Specialty IPA: Black IPA None More Black IPA (Cascadian Dark Ale)

So this was my first shot at a "Black IPA" and I think I hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was going for. I was a bit worried about the color but the more I check it out the happier I am with it.

This mother is a punch in the face - around 7% ABV, 106 IBU, ready to destroy your tastebuds in the best way possible. Huge hop punch from the Warrior with a nice spicy/citrusy combo from the Sorachi and Amarillo. There's enough malt to know it's a CDA, but it isn't overly frontal like some brewers seem to go for.

Check it out, and as always comments are welcome!

9 lbs. US 2-Row
1 lb. Munich
0.5 lb. Cara-Pils
0.5 lb. Carafa III
0.5 lb. Crystal 80

1 oz. Warrior (17.2% AA) 60 min.
0.5 oz. Sorachi (10.9% AA) 30 min.
0.5 oz. Amarillo Gold (7.2% AA) 30 min.
0.5 oz. Sorachi (10.9% AA) 15 min.
0.5 oz. Amarillo Gold (7.2% AA) 15 min.
0.5 oz. Sorachi (10.9% AA) 5 min.
0.5 oz. Amarillo Gold (7.2% AA) 5 min.

1 oz. Amarillo Gold (7.2% AA) Dry hop 7 days

1 packet US-05

Mash at 151 for 60 minutes, sparge to boil volume (6.5 g)

This looks pretty tasty. My CDA was way to roasty, I'll have to give this recipe a try.

Looks great.. although it might belong in the IPA section

Yeah I wasn't sure. I mean, technically it isn't a pale ale in any shape or form, so I think this section might be better since CDA is a newer American style.

I was just more thinking about the IBU's. Trust me.. I could care less.. I don't brew to style.

BJCP lists 30-45 as the IBU's for an American Ale

What's a substitute for the Sorachi? My LHBS doesn't have any, and I can't find it on hop-equivalent charts. Looking forward to brewing this this weekend! Kyle

Conan said:

What's a substitute for the Sorachi? My LHBS doesn't have any, and I can't find it on hop-equivalent charts. Looking forward to brewing this this weekend! Kyle

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the reason you can't find a substitute is because there really aren't any. sorachi is lemony, which is unique for hops

Thanks. I looked it up and found the Sorachi- lemony info. I'm thinking about substituting with Centennial or Cascade. Maybe Simcoe. Anyway, I'll be brewing it this weekend unless I can't get ingredients. Kyle

Yeah Sorachi is a weird one. It's got a crazy spicey note to it, as well. Any of the citrus hops (Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade) will all work, you'll just get a slightly different flavor profile on the brew.

Update: kegged a version of this today, subbing Cascade for Sorachi because I couldn't get Sorachi on time. Anyway, I got no hop flavor from the Hydro sample. I cool/ retaste the sample, and at fridge temps the toasted 2-row came through much more. Some hop presence but not much. I'm dry hopping with 1.5oz Amarillo leaves to use up a half-ounce I had around. I like it, and hope to make the actual recipe sometime. Also, I'm hoping the malt/ toastyness mellows after some keg time. I'm certain it will. Thanks for the base recipe! Kyle

Hmm, that's kinda interesting. My hydro was a punch of hop flavor. How much toasted 2-row did you add? Also, what sort of IBU did you get from subbing Cascade?

Sort of brewed this yesterday. I did it as BIAB so I made a few changes. I upped the grain bill 15%, double milled, changed the hop schedule, and extended to a 90 minute boil due to my forgetting to rehydrate the yeast.

We shall see.

Haha, the 90 minutes from that Warrior is going to be brutal!

Total 110.4 IBU, toasted as per recipe. As it sits now, the beer's great. Kyle

I think I ignored your "15% grain bill increase" when I made that comment, haha.

'sall good. I don't mind a good punch in the face from time to time.

i didnt see any mention of toasting the 2-row in the original recipe but i see in mentioned in other posts in this thread. Could the OP clarify please?

Adamb, I'm not the OP, but I believe I'm the one that put in the toasted 2-Row. Looking back through my recipe log, it was supposed to go into an APA I was planning to do shortly after this brew. Turns out I crossed recipes a little bit. For me, the toasted really added a warm flavor after everything aged together a bit. Right now, the beer is very good, and the hops have jumped through quite a bit. Kyle

How "heavy" is this beer? And by that, I mean is it heavy in the way a stout would be. I've never had a black IPA so the dark color is really throwing off my sense of judgement! I plan to brew an IPA this weekend and this could be the one.

BTW...OP..the name ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!! :rockin::rockin:

Edit: Is there a BJCP style for this?

WildGingerBrewing said:

How "heavy" is this beer? And by that, I mean is it heavy in the way a stout would be. I've never had a black IPA so the dark color is really throwing off my sense of judgement! I plan to brew an IPA this weekend and this could be the one.

BTW...OP..the name ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!! :rockin::rockin:

Edit: Is there a BJCP style for this?

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It's not really a "heavy" beer - you aren't going to get the same creamy mouthfeel you would from a stout. I'd liken it to a double IPA in terms of mouth texture. Black IPA is a great style, but BJCP doesn't have it officially noted yet (technically it's a "Cascadian Dark Ale").

Regarding toasting the 2-row - I didn't do it, but I'm sure you could. I tried to keep any flavors that would take away from hop flavor out of this brew, short of the usual ****.

Due to "out of stock" items at LHBS, I am subbing Centennial for Sorachi and Chinook for Amarillo. It also appears that they may be out of Carafa III so I may have to sub Carafa II. I guess mine won't be quite as dark.

.

WildGingerBrewing said:

Due to "out of stock" items at LHBS, I am subbing Centennial for Sorachi and Chinook for Amarillo. It also appears that they may be out of Carafa III so I may have to sub Carafa II. I guess mine won't be quite as dark.

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Let me know how that hop combo comes out, should be interesting. You'll be fine with the Carafa II, you likely will barely notice it.

Mashing the grains as we speak. I'll let you kow how it comes out. Thanks for the recipe.

Well, I bottled my BIAB version yesterday. Hydro sample was quite tasty, although mine didn't end up quite so black. I think when I scaled up for BIAB I may have messed up a few of the ratios.

Brewed this yesterday afternoon. Beautiful color and the wort smelled fantastic through the boil.

I ended up subbing magnum for warrior and cascade for the sorachi. Excited for this one - it's my first brew in over 10 months, and my first all-grain ever. Thanks for the recipe!

What can you tell us about Sorachi Ace? Have you used it a lot? My LHBS has some in stock and I imagine it's overlooked. I've always wanted to play around with that hop but haven't committed a brew to it yet...

Well, it's a weird hop. I've only used it in two brews. It gives a little bit of lemony flavor - distinctly lemon rather than the generic "citrus" of hops like Centennial and Amarillo. It's also got this weird spicey punch to it, you can get that just from taking a deep inhale from the hop bag.

I'd use it as a supplement or complement, but not as a primary hop. It backs up the citrusy hops quite well.

Ok, nice! Thanks for the good description.

I made several wheat based sorachi beers last year. Some were better than others.

I still have two ounces in the freezer so I think I'll give this one a go. My question is: Is there a reason other than personal preference as to why you did not dry hop this CDA?

Anway, I no chill so I'll take your malt bill plus one more pound of 2-row or munich and one pound of cane sugar to boost it to around 1.070 and hop it as follows:

0.5 oz sorachi - first wort
0.25 oz amarillo - first wort
1 oz magnum - 60 min boil
0.5 ounce sorachi - flameout (calculates as 20 min bittering for no chill but has tons of flavor)
0.75 ounce amarillo -flameout
an ounce of sorachi for dry hop

Thats right around 1.070 for a 5.5 gal batch and around 103 ibus. Seems interesting.

I actually did dry hop it with an oz. of Amarillo. It's toward the bottom of the recipe.

I completely missed that. Amarillo is a great choice!

brewing this right now! doing BIAB. Upped the 2-row to 10 lbs. and am using warrior, cascade, and centennial because I have a bunch of those hops.

The wort tasted awesome pre-boil and it's so dark I felt it was trying to suck my soul out! Nice.

BIAB 90 minute turned out excellent.

Good to hear!

Just racked to secondary and dry hopped with 1 oz of Chinook. OG: 1.064/FG: 1.012 ABV: 6.8% Tasted good. Very nice balance between raosty and hoppy. I can't wait to get this in bottles!

Dude, you totally stole the name I was gonna use for my Black IPA. Well played, sir. Now I have to try and come up with something else. Also, that's a killer label you made.

Thanks! I had been itching for a Spinal Tap beer, haha

I just got back from a 3 week vacation. This was sitting in primary the entire time. I just dropped in some cascade to dry hop. Tasted a sample, it's gonna be awesome. I can already tell.

Got my version in the bottle last weekend. Impatience made me try one this past weekend. Defintely not ready, but I didn't figure it would be. I can tell it's going to be very interesting though. The balance of rasty and hoppy is great. It's not heavy, which makes it wierd to me since I have always equated dark with heavy. I think it's going to be really good though. I'll give it another try in another week or so.