Will this dark IPA be a disaster?

[Beereater]

hi guys, i'm new to brewing and have done one batch previously which was a porter. it turned out ok. Now i want to make a lighter brew thats a hybrid between a porter and an IPA. I dont want it hoppy like an IPA, but i want it more hoppy than a porter. I dont want it dark like a porter, but not light like an IPA, i want something in between. With that in mind, i took a look at my inventory and made this draft. The speciality malts are about 50% of what would be in a porter. hops are more than a porter, but less than an IPA. I want it quite strong, hence the low mash temperature. will us-05 yeast work with this? i do have some muntons dry yeast and some windsor if thats better.

Dark IPA (light porter?)

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain BIAB )

Ingredients
6 kg British 2-row pale ale malt
0,2 kg crystal malt
0.10 kg chocolate malt
0.10 kg black malt

mash at 64 c (147 Fahrenheit)

1 oz magnum at 60 min

1 oz fuggle at 15 min

1 tablet whirlfloc at 10 min

1 oz williamette at flame out

safale us-05 ferment at 20 degrees c (68 Fahrenheit) for 14 days

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[Jimbodaman]

Only one way to find out, but I dig your style aka not following "rules".

 

[m00ps]

IMO, that wont be a black IPA. It will be vaguely brownish. If you are wanting a black IPA, I would use a debittered black malt. This will impart a lesser degree of roast flavors and, in most cases, actually more color than something like chocolate or black malt.

Also, that is not going to have a very noticeable hoppy character apart from the bitterness of the magnum. Those other 2 hops are not suited for IPAs due to their low aa% and their lack of pungent aroma/flavor. Ive found that piney and citrus hops work especially well in black IPAs

 

[TheMadKing]

I think you're on base for what you're aiming for, it will pretty much be a brown stout at this point, but I don't think it will be a bad beer

 

[Calder]

I think I'd drop the Black Malt, and you have yourself a brown ale.

 

[Beereater]

But i dont want a brown ale, i want a taste of the black malt. but your point is taken, im very close to an ale.

i might brew this tomorrow. if not, i have no time before after new year...

 

[Brew_G]

Sounds like you want to make an American Brown Ale.

 

[Brew_G]

Beereater...if you want what it sounds like you want, then you'll have a hard time getting there with the hops and schedule you listed. Just for reference, my last American Brown looked like this:

5.25 gallons

9.25 lb Maris Otter (76.3%)
1.00 lb Crystal 60 (8.2%)
0.75 lb Victory (6.2%)
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (4.1%)
0.50 lb Rolled Oats (4.1%)

OG was 1.066 and FG was 1.021 (a few points higher than expected)

Hops (40 IBUs):
0.75 oz Columbus (FWH)
0.50 oz Cascade (10 min)
0.50 oz Centennial (10 min)
1.00 oz Willamette (10 min)
0.67 oz Cascade (0 min)
0.67 oz Centennial (0 min)
0.75 oz Willamette (0 min)
0.50 oz Columbus (0 min)

It had just the right hop presence and wasn't terribly bitter. It was a great beer. Not overly heavy, but had enough hops to let you know it was something a little different. If you want more hop presence, then you could certainly up the amounts or throw more in at flameout/hopstand/whirlpool and perhaps dry hop. In fact, I just bottled another brown that was dry hopped with 1.5 oz total of Centennial and Cascade. There's a lot of wiggle room in American Browns (though I know you're not shooting for a specific style), and I think if you look into them you can get some good ideas for a beer that it wounds to me like you're shooting for.

 

[Beereater]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I read up on american brown ale and it does sound a lot like what i'm after. Brew g's example recipe has a very big hop element, more than i expected. Anyway, i am so green at brewing and dont know much about the different beer styles and categories, so i dont really have any reason to not follow what seems like good advice.

What i most likely will do is add some hops at FO, maybe some cascade, because i have that at home. i can also increase the williamette part, maybe add 0,5 oz at 10, for example. The result doesn't have to be perfect, im not trying to make "the answer". Just something drinkable i can learn from.

Thanks again, guys, very much appreciated.

 

[chickypad]

Sounds like you want to make an American Brown Ale.

That's what I was thinking, though that style can be interpreted pretty widely -from beers like English browns brewed with American yeast to something that borders on a brown IPA. It does look like a brown as is, but it's not going to be much hoppier than the average porter I think with those amounts and choice of more subdued English style hops. So I guess it just depends what you want.

edit: oops, a little slow

 

[Beereater]

I brewed this morning, changed the recipe just a little by adding more hops.
OG is 1,079!


(5 gallons/19 L BIAB, 50% of the pale malt is DME)

I started with approx 6,5 gallons.

OG = 1,079 FG = dont know
IBU = dont know = 62 ABV = dont know



Ingredients
3 kg British 2-row pale ale malt

3 kg DME added at 10 min

0,2 kg crystal malt
0.10 kg chocolate malt
0.10 kg black malt

mashed at 64 c (147 Fahrenheit) for 45 min, 15 min at 71 (160 Fahrenheit) because i didnt pay good enough attention while i prepared the hops.

15 min preboil

1,5 oz magnum at 60 min

0,5 oz fuggle at 10min

0,75 oz cascade at 10 min

0,5 oz williamette at 10 min

0,5 oz fuggle at FO

0,75 oz cascade FO

0,5 oz williamette FO

Chilled with ice water, 2 hours. took out all the hops when chilling was finished.

Right now i'm waiting for the rehydration water to cool down. When its ready i will add two packs of us-05 because the OG is so high.

then i will put in the fermation chamber. Ferment at 20 degrees c (68 Fahrenheit) for 14 days.

I tasted the wort and its extremely hoppy.

 

[slym2none]

i have no time before after new year...

Er... um...

 

[ong]

Wait, 6kg of pale ale malt and 6kg of DME? In a 5 gallon batch that has you around 1.190, or way over most barleywines. Are you sure that's right?

 

[Beereater]

Wait, 6kg of pale ale malt and 6kg of DME? In a 5 gallon batch that has you around 1.190, or way over most barleywines. Are you sure that's right?

Ops, sorry, its 3 kg of each. fixed it already.

 

[Beereater]

Er... um...

Which prison should i report to?

 

[slym2none]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

 

[brucebeernut]

Curious the outcome!

 

[Beereater]

Curious the outcome!

me too, i think it will be a...special....beer. Might be a bit too hoppy for my taste, but maybe the hoppy taste will go down with time?

 

[Brew_G]

The 1.5 oz of Magnum at 60 (assuming an AA of about 12) is going to make it pretty bitter, but the rest of the hop schedule should go well with your grain bill.

Good luck!

 

[Beereater]

Fermentation is progressing nicely!

 

[JKaranka]

You might also want to read on India Porter. OGs around 1.055, colour from brown to near black, hopped like IPA. Plus definitive roast flavours.

 

[Beereater]

I took a gravity reading today, its 1,027. I will raise the temperature in the fermentation chamber by 2-3 degrees Celsius to speed things up a bit and take a new reading in 3-4 days.

The beer looks really good, inbetween an amber and a porter. it tastes very hoppy but less so now than on brewday (or maybe i was more ready for the hoppy taste now, not sure). I tried pouring a beer glass. there was no head. is this normal, does head develop after bottling?

 

[m00ps]

I took a gravity reading today, its 1,027. I will raise the temperature in the fermentation chamber by 2-3 degrees Celsius to speed things up a bit and take a new reading in 3-4 days.

The beer looks really good, inbetween an amber and a porter. it tastes very hoppy but less so now than on brewday (or maybe i was more ready for the hoppy taste now, not sure). I tried pouring a beer glass. there was no head. is this normal, does head develop after bottling?

It cant have a head until after youve carbonated it. This wont happen until after you bottle with priming sugar

 

[Beereater]

Finished result:

FG 1,025

When i bottled i mixed the corn sugar with 7 liters of preboiled water. the point was to dilute the beer a bit, it was just too bitter.

The result is awesome! the beer tastes like what i wanted, a hoppy brown ale or dark ipa if you will.

next up: honey ale

 

[WestMichBrewer]

Finished result:

FG 1,025

When i bottled i mixed the corn sugar with 7 liters of preboiled water. the point was to dilute the beer a bit, it was just too bitter.

The result is awesome! the beer tastes like what i wanted, a hoppy brown ale or dark ipa if you will.

next up: honey ale

View attachment 331298

Nice Work!