CDA/IBA/ABA??? recipe critique

[TimBrewz]

Hey guys, well I had been trying to not brew one of these, I am still not sure about this style but, after having a few really good CDA/India Black Ale/American Black Ale pints at local breweries I have decided to give it a go.

Also, living in "Cascadia" and hanging around with guys who are passionate about the style has got me planning a batch for the Oregon Brew Crew Heart of Cascadia contest. Yep all Cascadian Dark Ales.

I have talked to a number of brewers who felt that citrusy hops did not shine through the dark malts very well in the beers they brewed, so I went with more piney/dank hops for the most part. Also going to do a long whirlpool/hopstand post boil. Using Midnight Wheat Malt for most of the color and slight roast. I have Sinamar if the beer looks like it needs a boost of color, but not thinking that will be needed. Anyway, if you have some suggestions, I am brewing this next weekend. Thanks!

CDA Challenge 2013
14-B American IPA
Author: Tim
Date: 2/23/13

Size: 6*gal @ 68*°F
Efficiency: 82.0%
Attenuation: 76.0%
Calories: 232.8*kcal per 12.0*fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.070 (1.056 - 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.017 (1.010 - 1.018)
Color: 30.1 (30-50 SRM)
Alcohol: 6.98% (5.5% - 7.5%)
Bitterness: 73 (40.0 - 90)

Ingredients:
1.0*lb (6.9%) Midnight Wheat(550L) - added during mash
13.0*lb (89.7%) Maris Otter Pale Ale (3 L) - added during mash
0.5*lb (3.4%) Crystal 40L - added during mash

0.5*oz (5.3%) Simcoe® (12.2%) - added first wort, boiled 90*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Columbus (17.0%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Simcoe® (12.2%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Cascade (8.2%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Columbus (17.0%) - added after boil, steeped 30.0*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Simcoe® (14.1%) - added after boil, steeped 30.0*m
1.0*oz (10.5%) Cascade (8.2%) - added after boil, steeped 30.0*m
2 liter starter WYeast 1272 American Ale II™
1.0*oz (10.5%) Simcoe® (12.2%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0*oz (10.5%) Cascade (8.2%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0*oz (10.5%) Columbus (17.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter


Notes
Mash 151 for 60 min. Sparge 180f

Trying a hopstand with Columbus, Simcoe and Cascade. SHould get 10% untilization from a 30 min stand in the 170f range. This will deliver approx 20 more IBU.



Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.24

 

[kingwood-kid]

I'm as confused as you are about the style. I can't figure out if it's supposed to be an AIPA with food coloring, a hoppy porter, or what. I will agree that roast and citrus would seem to be a poor pairing, although surely someone will chime in to rebut that point. The GABF guidelines read as follows:

American-style Black Ales are very dark to black and perceived to have medium high to high hop bitterness,
flavor and aroma with medium-high alcohol content, balanced with a medium body. Fruity, floral and herbal
character from hops of all origins may contribute character. The style is further characterized by a balanced and
moderate degree of caramel malt and dark roasted malt flavor and aroma. High astringency and high degree of
burnt roast malt character should be absent.

I move to strike the word "balanced" from the beer lexicon. I can see little meaning to it beyond, "I like it, and you can trust me; I'm an expert!"

 

[sherma]

I, too, am brewing a beer, maybe two for this competition. The only critique I'd have is to make it a touch darker. OBC has their own style guidelines on the competition website. Those guidelines claim this style needs to be 40+ SRM. If you're going for the win, you may want to follow their guidelines.

 

[beowulf]

I like the simple grain bill. I did something similar with an Imperial version only with C60 instead of C40. I also used Blackprinz instead of Midnight wheat but I think the wheat would be great. With either of these, the hops still shine very well. In fact with mine there is very little black malt character because the hops give you such a smackdown. I used Simcoe, Zeus and Centennial so it's very similar to what you're using....I absolutely loved it. With all the late hops you should get a boatload of flavor and aroma. Good luck!!

 

[TimBrewz]

I, too, am brewing a beer, maybe two for this competition. The only critique I'd have is to make it a touch darker. OBC has their own style guidelines on the competition website. Those guidelines claim this style needs to be 40+ SRM. If you're going for the win, you may want to follow their guidelines.

So, the guidelines from OBC for color say this: Appearance: Deep brown to black with ruby highlights. Head varies from white to tan/khaki, and
is generally long-lasting.

And as you point out, the style numbers from Oregon Brew Crew are:
IBUs 60-90+
Color: 40+ SRM
OG: 1.060-1.075 (15-18 P)
FG: 1.008-1.016 (2-4 P)
Abv 6.0-7.75%

Then, the BA says this:

American-Style India Black Ale

Original Gravity 1.056-1.075
Final Gravity1.012-1.018
Alcohol by (Volume) (6 -7.5%)
Bitterness (IBU) 50-70
Color SRM 25+

That is a big difference in color between the proposed BJCP guidelines and the current BA guidelines- 15 points SRM.
I think I may add some more color, as I am assuming the style guidelines published by the local crew are the ones they are going to be judging to.

I just played around with the color model on my recipe program (BeerTools) and found that by using Morey color model instead of the basic model, it brings the beer to 35 SRM. I may add a touch of black patent as a late addition to bring it up to 40 SRM

 

[TimBrewz]

I, too, am brewing a beer, maybe two for this competition. The only critique I'd have is to make it a touch darker. OBC has their own style guidelines on the competition website. Those guidelines claim this style needs to be 40+ SRM. If you're going for the win, you may want to follow their guidelines.

So, have you brewed this style before? Any wisdom? Don't expect you to give away your secrets as a fellow competitor

 

[sherma]

Only brewed the one that is fermenting now. I drink this style as much as I can. Whenever I go to a brewpub and see one I get it. I also try every new one I see at the store.

The only insight I have is to brew it as if it is a regular IPA. That is to say, go for the same mash temp and FG as a non-black IPA.

The one that is in fermentor now, I used Summit, Simcoe, Falconer's Flight, and Zythos hops. Grain bill was 2-row, midnight wheat, debittered Carafa II and caramel 40. I'll test for FG in a couple of days. I'll let you know how I feel it turned out. It is pretty high IBU, right around 100.

The next one I'm doing, I'm using Warrior, Cascade and Amarillo. Grain bill will be 2-row, Munich, midnight wheat and caramel 120. I've had some people say they think the caramel 120 won't be good in here, but I'm going to try it anyway. I want to give this one something in addition to roastiness. May turn out bad, but I'm willing to give it a try.

 

[TimBrewz]

Brewed the above recipe yesterday, Sat. Mar.2 2013
Mashed at 151 for 60 min,
Added 1 oz Sinamar at 15 min to bring color to 40+ SRM

Beer is super dark and tasty from hydrometer sample. hit 1.069-1.070 OG
Fermenting well at 66f with starter of Wy 1272.

Will post results in about a month.

 

[sherma]

Nice. I bottled #1 today and bought ingredients for #2. Here is my recipe for #1.

Boil Size: 1.40 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 1.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Measured OG: 1.059 SG
Estimated FG: 1.011 FG
Measured FG: 1.012 FG
Estimated Color: 53.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 100.0 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Mash at 151 for 60 minutes

40.00 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)
4.00 oz Midnight Wheat (Briess) (550.0 SRM)
2.00 oz Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
7.00 g Summit [17.70 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
9.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
8.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 3.0 min
5.00 g Falconer's Flight [11.40 %] - Boil 3.0 min
5.00 g Zythos [10.90 %] - Boil 3.0 min
0.5 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001)
3.00 g Falconer's Flight [11.40 %] - Dry Hop 5 days
3.00 g Zythos [10.90 %] - Dry Hop 5 Days

It tasted pretty roasty at bottling. I took the roasted grains down on the next recipe to about 7% of the grist.

As soon as we move into a bigger place, I plan to upsize so I can do larger than 1 gallon batches. I'm kind of glad I am at this batch size right now though, since we have a baby arriving in June. My equipment barely takes up 1 shelf in the pantry.

Maybe we can get together and share a bottle, if you are interested.

 

[TimBrewz]

Congrats on the kiddo! Having a kid got me into more frequent brewing...needed a home based hobby. Love to get together and have a pint. Will PM with my contact info.

Cheers, Tim

 

[TimBrewz]

Just racked the CDA to dryhop in secondary. Really tasty beer so far,great hop flavors and aromas coming through the dark malts. Midnight Wheat is very smooth and does have a touch of roast without harshness-as advertised. Will update again after she is kegged and carbed.