CDA/Black-IPA brewers; how much (and which) Carafe Special are you using?

[the_bird]

Planning to do a black-IPA/CDA this weekend, so I'm putting the recipe together. Going to keep the grain bill pretty simple, thinking some base domestic 2-row, a little medium crystal, and some Carafe Special.

Question is simple; since my LHBS now :rockin: and offers me all kinds of choices, which lovibond Carafe Special are y'all using in these beers? Related question; how much? 3/4 pound? Full pound? Are you using any other roasted grains at all, like some pale chocolate? I know I don't want MUCH roast, but since I'm going to hop with some English varieties I'm thinking a LITTLE roast character coming through would be OK.

I know it's kind of a newish and still-experimental style, but what have people had success with?

 

[big supper]

I only did American versions, but once I used 300 grams and the other time 400 grams for a 20 litre batch (~5.25 gallons?). If memory serves me correctly, I perferred the one with 300g's. That is the only dark grain that I used, with some C80(~5%) and 2 row.

PS. I have tried both the Carafa special II and III. not sure that I noticed a difference.

 

[boostsr20]

On my 10 gallon batch I used 2lbs Black Prinze which is probably similar to III and I also used .75 of a UK 350 chocolate malt. Loved the flavor on it.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Planning to do a black-IPA/CDA this weekend, so I'm putting the recipe together. Going to keep the grain bill pretty simple, thinking some base domestic 2-row, a little medium crystal, and some Carafe Special.

Question is simple; since my LHBS now :rockin: and offers me all kinds of choices, which lovibond Carafe Special are y'all using in these beers? Related question; how much? 3/4 pound? Full pound? Are you using any other roasted grains at all, like some pale chocolate? I know I don't want MUCH roast, but since I'm going to hop with some English varieties I'm thinking a LITTLE roast character coming through would be OK.

I know it's kind of a newish and still-experimental style, but what have people had success with?

I use 1.5 lb CarafaII in 11 gallon. This grain is kept separate and is added at the last 5 minutes of the mash.

The grain bill is simply 2-row, Vienna, the Carafa and a little wheat

You'll get *some* roasty flavors and aromas from the Carafa. You'll need lots of hops to balance out the roast flavors. The last time I brewed this (I've made ~100 gallon of this style), I used 8 oz of Simcoe/Amarillo in late additions including dry hop. It still lacks the nose I'm looking to achieve. If you don't have enough late addition hops or the beer finishes sweeter/maltier, you run the risk of making a highly hopped American stout.

Yooper and Homer have each tried it. It's pretty good.

good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[the_bird]

I'm leaning towards maybe 3/4 of the Special III, and a half-pound of the pale chocolate (5 gallon batch). Not too much crystal, maybe a half-pound of some C60L. Enough base 2-row to get me ~1.065. Haven't figured the hops out yet, something fairly high AA and neutral for bittering and probably a split between Fuggles and EKG for aroma/flavor. 50-60 IBUs, a little under a 1:1 BU/GU ratio. US-05, with the little roast and the hops I don't want any yeast character.

Basically, an English re-interpretation of a very American interpretation of an English style.

 

[motobrewer]

my question would be, why aren't you brewing the dahkness?

i am, on the 9th.

 

[the_bird]

What's the dahkness? Have I missed an important thread somewhere?

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Between the Carafa and the Chocolate, it'll definitely be dark enough. I've seen lot's of recipes that use chocolate in their dark ales. My version comes out roasty enough w/o any of the chocolate for my tastes, so I have never added any. Sorry, can't really speak to that.

Also, I've never thought of EKG/Fuggles in this style. Sound interesting.

Oh, and I've stopped using Magnum or equivalent for my bittering adds. I just FWH withe the hops I'm using in my late adds to the IBU I'm looking for in the beer.

 

[the_bird]

Oh, Jeff's "Dahkness IPA"... Huh, that's a thought. Still wondering about the English hops with the light roast, thinking that's an interesting pairing.

 

[boostsr20]

I really like using about 10-15% of either Munich or Vienna also. Helps round out the beer IMO. With the roasted grains I used I targeted 120ibus and it balanced well with the roastiness. You might want to think about upping the ibus a bit or lowering the roast to get the balance more hop forward.

 

[the_bird]

I'm definitely an advocate of Munich malt in IPAs, but was thinking that I wanted the malt bill to be a little simpler this time; mostly just base and a little roast. The IPA I brewed yesterday had a couple pounds of Vienna in it, as well. I haven't decided on the hops yet, I may do some fairly large late additions.

 

[TheBrewinator]

Last time I made a black IPA, it was an imperial and I used the following grain bill for 5 gallons.

12 lbs 2 row
2 lbs light munich
2 lbs vienna
1 lb dehusked carafa III
1 lb corn sugar

There was a very slight hint of roast in the finish of the beer that worked really well for this particular one.

 

[BMan1113VR]

Did an imperial rye black IPA that is tasting pretty good so far. Malt bill was:
15# 2 row
2# Flaked Rye
(and the original was going to be chocolate and carafaIII, but they only had carafa II so i did):
#.75 Chocolate
#.50 Carafa II
#.25 Roasted Barley....
Mashed low...

A touch over 100 IBUs with no bittering addition (just FWH, and hop bursted...14oz of hops including DH)

 

[Glibbidy]

I wouldn't go with more than 4% of the Carafa III de-husked for this. 2-3% regular chocolate malt if you want to keep it simple. You probably have 9-12 ounces sitting around in a bag somewhere waiting to be used.
Hops... EKG & Fuggles are fine hops for the style English beers. How about a little Challenger in the kettle? Brewers gold if you want to use a higher AA hop is also nice.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I use 5% CArafa III Special along with 5% C60 and 90% 2 Row.

Then nothing but citrusy/piney goodness for the hops.

 

[the_bird]

I wouldn't go with more than 4% of the Carafa III de-husked for this. 2-3% regular chocolate malt if you want to keep it simple. You probably have 9-12 ounces sitting around in a bag somewhere waiting to be used.
Hops... EKG & Fuggles are fine hops for the style English beers. How about a little Challenger in the kettle? Brewers gold if you want to use a higher AA hop is also nice.

Glib! How you doing! Come out to Kai's on Sunday and brew with us!

You talking about the 4% Carafe III PLUS 2% - 3% choc? I do have the pale choc kicking around, I'm kind of interested in trying that out. On the hops side, thinking three additions (15, 5, and 2 minute), about 1.5 ounces per addition, mix of the two.

 

[the_bird]

OK, got my confirmation, Carafe AND the choc. Also going to add a little C120L, maybe a third of a pound or so, to add a little more depth to the malt base. Still think I'm going to go with the pale choc instead of the "regular", maybe more like 4% of that (it's only 200L, IIRC). Still has a little bit of a roasty taste to it, too, just not quite as intense.