Rye CDA Recipe - Opinions?

[kafkasbug]

Below my recipe for my first attempt at a rye CDA/Black IPA/American-Style India Dark Ale/etc. I plan on brewing this coming weekend. Any suggestions?

Batch Size: 5.25 US gallons

Grain:
9 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. 4 oz. American Munich
1 lb. 8 oz Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
1 lb. Flaked rye
2 lb. 8 oz. Rye (raw)
8 oz Carafa II
4 oz Special Roast
4 oz Crystal 10L

Hops:
.5 oz Columbus (FWH)
1 oz Columbus (60 mins)
.5 oz Columbus (45 mins)
.5 oz Columbus (30 mins)
.5 oz Columbus (15 mins)
1 oz Columbus (Dry - 7 days)

Yeast:
WLP005 - British Ale Yeast w/ a 2L starter

Single step infusion at 150* F.
2 step batch sparge at 170* F.
Ferment at 68*F for at least 2 weeks.

 

[NcBrewer35]

This is a great idea! Rye Black IPA.. this really has me thinking....

But to answer your questions it does not seem to have enough dark grain.

I use the following in a 5.5 gallon batch of Black IPA/CDA:

12.5# American 2-row
1# Crystal 60
1# Carafa III
1# Invert Sugar

If I was going to do Rye Black IPA/CDA I would use:

10.5# American 2-row
2# Rye
1# Crystal 60
1# Carafa III
1# Invert (or corn sugar)

I would also use WLP001 California Ale Yeast

 

[kafkasbug]

This is a great idea! Rye Black IPA.. this really has me thinking....

But to answer your questions it does not seem to have enough dark grain.

I've got another 1/2 lb of carafa II I can toss in. I think I'll go ahead.

The decision to use the British Ale yeast has more to do with what I have on hand, as opposed to any logical decision.

 

[scottland]

I brewed one two weeks ago. It's dry hopping in the secondary right now. OG came in at 1.074, FG: 1.014, and it's already tasting really nice. I'm excited to see what it will taste like finished.

I posted the recipe in this blog post (near the bottom) http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/02/best-laid-plans.html

For your recipe, I would drop all that carapils, move the 45 and 30 minute hop additions later in the boil, like 1-3oz at flameout. Also if you want it black, you need to switch to carafa III special, and even then you'll need more. I used 14oz, and it's just barely 'black', any less, and my beer would be a 'very dark brown'

 

[kafkasbug]

Here's what the final recipe looked like:

9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US
2 lbs 8.0 oz Rye Malt (4.7 SRM)
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs 4.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1 lbs Carafa II (412.0 SRM)
1 lbs Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - First Wort
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 45.0 min
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 13 -
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
2.0 pkg British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [35.49 ml] Yeast 15 -
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days


Here's how it looks:

 

[kafkasbug]

The taste is nice and bitter, but lacks complexity. I think that it needs a couple different varieties of hops for the aroma/flavor. Something like Amarillo or Centennial would probably work. Just a little maltiness. I'm surprised that the rye didn't really come through as much as I'd hoped.

The aroma is extremely pungent and hoppy.

The mouth-feel is extremely full. The carapils really does its job.

The color is black as can be. My brown bottles grew lighter after pouring it.

Overall, I think that the carapils can back off a hair. The hops needs to be more diverse, or a different variety should be used, altogether. More rye is required for it to keep its name.