Black IPA Recipe critique please

Ok, so im a bit of a newcomer to home brewing and had various hits and misses in regard to my beers. I started off with extract+grains and have kept it that way since.

I will be dealing with a lot of unfamiliar grains and hops so any advice would be appreciated. I did include flaked barley to give a bit more head retention but ive not seen this much in other recipes. Im curious about the Carafa III / Chocolate Malt combination. I really want to taste that chocolatey richess.. what kind of taste/aroma does carafa III bring?

Here is my new recipe:-

Original Gravity
1.077 / 18.7° Plato
(1.068 to 1.080)
Final Gravity
1.021 / 5.3° Plato
(1.018 to 1.022)
Color
50° SRM / 98° EBC
(Black)
Mash Efficiency ?
75% edit

Bitterness
72.8 IBU / 47 HBU
ƒ: Tinseth edit
BU:GU
0.95

Alcohol
7.5% ABV / 6% ABW
Calories
255 per 12 oz.

Safale US-05 Dry Yeast

MALT OR FERMENTABLE PPG °L

75% 7 0 Light Dry Malt Extract 45 8

8% 0 12 Carafa III 32 525

7% 0 10 Chocolate Malt 34 475

5% 0 8 Wheat Malt, Dark info 39 9

3% 0 4 Amber Malt 35 22

3% 0 4 Roasted Barley 25 300


boil 60 mins 2.0 Sorachi Ace leaf 14.2

boil 15 mins 0.25 Sorachi Ace leaf 14.2

boil 5 mins 0.5 Sorachi Ace leaf 14.2

boil 1 min 0.5 Northern Brewer leaf 8.5

dry hop 6 days 0.5 Northern Brewer leaf 8.5

dry hop 6 days 1.0 Sorachi Ace leaf 14.2

I'd be surprised if you needed to work to boost head retention at all, given the level of hopping IPAs tend to get. That being said, you have a LOT of dark grains there - the Black Extra IPA that I'm brewing at the moment only has 8oz of chocolate malt and 4oz of chocolate wheat, and I'm still concerned it might be high.

Many thanks for this Kerin, it was mentioned on another forum. Ill reduce them all a bit. By half?

Scaradanga said:

Many thanks for this Kerin, it was mentioned on another forum. Ill reduce them all a bit. By half?

Click to expand...

That's a safe bet, yeah. If you drink it and find yourself going "man, this needs more roast," you know for next time! It'd probably still be delicious with the amount you were going to use, but it's liable to taste more like a really hoppy stout than a bIPA.

That being said, I think you should do what your heart tells you. Brew for you! My bIPA that's fermenting right now clocks in at 90 IBUs, because I'm a maniac. And that's what I want to drink. So what if it doesn't fit the style?

Heya Scara, here's an all grain recipe that I have brewed several times and it's fantastic if you want to compare the chocolate and carafa III percentages.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Men in Black IPA
Brewer: Me
Asst Brewer: Pleepleus
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.72 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 29.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 88.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.10 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.1 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.6 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.1 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.1 %
6.1 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.1 %
6.1 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.1 %
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 44.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 22.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 15.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 6.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 m Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [800 Yeast 12 -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 4.2 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 7.62 gal of water at 158.9 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
1st Batch 1.050 - 74.40% Efficiency
2nd Batch 1.055 - 81.80% Efficiency


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My updated recipe :-

http://hopville.com/recipe/1183983/imperial-ipa-recipes/3-nipples-black-ipa

Slightly less dark hops and a final Gravity of 1.020. I hoping that it will be less..

that is exceptionally hoppy! Maybe i should consider buying an extra pack of hops and adding an extra pound of DME. Maybe some Target for the boil?

Also, wouldnt the extra malts give a richness to the brew? I know that in Thornbridge Raven there is a distinct chocolatey taste.

Scaradanga said:

that is exceptionally hoppy! Maybe i should consider buying an extra pack of hops and adding an extra pound of DME. Maybe some Target for the boil?

Click to expand...

Depends on how hoppy you like it! Most craft IPAs seem to be in the 70~ IBU range, while Sierra Nevada Torpedo is 80something.

Also, wouldnt the extra malts give a richness to the brew? I know that in Thornbridge Raven there is a distinct chocolatey taste.

Click to expand...

Again, it depends on you. Some people hate chocolate tastes in Black IPAs because they feel it makes it taste too much like a hoppy stout. Other people love it.

Right, another revision.

http://hopville.com/recipe/1183983/imperial-ipa-recipes/3-nipples-black-ipa

Slightly less carafa III, slightly more Chololate, 78 IBU, 1.020 final predicted gravity (hoping for slightly less), 7.2% ABV, 1.5oz of dry hops.

Sound Better?

I wouldn't use roasted barley in a bIPA, you're really in porter/stout territory with this. I'd keep the dark malts to 1lb max. it might just be me, but i dont think the lemony notes of sorachi ace would play too well with any roast character

With black ipa's you want the color, but very little roast character. I would drop the chocolate, and only add 8oz of carafa special 2 as the dark malt. Everything else looks good.

Drop the chocolate? Ah, i dont think i could bare doing that. Ive only tasted Thornbridge Raven bIPA and its damn good. That has a massive chocolate malt taste, and i believe sorachi is in there somewhere too.

I be a bit more reserved with the Dark Malts and reduce the roast barley to 1oz so there's just a hint of roastiness.

Ive heard a lot of people talk about having an IBU of around 70+ .

You'll get some of the chocolate notes from Carafa special. What you won't get is the bitter and astringency flavors that most darker Malts give off.

Brew with the recipe that YOU will like most. That's what's great about brewing beer for yourself.

Ah, i get ya. Ive looked at some other recipes and roasted barley is no where to be seen so that is off. Ill reduce the amber malt further also.

Many thanks for the feedback guys. Really appreciate it.

Final recipe is as stands:-

http://hopville.com/recipe/1183983/imperial-ipa-recipes/3-nipples-black-ipa

Have you thought about upping the OG and therefore the ABV?

Yeah, because 7% is low...?

Not low but I just tried the stone escondidian and it's 10% full bodied and delicious.

I ended up with a little more than i anticipated and got a lower gravity reading (5.5 gal batch / 1.060 gravity). So i added 1lb of DME (mixed in wort and microwaved 8hrs into fermentation).

http://hopville.com/recipe/1183983/imperial-ipa-recipes/3-nipples-black-ipa

I think 7% is enough. I am watching cost as there is always the chance it could turn out bad or get infected.

Maybe when i get my confidence up totally i will splash out and make a hellishly strong IPA.

Microwaved?!