CDA recipe feedback please

[masonsjax]

Some are calling it Cascadian Dark Ale, others seem to take offense at the implied regional claims, or don't think it's different enough to warrant it's own style. Whatever your feelings on the matter, I'm intrigued by it and would like to make one.
Here's the recipe that I have come up with*, please offer your observations and other constructive criticism. Personal experiences greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

* I work up my recipes using qbrew on Linux. It is very simple and does everything I need, except that there's no way to adjust the attenuation percent. I always attenuate further than the estimates, so that and the ABV are the only numbers not to entirely trust here.


Batch Size: 5.25 Gallons
Est OG: 1.076
Est FG: 1.019
Est SRM: 34
Est IBU: 112
Est ABV: 7.1%


12.00 lb US 2-row
1.50 lb Caramel 80L
1.00 lb Carafa III Malt @ 15 mins left in mash

2.00 oz. Columbus [14.0%] @ 60 min
1.00 oz. Centennial [8.0%] @ 15 min
1.00 oz. Amarillo [7.5%] @ 5 min
1.00 oz. Amarillo [7.5%] @ Dry hop

Rogue Pacman Yeast

Add the Carafa to the mash for only the last 10-15 mins.
Mash at 151 F for 60 mins.
Boil 60 mins.

 

[masonsjax]

No feedback at all eh? Must be the perfect recipe! I'll just plan on trying it as is and see how it goes. Can't turn out too bad I guess.

 

[mkling]

My take on this style is that on most dimensions except color (and a bit of roast flavor) this ought to be a lot like a regular IPA. So for my IPA tastes, you've got too much C80. I wouldn't use 1.5 lbs of C80 in a regular IPA, so I also wouldn't use it in a India Black Ale (my personal preference for a name). However, some folks like their IPAs with a lot of caramel. If you do, then I suspect it's fine. Similarly, I personally like my IPAs really loaded up with flavor & aroma hop additions. Your recipe is lighter of those hops and heavier on the 60 minute bitterness addition. But this, again, is a matter of personal preference.

 

[Poobah58]

I used all dark crystal and no chocolate. The C80 is fine. Don't know about the Carafa. Check my Imperial ******* recipe.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

The Carafa at 15 minutes isn't going to give you much of any roast flavor. Try adding a pinch of Roasted Barley, Black Patent, or similar. Not a lot, but for this style to stand out you really need it to be more than just a black colored IPA. I've used 120 in mine, but about half of what you have for the 80. I based my recipe off the W'10 from Widmer and honestly felt like I came out with a better product. I agree with mkling on adjusting the hop additions as well.

 

[ElDuderino]

I have really wanted to brew a CDA myself, and when I first started thinking about it, I posted my recipe here and got a lot of feedback. Here's the link https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/cascadian-dark-ale-recipe-163258/

I ended up sending an email to Abram Goldman-Armstrong, the designer of the Hopworks recipe and the person really pushing for this style to be accepted, asking him to critique the recipe I had put together. Here is the recipe I submitted:

12 Gallon Batch
13 Gallon Boil Volume

83% 22# American Two Row
5.7% 1.5# Crystal 60
5.7% 1.5# German Carafa Special
1% .25# Roasted Barley
3.8% 1# Chocolate Malt
OG 1.058 (I can nudge this up to 1.061...)
SRM 39

To my utter surprise he wrote back and even went so far as to give me the percentages of dark malts they used in the Hopworks batch. Here is his reply:

Hi Jeff- Glad you like the beer, I am quite fond of the style myself. Your recipe looks good, though a little heavy on the dark grains. I generally use 1/2 pound each of chocolate, Carafa and Roast barley in a 10 gallon batch. With your recipe you might want to use only a pound of Carafa, and keep the other two where they are. The initial batch we did at Hopworks used 1% Carafa, and 2% chocolate malt, but was a little light in color. They now are using Breiss organic black malt in place of the Carafa, and I believe the total dark malts are about 4%.
When brewing CDAs I generally shoot for a fairly low mash temp 150-151F, to insure a light body.
It looks like you are on the right track, happy brewing.

It is unbelievably cool that this guy would be so helpful. Anyway, I'm sharing this here for anyone thinking of trying out something similar.

I haven't brewed it yet, but it's next in line when I get a free weekend.

Hope this helps out.

 

[masonsjax]

Awesome, thanks everybody. This is just the kind of feedback I was looking for.