smoked beechwood 2 row malt, 14 oz crystal 40L, 14 oz crystal 80L, 14 oz Munich 10, 10.6 oz Chocolate malt, 7.25 oz black patent malt, 1 oz EK Goldings - 60 in, .75 oz Williamette 30 min, .5 oz williamette - 15 min, .25 oz EK Goldings...at Flameout and .25 oz Williamette at flameout ... Used US-05 yeast. Starting SG = 1.068 Finished at 1.012

It is a winner!

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Sounds tasty. I would love fresh smoked malt, but buying a smoker only to smoke malt is a bit much for me. I will keep this recipe tucked away for next year though. I really wanted to do a smoked porter this year, but shied away from it.

SpeedYellow said:

I'm surprised to see you guys using Black Patent Malt in a smoked dark lager. Not only is it pretty far off-style, but it has a bitterness and flavor that IMHO is overwhelming for the subtleties of a smoked lager. I find there to be much better ways to do it, namely any of the 3 Carafa malts. I've made several dark smoked lagers and found Carafa to be perfect -- lends a slight chocolate roasty touch with zero bitter notes. Just my 2c.

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American Black Ale (AKA Black IPA) is an ale not a lager. Belgian De-bittered black patent is very close to the same thing as Carafa 3. Pigroasters was a porter, also an ale. While I'm not as familiar with Porter I'm pretty sure that Black Patent is fairly common in the grist bill. Too many home brews tonight?