Black Hops GF American IPA

I wanted a hoppier, higher gravity version of the Dual Spires Black Lodge Ale, so here's what I came up with. It's currently in the secondary, plan to bottle this weekend. 5 gallon batch:

60 - 3lbs rice syrup, 3lbs sorghum syrup, 1lb D-180 candi syrup, 8oz blackstrap molasses, 8oz maltodextrin, 1tsp gypsum, .5oz Magnum
25 - 1oz Simcoe
15 - 1tsp irish moss, .5tsp yeast nutrient
5 - 1oz Cascade
0 - 3lbs sorghum syrup, 2oz Cascade

OG - 1.072
FG - 1.013
ABV - 7.7%
IBU - ~60

Initially I had planned to go straight from the primary to bottling, so this batch spent 3 weeks in the primary. However, I was too lazy to bottle 2 batches of beer last weekend, so I racked this batch to the secondary on top of the remnants of an oak (and Jack Daniels) aged non-GF 90 min IPA I had just bottled.

Not sure how this time in the secondary will affect this batch; probably not much with it being on the oak cubes only 1 week (the 90 min IPA was in the secondary on those oak cubes for a month, yum...)

This looks great....please post pictures an let us know how it turns out....been thinking of doing something like this for a while now

Finally bottled this batch today; looks like it'll be ready just in time for Christmas. I also finally got around to a final gravity reading. It fermented out to 1.013 which puts the ABV at 7.7% (I edited my original post to reflect) which is a little higher than anticipated; this could be a keeper...

Did I miss the suggested yeast?

tawsme said:

Did I miss the suggested yeast?

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Oops, sorry about that. I used Fermentis SafAle S-04 (in the blue package).

Awesome, can't wait till it's finished. Will be interested in your tasting notes.

My fiance recently discovered that she and gluten don't get along and I'm looking for a recipe to try out. I have never brewed a GF beer before. How much water did you start off with in your boil?

Beardo21 said:

My fiance recently discovered that she and gluten don't get along and I'm looking for a recipe to try out. I have never brewed a GF beer before. How much water did you start off with in your boil?

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Believe I did a 4 gallon boil and then topped it up to 5 in the primary. Then again, it could have been a full 5 gallon boil... guess I need to improve my brew day note taking.

What kind of beer does your fiance like? May want to start with something a little more mellow? Then again, if she likes super hoppy high gravity brown ales, get brewing (and definitely MARRY HER!!)

Also, this is the first time this recipe has been brewed so it could suck... I doubt that but I won't know until 15-16 Dec (at the earliest). At that point it will have been in the bottle for 3 weeks. Christmas week would probably be better, but I'm not sure I can wait that long.

rlbois1 said:

Believe I did a 4 gallon boil and then topped it up to 5 in the primary. Then again, it could have been a full 5 gallon boil... guess I need to improve my brew day note taking.

What kind of beer does your fiance like? May want to start with something a little more mellow? Then again, if she likes super hoppy high gravity brown ales, get brewing (and definitely MARRY HER!!)

Also, this is the first time this recipe has been brewed so it could suck... I doubt that but I won't know until 15-16 Dec (at the earliest). At that point it will have been in the bottle for 3 weeks. Christmas week would probably be better, but I'm not sure I can wait that long.

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Good to know. She enjoys very hoppy stuff and that's one of many reasons why I'm marrying her . I might still try this one out. But let us know how it turns out for you or if you have any suggestions once its ready. :Cheers:

So... not that it really matters, but why did you bother to make a GF beer just to rack it over non-GF lees?

muench1 said:

So... not that it really matters, but why did you bother to make a GF beer just to rack it over non-GF lees?

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I was surprised nobody had asked sooner. The beer I brew is drank almost exclusively by me. While I am gluten sensitive, I do occasionally go non-GF.

Any tasting notes yet? Thinking if brewing this soon....hoping for feedback before I pull the trigger....thanks

mtbskier said:

Any tasting notes yet? Thinking if brewing this soon....hoping for feedback before I pull the trigger....thanks

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Had "a few" of these this past weekend; my tasting notes are... yummy. For my tastes, in terms of overall bitterness the hopping schedule was good, maybe Simcoe at the end too? Next time I will dry hop (like a boss) for more aroma. Malt base is delicious; love that D-180, but with all the sorghum I may tweak down the molasses to 4oz next time.

My batch also has a bit of Jack Daniels aroma, because I racked it to the secondary on top of the remnants of another batch that had been aging on JD soaked oak cubes. While still yummy, this batch would have been better had I not done that.

At only three weeks in the bottle, I believe this beer will only get better as it ages, only I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to let it age...

Excellent news.... I am going to brew a version of this or the black lodge ale this weekend. I can't decide which. does the malt stand up well to all those hops?

mtbskier said:

Excellent news.... I am going to brew a version of this or the black lodge ale this weekend. I can't decide which. does the malt stand up well to all those hops?

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IMO, the malt base and the hopping are a very good match. I will be enjoying many more of these over Christmas week; I'll report back in.

Currently in the process of formulating a recipe. But I'm going to take your base recipe. Combine it with the Bombay after dark black ipa from byo.com magazine ( http://hopville.com/recipe/1656880 ) and I think it should make for an awesome beer.

I'll have this done by the end of March.

Spaced you need to update your blog. I blog too so I know sometimes you wonder if anyone reads it but in your case--there are people who do!

ChasidicCalvinist said:

Spaced you need to update your blog. I blog too so I know sometimes you wonder if anyone reads it but in your case--there are people who do!

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Haha sorry, writers curse. Too much drinking not enough writing. Will update with a review of dual spires today. And link back here.