Cascade Dark Ale

Here is a recipe I came up with for a Cascade Dark Ale (Dark IPA). This is one of the best beers I've ever brewed. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Probably the most unusual feature was we elected to steep the darker grains at start of boil rather than put them in for the entire mash. We did this because we were primarily looking for color, and didn't want strong chocolate/stout flavors. Another alternative would be to use de-bittered black malt, which we didn't have but I will probably try at a later date. So the gravities and color are probably not accurate. BeerAlchemy (mac) doesn't have a way to specify steeped grain in an all grain batch.

Note: This is a 20g batch... scale for your batch size as appropriate.

Recipe: Cascadian Dark Ale
Style: 0- No Style Chosen

Recipe Overview

Wort Volume Before Boil: 23.40 US gals
Wort Volume After Boil: 19.80 US gals
Volume Transferred: 19.01 US gals
Volume At Pitching: 19.02 US gals
Final Batch Volume: 18.07 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.063 SG
Expected OG: 1.074 SG
Expected FG: 1.018 SG
Expected ABV: 7.6 %
Expected ABW: 5.9 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 93.0
Expected Color: 33.5 SRM
Apparent Attenuation: 75.0 %
Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 68 degF

Fermentables
US 2-Row Malt 40.00 lb (78.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 10L Malt 5.50 lb (10.8 %) In Mash/Steeped
Belgian Special B 2.25 lb (4.4 %) In Mash/Steeped
UK Black Malt 0.50 lb (1.0 %) Steeped in bag first 15-20 minutes of boil
UK Chocolate Malt 2.50 lb (4.9 %) Steeped in bag first 15-20 minutes of boil

Hops
US Nugget (14.2 % alpha) 4.00 oz Loose Whole Hops used First Wort Hopped
US Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used First Wort Hopped
US Amarillo (8.2 % alpha) 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used First Wort Hopped
US Amarillo (8.2 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 30 Min From End
US Simcoe (12.2 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used 15 Min From End
US Simcoe (13.0 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped
US Amarillo (5.0 % alpha) 2.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops used Dry-Hopped

Other Ingredients

Yeast: DCL US-05 (formerly US-56) SafAle

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash, with steeped specialty grains

Recipe notes:
Mashed at 150-152 for 1 hour. 1 Hour boil. Steeped dark grains at start of boil rather than entire mash. Split the dry hops into two additions, first at day 3-4, second at day 7-9.

Tasting notes: Great beer. Strong but not overwhelming hops. Great color, nice malt flavor but not syrup-like stout flavor profile.

paradoc said:

Probably the most unusual feature was..

Recipe notes:
Mashed at 170 for 1 hour. 1 Hour boil. Steeped dark grains at start of boil rather than entire mash.

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This looks like a great beer, I've been looking for a CDA recipe. I'd say the most unusual feature is mashing at 170 for an hour. I'm thinking that might be a typo?

Ricand said:

This looks like a great beer, I've been looking for a CDA recipe. I'd say the most unusual feature is mashing at 170 for an hour. I'm thinking that might be a typo?

Click to expand...

Yikes! You are correct. Mash temp should be 150-152. I typically batch sparge with 170 degree water, which is probably how 170 got in there. Fixed in original post now.

Any other thoughts/suggestions on getting the dark color without creating a chocolate-stout-hop-bomb are welcome. The flavor profile I was looking for was mostly IPA inspired, but with a darker malt color and hint of the darker malt flavor to give it some robustness. This was definitely an experimental recipe for me, and other suggestions are welcome.