Pitch Black Sheep IPA

All-Grain - Pitch Black Sheep IPA

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Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Cry Havoc
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: American Ale
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.078
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 190
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 62
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7
Additional Fermentation: bottle
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14
Tasting Notes: Still waiting!




Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Golden Promise (3.0 SRM) Grain 70.18 %
1.25 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 8.77 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.02 %
0.75 lb Quinoa, flakes (1.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %

1.00 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 40.4 IBU
2.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 58.7 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (30 min) Hops 22.6 IBU
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (25 min) Hops 11.9 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (25 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] (20 min) Hops 8.9 IBU
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (20 min) Hops 10.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (15 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
3.00 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 14 days) Hops - Pellet
2.00 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops - Pellet

20min at 104F
30min at 120F
90min at 154F

I just did the first dry-hop last night. Wort before the dry-hop tasted like a good imperial stout, so if nothing else i think i'll have a decent palate wrecker. All hops are whole leaf aside from the Amarillo. That's a whole pound of hops.

I must explain my yeast here.

(the long story) I used 4 total strains. It's a long story. I was playing with malt one day and came up with a decent wort to which i added Cascade hops and fermented with Windsor yeast and i had about half gallon of this bubbling a few days and i also added dregs from a DFH Festina Peche so i essentially had in my playing around came up with a nice starter with healthy yeast. FWD a few days to brewday and i had to split my batch into 2 fermenters i needed a lot of yeast, more than i had IMO so i figured i'd use the "starter" and see what i ended up with.

(the short version) FWD to brewday and i have a starter of Windsor and Festina Peche culture. My plans were to use Cry Havoc and Pacman. Couldn't get Pacman and subbed American Ale (Wyeast). 4 yeasts. 2 strains in each fermenter.

Gravity worked out the same after some time. No problem.

This is a rework on my more traditional Black IPA recipe which i will post if there's interest.

I wanted some good head retention and was going to use oats, but i had been sitting on a box of flaked quinoa and gave it a shot. We'll see how it holds up. Gravity worked out alright so i don't see it ending poorly.


I could use some feedback here. I used a suggestion for the style guidelines for Cascadian Dark Ale that i came across on Facebook's CDA fanpage as a basis and went from there with a brewbuddy's advice taken into consideration.

All feedback is appreciated.

PS: Name i chose for the brew is a mock on my brother in law's hardcore band Pitch Black Sleep.

A week or so late in bottling after all the hop additions, this is now conditioning. I'll report back on the end result. The zero carbonation version was a hoppy BEAST! It was quite tasty.

Just cracked open a test bottle. HOLY EFFING HELL!! This needs to age more than a week, but i had to do the scientific research of testing carb levels. It's still VERY green, but is indeed carbing nicely and is bitter as all f*&@! I think this is going to be a fine beer in a months time. A lot of hop residue, but i suspect that'll settle out? God it's bitter! WOW! Smells really good too.

EDIT: IGNORE this post! See below. One week is too soon.

Ahhhh success!

This is test bottle #2. It's almost 100% ready. Needs a tiny bit more conditioning, but it's still really good.

The foam on top is REEEALLY heavy and does not go away. A layer of lace with every sip. I'd say this has to be the quinoa in place of oats. The head retention is really great.

The roast malts are quite heavy and grapple with the hop aroma a bit. We'll see what this is like after a couple more weeks, but DAMN i'm satisfied. It's goddamn delicious.

This recipe is awesome. I've been doing comparisons to other BIPAs/CDAs and so far i think i like my Pitch Black Sheep the best. It's also getting rave reviews from the people who've tasted it.

I think I will be making this, but lowering the hop levels. It's too pricey for my blood with all those hops, so here's my reduced version. I also already have these hops on hand and want to use them.

1.00 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 40.4 IBU

2.00 oz Northern Brewer (subbed for Centennial) [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 58.7 IBU

2 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
2 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU

1.00 oz Sorachi Ace [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops - Pellet

Click to expand...

jbrookeiv said:

I think I will be making this, but lowering the hop levels. It's too pricey for my blood with all those hops, so here's my reduced version. I also already have these hops on hand and want to use them.

Click to expand...

Yeah, a full pound was a bit much, but in the end i think it was worth it. The beer turned out really good. In hindsight, i think i'd skip some of the early hop additions in favor of more late additions. That said, it could be one of my most well-rounded recipes.

Please let me know how you like it when you brew.

Oh man. This beer is so killer. I only have 1 case left. It's that damn good.

4 bottles are right now sitting in the Cricket Hill Brewery awaiting judging in their homebrew comp.

Holy Jesus, that's a lot of hop additions!