Black IPA

[imtrashed]

Been playing around with this recipe and tweaking it a ton, so I thought I would stop and get some input on what I hope is the final iteration. One of my biggest hangups was the dark malts. I think I'm going with 1lb Carafa II. Other options I was entertaining was possibly using Carafa III (just a little less) and adding Chocolate malt. Don't want any roast, though, and I don't mind sweetness, as long as I can get the hop bit to pair with it. Using WLP002 because I have a porter fermenting right now, and I plan to dump this new beer on the yeast cake. Thoughts on the below?


Recipe: Black IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Using WLP002 Yeast Cake from Bourbon-Oaked Vanilla Porter

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.98 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.98 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.072 SG
Estimated Color: 32.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 85.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 77.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 6.7 %
11 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 76.7 %
1 lbs Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.7 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 120L (Briess) (120.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.3 %
1 lbs Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 5 6.7 %
1.00 oz Summit [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 51.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 19.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 11.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [35.49 Yeast 11 -
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 12 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 14.00 qt of water at 166.6 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Step Add 7.14 qt of water at 211.7 F 170.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.63gal) of 168.0 F water

 

[imtrashed]

Anyone? Looking for some input/approval.

 

[Beer-lord]

I'm personally a fan of Carafa III in my black ipa but I'm not sure what to tell you about the rice hulls.

Here is the one I've made a number of times and love it as do all my beer loving buds.
Props to tknice for sharing the recipe.

 

[jperry]

1 pound of Carafa II is a little much. I would use Carafa III instead, and only 8 oz's of it.

For Example, Firestone Walker's "Wookey Jack", uses around 8 oz's of Carafa III, and 8 oz's of Midnight Wheat, for a 5 gal batch.

 

[imtrashed]

Thanks, guys. Maybe I'll go with III, go less, and add midnight wheat for some color. And the rice hulls are just to keep the mash and sparge running smoothly. I add them to most batches. Cheap enough that I don't mind buying and adding each time for the security of no stuck sparges.

 

[kombat]

If you're looking to minimize the roasty flavour, I would advise you to omit the dark malts from the mash, and instead add them during sparging. You will still get all the colour contribution from them, without the astringent bitterness characteristic of dark malts. I've done this with my own Black IPA and it worked wonderfully.

 

[ifnotuthenwho]

I like the idea of Carafa III added late in the mash. I personally don't want any roasted flavor in my IPAs.

I'm not sure why you have the rice hulls either. I only use them when I have a sticky mash due to rye or wheat. Your entire grain bill (almost) is 2-row, especially if you decrease the Carafa amount.

 

[imtrashed]

Can't hurt. It's a buck.
EDIT: Actually, I probably won't use them this time around. Don't really need them. I just always have them on the recipe. More or less to make sure I get some from LHBS.

 

[Beer-lord]

I make 2 types of black IPA's,....the CDA which I think is supposed to have a roasty flavor and I also make a 'plain' black IPA where I use no Carafa at all but use some Midnight Wheat which you only need a little of. It has very, very little roasted flavor but is dark enough to make it a black.
But, I've heard lots of people mention just steeping the Midnight in cold water overnight or putting them in the mash the last 10 minutes and that's something I may try in the future.