American Strong Ale Black Death ( Irish Death Clone)

Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 16.5 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.079
Final gravity 1.018
Alcohol (by volume) 8.1%
Bitterness (IBU) 35
Color (SRM) 34.4°L
Yeast
3 liquid packs
Wyeast
1084 Irish Ale (NOTE: I did not use this yeast I actually made a yeast starter from the yeast at the bottom of a 22 of irish death that i bought)

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
16.5 pounds
Pilsner
38ppg, 2°L 12.5 pounds
75.8%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L 1 pound
6.1%
Crystal 80L
34ppg, 80°L 1 pound
6.1%
Barley (Flaked)
32ppg, 2°L 1 pound
6.1%
Chocolate
29ppg, 350°L 0.5 pounds
3.0%
Black Patent
27ppg, 500°L 0.25 pounds
1.5%
Barley (Roasted)
28ppg, 500°L 0.25 pounds
1.5%

Hops
2.5 ounces
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 1 ounce
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 1 ounce
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 1 ounce

Mash
60 minutes, 8.8 gallons
Strike
Target 153°F 5.2 gallons
167°F
60 minutes (+0)
Sparge 3.7 gallons
185°F

Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
60 minutes (+0)
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
45 minutes (+15)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.25 ounces
30 minutes (+30)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Wort chiller 15 minutes (+45)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
10 minutes (+50)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
1 minutes (+59)

Ferment
21 days @ 62-72°F


I made this recipe after emailing iron horse brewery and asking them for the grain and hop bill. they sent me what grains and hops that they used but i had to reverse engineer the rest. I used the yeast from a 22 of Irish death that i slowly built up a yeast starter from. i listed Irish ale yeast after looking at a couple other clones i saw online that used it in there recipes. the attenuation and yeast characteristics matched that of what i observed and tasted during and after the fermentation process. It did turn out a wee bit heavier than Irish death in the abv (8.1% instead of 7.8%, but taste are very comparable. i might update and tweak it im sure as the years go on lol, but this will stay in our favorites for a long time

great recipe how did it turn out?

Any word on the results?
I've been wanting to replicate this beer since I first tried it. I have a book with Jim Quilters original recipe for Irish Death but it's a Barley Wine but surely there has to be some correlation between the two. It was probably tweeked to appeal to the masses, or possibly the 50 lbs of grain (per 10 gal batch) it took to make it wasn't practical.
I've always thought this beer was back sweetened, possibly a milk stout which would add to the sweet malty deliciousness and silky mouth feel.
Keep us posted on the tasting of this, I can't wait to give it a try.

Yes its one of my favorites, i buy it often. on tap is way different from the bottle though. IRON HORSE does a great job and they have been very helpfull.
Yeah beer turned out great! i am toying with it a little and getting ready to brew it up again here this next month a couple more times. its real close though, real smooth and inviting. probably around mid month just waiting on a fermentor to open up.

here is a not so good pic of the beer after carbonation

I have been tweaking this beer allot for the last several days, and i started noticing that it seems that iron horse took an dry irish stout and imperial stout and combined the two. so i am trying to go another direction with this and create a kinda hybrid Imperial/Dry Irish Stout. The only thing that is throwing me off is the addition of munich. and how i can get it down to a FG that will still be in the category of dry stout. So here is the recipe and i would love any feedback that you all might have.


Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 17.75 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.081
Final gravity 1.022
Alcohol (by volume) 7.8%
Bitterness (IBU) 38
Color (SRM) 47.7°L
Yeast
3 liquid packs
White Labs
WLP004 Irish Ale

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
17.75 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L 11 pounds
62.0%
Barley (Flaked)
32ppg, 2°L 2 pounds
11.3%
Barley (Roasted)
28ppg, 300°L 1.5 pounds
8.5%
Munich
12ppg, 9°L 1 pound
5.6%
Crystal 80L
34ppg, 80°L 1 pound
5.6%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Chocolate
29ppg, 350°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Black Patent
27ppg, 500°L 0.25 pounds
1.4%

Hops
2.75 ounces
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 1 ounce
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 1 ounce
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.75 ounces

Mash
150 minutes, 9.0 gallons
Strike
Target 153°F 5.3 gallons
166°F
90 minutes (+0)
Sparge 3.6 gallons
170°F

Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
60 minutes (+0)
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
45 minutes (+15)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.5 ounces
30 minutes (+30)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
10 minutes (+50)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
1 minutes (+59)

Ferment
21 days @ 65-68°F
Rack to secondary 14 days (+7)

Hey! Thanks for the recipe, I have a couple questions for you. I'm new to all grain brewing so bear with me! First off, I used the Scottish ale wyeast for the yeast off of a recommendation from the guy at the homebrew store. Secondly, the OG for the brew was 1.070 so it was a little bit under. I used a yeast starter (first time trying one). When I put the beer into the primary fermentation and added the yeast, the first couple days it was going crazy (like usual). However, after about three days it settled quite a bit, almost like it does after about 2 weeks of fermenting. How much action was going on with your yeast for this beer? Is this normal? I know this beer is supposed to have a higher alcohol content so I assumed the yeast would be pretty active for a while.

My beer was pretty active in fermentation for a few days but that doesn't mean that its not still fermenting. i have had beer that seem to go crazy for a day and then mellow out. last beer i made was a stout that sat with no active fermentation that increased abv by 2% more 2 weeks or so later after fermentation had stopped being visible. just take readings, that's the only way to really tell whats going on inside.

Hey, thanks for the info! I put it into a secondary fermentation about a week ago and the alcohol percentage is at 7.5% so didn't quite hit your mark but still a hefty beer. The flavor and aroma is great! Definitely a great Irish death clone. Can't wait for it to be done! Thanks again for the recipe.

Thanks for the recipe! Definitely need to try this recipe. I graduated from CWU last summer quarter so now I can't go fill up my growler anymore!

Yeah it was good i have only made the first recipe though. The second recipe is one that i was toying with but haven't got around to brewing and i think i might tweak it more still.

Bigben thanks for posting this recipe. I want to try at an Irish Death clone as it is one of my favorites. I'm going to use this as my base, however I think I might hold back on some of the hops because I think IBUs are a little lower in I.D. Also why add 1 pound of Cara pills? wouldn't it just get lost against all that pilsner? Other than that it looks tastey.

warndogg said:

Bigben thanks for posting this recipe. I want to try at an Irish Death clone as it is one of my favorites. I'm going to use this as my base, however I think I might hold back on some of the hops because I think IBUs are a little lower in I.D. Also why add 1 pound of Cara pills? wouldn't it just get lost against all that pilsner? Other than that it looks tastey.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure why the cara pils, it was part of the grain bill that iron horse brewery sent me. All the grains and hops are what the brewery actually uses to make Irish death. The amounts of each are subject to be determined by the brewer. I arranged them from greatest to least in the order that they sent me. And then tried to figure how the put it together. Good luck

Thanks, I ended up adding it for some extra mouth feel :rockin:

biggben said:

I have been tweaking this beer allot for the last several days, and i started noticing that it seems that iron horse took an dry irish stout and imperial stout and combined the two. so i am trying to go another direction with this and create a kinda hybrid Imperial/Dry Irish Stout. The only thing that is throwing me off is the addition of munich. and how i can get it down to a FG that will still be in the category of dry stout. So here is the recipe and i would love any feedback that you all might have.


Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 17.75 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.081
Final gravity 1.022
Alcohol (by volume) 7.8%
Bitterness (IBU) 38
Color (SRM) 47.7°L
Yeast
3 liquid packs
White Labs
WLP004 Irish Ale

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
17.75 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L 11 pounds
62.0%
Barley (Flaked)
32ppg, 2°L 2 pounds
11.3%
Barley (Roasted)
28ppg, 300°L 1.5 pounds
8.5%
Munich
12ppg, 9°L 1 pound
5.6%
Crystal 80L
34ppg, 80°L 1 pound
5.6%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Chocolate
29ppg, 350°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Black Patent
27ppg, 500°L 0.25 pounds
1.4%

Hops
2.75 ounces
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 1 ounce
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 1 ounce
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.75 ounces

Mash
150 minutes, 9.0 gallons
Strike
Target 153°F 5.3 gallons
166°F
90 minutes (+0)
Sparge 3.6 gallons
170°F

Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
60 minutes (+0)
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
45 minutes (+15)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.5 ounces
30 minutes (+30)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
10 minutes (+50)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
1 minutes (+59)

Ferment
21 days @ 65-68°F
Rack to secondary 14 days (+7)

Click to expand...

So was this the final one you ended up staying with? I want to try this brew this weekend, Thanks for your ground work figuring it out!

Nope I never made this version, I just was trying to see what people thought about that idea first version is the one that I brew and its a good one.

I'm looking forward to trying this one. Iron Horse just started selling this in the Fred Meyer in Portland. It's the only place in Oregon you can get it so every time I drive to Portland I have to bring back a bomber or two.

biggben said:

I have been tweaking this beer allot for the last several days, and i started noticing that it seems that iron horse took an dry irish stout and imperial stout and combined the two. so i am trying to go another direction with this and create a kinda hybrid Imperial/Dry Irish Stout. The only thing that is throwing me off is the addition of munich. and how i can get it down to a FG that will still be in the category of dry stout. So here is the recipe and i would love any feedback that you all might have.


Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.7 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes
Grain weight 17.75 pounds
Efficiency 75%
Original gravity 1.081
Final gravity 1.022
Alcohol (by volume) 7.8%
Bitterness (IBU) 38
Color (SRM) 47.7°L
Yeast
3 liquid packs
White Labs
WLP004 Irish Ale

Grains/Extracts/Sugars
17.75 pounds
2 Row Base
37ppg, 1.5°L 11 pounds
62.0%
Barley (Flaked)
32ppg, 2°L 2 pounds
11.3%
Barley (Roasted)
28ppg, 300°L 1.5 pounds
8.5%
Munich
12ppg, 9°L 1 pound
5.6%
Crystal 80L
34ppg, 80°L 1 pound
5.6%
CaraPils
33ppg, 1.5°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Chocolate
29ppg, 350°L 0.5 pounds
2.8%
Black Patent
27ppg, 500°L 0.25 pounds
1.4%

Hops
2.75 ounces
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 1 ounce
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 1 ounce
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.75 ounces

Mash
150 minutes, 9.0 gallons
Strike
Target 153°F 5.3 gallons
166°F
90 minutes (+0)
Sparge 3.6 gallons
170°F

Boil
60 minutes, 6.7 gallons
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
60 minutes (+0)
Columbus hops
13%, Whole 0.5 ounces
45 minutes (+15)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.5 ounces
30 minutes (+30)
Cascade hops
6%, Whole 0.25 ounces
15 minutes (+45)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
10 minutes (+50)
Mount Hood hops
5%, Whole 0.5 ounces
1 minutes (+59)

Ferment
21 days @ 65-68°F
Rack to secondary 14 days (+7)

Click to expand...

Have you brewed anymore or refined your Irish Death recipe since your post in 2012?

I'm curious also. I tried this beer in Yakima WA and absolutely loved it. Very sad I can't get it up here in Canada.

Brewed this up and it turned out awesome...used Nottingham instead of the Irish ale yeast. Will be doing this one again soon.

Brewing this up today. Going to use the Imperial Darkness yeast this time.