Imperial Black Rye IPA recipe advice

Hey guys, long time lurker and few time poster here. I've been working on a recipe for something I'm hoping will be awesome, an imperial black rye ipa, and was hoping for some feedback on it. Basically looking for a subtle but noticeable roasty background, good body /mouthfeel, with a huge hop kick and some rye spiciness. The hop flavor im looking for is something really dank/musky with some citrus or fruit-like twinge, or something like that.
Keep in mind this is a 2.5 gallon batch, BIAB partial mash. I'd make it all grain, but dont have a big enough mash tun currently.
Anyway, here it goes:
OG: ~1.089, FG: ~1.020, 153 IBUs

5 lbs 2-row base, 58.8%
1 lb flaked rye, 11.8%
1 lb extra light DME, 11.8%
8 oz flaked barley, 5.9%
8 oz crystal 60, 5.9%
4 oz carafa III, 2.9%
4 oz chocolate malt, 2.9%

Mashing at 150 for 60 mins

.5 oz columbus 60 min
.5 oz summit 60 min
.25 oz columbus 30 min
.25 oz summit 30 min
.25 oz summit 15 min
.25 oz topaz 15 min
.25 oz summit 10 min
.25 oz topaz 10 min
.25 oz columbus 5 min
.25 oz galaxy 5 min
.25 oz summit 5 min
.25 oz topaz 5 min
.25 oz topaz F.O.
.25 oz galaxy F.O.
.5 oz columbus F.O.
.5 oz summit F.O.

.5 oz columbus & .5oz galaxy dry-hop for 7 days

Hows it look? any feedback is appreciated!

forgot to mention, fermenting with US-05 yeast for 3 weeks at 60-65

Bump, anyone got any input?

Massive IBUs. But I'd taste a drop!

joelireland said:

Massive IBUs. But I'd taste a drop!

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Im definitely going for a massive hop bomb here!

Just my opinion...I'd give it more rye...so that it totals 20-25% or so if you want the rye to be noticeable. Also I'd recommend more dry hops...a total of 3-4oz minimum.

beowulf said:

Just my opinion...I'd give it more rye...so that it totals 20-25% or so if you want the rye to be noticeable. Also I'd recommend more dry hops...a total of 3-4oz minimum.

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Hmm, i wasnt sure about the rye, i think i will up it to 2 lbs. i made a rye pale with 1 lb and it wasnt too noticeable...
I already ordered my hops, so the amounts are set, how would you rearrange the schedule?

You could always use chocolate rye in place of the chocolate malt too

zachattack said:

You could always use chocolate rye in place of the chocolate malt too

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Unfortunately my LHBS doesn't have chocolate rye

My last Rye IPA (not black IPA, though) had 3.5# (30%) and I thought it was quite tasty. That much may not be for everyone, though. As for the hops, honestly the only one I've tried out of your selection is columbus. I've heard good things about the others, though. I think multiple additions like that work pretty well....sort of like the continuous additions ala Dogfish Head 60-minute. For massive hop effect, I usually start with smaller quantities early in the boil and increase the additions as the boil progresses. I also hopburst most of the time for IPAs, starting my hops at 20 minutes and pile them in all the way to flameout. If you have a limited quantity, this may not be a very efficient use of your supply, though. I did skim over the part where you said it was a 2.5gal batch, so 1oz dry hops may be ok....I think I'd still double it for an imperial IPA.

Ive revised my recipe a bit, its around 20% rye now, and i focused the additions at 60, 15, 5 and F.O.. Hop bursting is focusing on under 20 min additions, right? Also i may increase the rye to the 30% range, i definitely want it distinct. Thoughts?

Yes, hopbursting usually starts at 20 mins or so. I think it looks pretty distinct overall....brew it up!

beowulf said:

Yes, hopbursting usually starts at 20 mins or so. I think it looks pretty distinct overall....brew it up!

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Awesome! My hops order hasnt gone through yet, so im thinking of adding an oz of galaxy and topaz to the dryhop

I reformulated my recipe, adding 2 oz of hops (1 each galaxy and topaz), and changed the chocolate malt to chocolate rye malt.
Here's version 2:
OG: ~1.087 FG: ~1.019 IBUs: 140
Grains:
4 1bs 2-row 47.1%
2 lbs flaked rye 23.5%
8 oz C60 5.9%
8 oz flaked barley 5.9%
4 oz carafa III 2.9%
4 oz chocolate rye 2.9%
1 lb xldme 11.8%
Hops:
1/2 oz columbus 60 min
1/4 oz columbus and 3/4 oz summit 20 min
1/4 oz columbus, 1/4 oz summit, 1/2 oz galaxy and 1 oz topaz 10 min
1 oz topaz, and 1/2 each of columbus, galaxy, and summit F.O.
1/2 oz each columbus and summit, and 1 oz galaxy dry-hop 7 days

Also, thinking of using nottingham yeast, as i heard its better with colder temps, and my fermenting has been a bit cold lately.

I'm naming this beast "Quothe the Raven", how's she look?

Looks awesome...go for it!

Sweet! Hoping to brew this up this weekend, keeping my fingers crossed XD!

Hops came in today, and im picking up my grains today, hopefully brewing this up on saturday! Any last minute thoughts? Increase the dryhop?

Picked up my grains, and got an extra oz of rakau hops, anyone have any experience dryhopping with these? Im thinking half at F.O. and the other half in the dryhop

I've used Rakau for both. You'll find them similar to the Galaxy, I think. I'd prefer them as a late addition versus dry-hop, but they are great either way.

wileaway said:

I've used Rakau for both. You'll find them similar to the Galaxy, I think. I'd prefer them as a late addition versus dry-hop, but they are great either way.

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Cool, ive changed my hop schedule (again, lol) and i have the rakau going in at 10 mins and F.O.

Quick update, brewed this yesterday, and everything went swimmingly. My volume came out a little low, buy im blaming the rye for causing the mash to be a bit thicker them im used to. Final OG was around 1.084, dry hopping in 2 weeks. Hops smelled amazon going in to the boil, cant wait for this to be ready!

If anyone hasn't had the pleasure of drinking Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack I highly recommend doing so. It's a Black Rye IPA at around 8.5% ABV and it's rye and citrus hops (Amarillo and Citra) meld wonderfully together. There's a thread where the poster emailed Firestone Walker and one of their brewers responded with recipe help: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/firestone-walker-wookey-jack-clone-attempt-333436/

nberna19 said:

If anyone hasn't had the pleasure of drinking Firestone Walker's Wookey Jack I highly recommend doing so. It's a Black Rye IPA at around 8.5% ABV and it's rye and citrus hops (Amarillo and Citra) meld wonderfully together. There's a thread where the poster emailed Firestone Walker and one of their brewers responded with recipe help: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/firestone-walker-wookey-jack-clone-attempt-333436/

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I am a huge wookey jack fan (and anything from firestone walker) and was shooting for the same basic style. Dry hops go in the fermenter in a week, and ive been thinking of doing multiple rounds of dryhopping, not sure though...

nicklepickles said:

I am a huge wookey jack fan (and anything from firestone walker) and was shooting for the same basic style. Dry hops go in the fermenter in a week, and ive been thinking of doing multiple rounds of dryhopping, not sure though...

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I know from listening to Can You Brew It episodes with Firestone Walker that they do indeed do 2 rounds of dry hopping at 3 days each I believe. I'm sure if you did it that way it would turn out excellent. I agree with you, I've yet to have any FW beer that's less than outstanding

Quick update on this. The color didnt come out as id hoped, its more of a 'dark brown' iipa, but thats ok with me. Hydrometer taste was outstanding, a but of malty chocoloatey followed by a huge burst of hoppy goodness, tropical fruit and some good spice, followed by a spiciness that hits the back of the throat a bit. Very exquisite!

Dont know why the color was brown at bottling, but my first taste of this tonight was outstanding, and perfectly black! Good mouthfeel/body, good bit of roastiness, and an amazing floral aroma and taste. One of my best so far! (Out of 12 or so batches)