Specialty IPA: Black IPA Darth Vader - Black IPA

[Shenanigans]

What are easy substitutes for the following:

1.0 lbs (0.45 kg) Carafa II Special
0.5 lbs. (0.22 kg) special roast

I haven't seen these at my homebrew shop

It all depends on what they have at your homebrew shop.
I'd substitute the special roast with brown malt or coffee (café) malt if you can get them. Different maltsters have different types so try to get one with a similar colour. Doesn't mean it will taste most like it but is just a general rule of thumb as the colour should be somehow correlated with the rostiness. If the colour is way off then adjust the amount a bit.

For the Carafa II Special I would use midnight wheat or if they don't have that Roasted/Chocolate wheat. Both are dark and like the Carafa Special don't have any hulls so are less bitter than normal roasted malt.

 

[stever1000]

It all depends on what they have at your homebrew shop.
I'd substitute the special roast with brown malt or coffee (café) malt if you can get them. Different maltsters have different types so try to get one with a similar colour. Doesn't mean it will taste most like it but is just a general rule of thumb as the colour should be somehow correlated with the rostiness. If the colour is way off then adjust the amount a bit.

For the Carafa II Special I would use midnight wheat or if they don't have that Roasted/Chocolate wheat. Both are dark and like the Carafa Special don't have any hulls so are less bitter than normal roasted malt.

If it's only a pound how much bitterness will the husks add if I use chocolate malt instead of roasted/chocolate wheat?

 

[Shenanigans]

If it's only a pound how much bitterness will the husks add if I use chocolate malt instead of roasted/chocolate wheat?

If it's all you can get you can use it but a pound is a lot and it will be significantly different. However you could add it to the mash for the last 10 mins instead of the full 60 then you would get mostly just the colour and less rostiness. Also have a look at cold steeping - steeping the crushed malt overnight at room temperature. Then adding the filtered liquid to the kettle. This way you get all the colour with a lot less rostiness.
I never tried this myself but it apparently works well.

 

[stever1000]

It all depends on what they have at your homebrew shop.
I'd substitute the special roast with brown malt or coffee (café) malt if you can get them. Different maltsters have different types so try to get one with a similar colour. Doesn't mean it will taste most like it but is just a general rule of thumb as the colour should be somehow correlated with the rostiness. If the colour is way off then adjust the amount a bit.

For the Carafa II Special I would use midnight wheat or if they don't have that Roasted/Chocolate wheat. Both are dark and like the Carafa Special don't have any hulls so are less bitter than normal roasted malt.

I got lucky and found the Carafa special II
but didn't get the special roast... they substituted it with the brown/amber malt...
Excited to brew this

 

[Shenanigans]

I got lucky and found the Carafa special II
but didn't get the special roast... they substituted it with the brown/amber malt...
Excited to brew this

Nice.
Happy brewing!

 

[stever1000]

Finally got around to brewing this today...

Pre boil 7.25gallons 12.4 Brix / 1.050 SG
Cooled wort pre fermenter over 5.5 gallons at 13.9 brix / 1.056...missed the target by 10 points

Cant wait to try it!! The wort tastes so good

 

[Matt_man]

Two packs of US-05 for 5.5 gal?

 

[brewskitom]

Just brewed this today with my son - he's in town visiting. Other than over-sparging (I misread the sparge water volume on my BeerSmith brew sheet) and having to boil it down to my desired "pre-boil" volume of 6.5 gallons before adding the bittering hops, everything went great. Hit my target mash temp and ph. OG came in at 1.072. The wort looks fantastic! I'm really looking forward to this when it's ready.

 

[punkrawkgeek]

PIcked up all the grains and hops. Cannot wait to make this one again. THanks!

 

[dirkjk]

Absolutely love this recipe. Has become my house beer. Have changed it a few times just to experiment, like adding rye malt (delicious btw). I have a friend who can only drink lagers (allergic reaction to ale yeasts, weird I know) and wanted to try my hand at lagers.

Anyway, has anyone tried to use a lager yeast with this recipe?

 

[dschiller]

I usually make a 1.2-1.5l starter with liquid yeast. Would it be better to use 2 packages of US-05 or substitute a liquid yeast (e.g., WLP001 or WLP090) and use a starter?

 

[dirkjk]

At only 1.066 this beer really only needs a single pack of US-05

 

[dschiller22]

OK, thanks. Beersmith indicated I need more than one pack, but good point that 1.066 OG shouldn’t need more than one.

 

[calgary222]

I am posting here mainly to push this recipe back to the front of the list so others will try it... I upped the grain bill a bit to hit 7.5 percent, but the flavors are wonderful - brewed 20 gallons and am half way through and the flavors keep improving. The name is fun, the beer is excellent.

 

[BruJay]

I'm heating my strike water for this beauty in about four hours. I had my first black IPA a few months ago and have been drooling over this recipe for about a month. I can't wait to try this.

 

[12many]

WOWZAA brewed this today and my numbers are way off 1078 looks amazing and super dark wife took 2 cup full for a "tea" looking forward to see what happens with my final numbers.

 

[JLeuck64]

WOWZAA brewed this today and my numbers are way off 1078 looks amazing and super dark wife took 2 cup full for a "tea" looking forward to see what happens with my final numbers.

Had the same experience the first time I brewed this one too. I suppose you could scale back on the grains a bit to adjust the O.G. down. I chose to get a bigger ferment bucket instead, and I typically will put 6gal to 6.5gal into my ferment bucket and hit about 1.065 for O.G. ( ; just brewed up a batch yesterday and am going to try fermenting with Wyeast Pacman this time, it's been a good performer for me with RIS recipes and am hoping it will work well with this one too!

 

[tomwhit19]

brewed this today and did as follows

11# 2 row
1# carafa 2
1# caramel10
.5# special roast

1oz centennial @ 60 min
1oz cascade @ 45 min
irish moss @ 15 min
1 oz willamette @ 15 min
1 oz cascade steep once temp got down to 170

pitched wyeast american ale 1056

og - 1.064 (BS estimated 1.070)

cant wait to be able to pour this and try it out

 

[Andre3000]

My keg just blew with this recipe in it and it was absolutely fantastic; everyone loves it. Brew day was a disaster and it still turned out amazingly well.

-blackprinz instead of carafa
-Brown malt instead of Special B

Only thing I'll add is it does take a couple weeks aging in the keg to fully come into its own. Could possibly increase the late/dry hop additions too.

 

[Griffin495]

Has anybody ever brewed this with Nottingham? I just got done harvesting a bunch of it and wonder if it would work instead of US-05

 

[Mikoressree]

Awesome recipe! I'm a newbie to AG, this is about my 10th brew, making small 2-3 gallon batches. Up to this point, everything has been drinkable, but "just ok". This one is fantastic and going to brew it again this weekend. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[thehaze]

Has anybody ever brewed this with Nottingham? I just got done harvesting a bunch of it and wonder if it would work instead of US-05

I used Nottingham in Black IPAs with great success. It attenuates far more than US-05, leaving a drier beer.

 

[JLeuck64]

Had the same experience the first time I brewed this one too. I suppose you could scale back on the grains a bit to adjust the O.G. down. I chose to get a bigger ferment bucket instead, and I typically will put 6gal to 6.5gal into my ferment bucket and hit about 1.065 for O.G. ( ; just brewed up a batch yesterday and am going to try fermenting with Wyeast Pacman this time, it's been a good performer for me with RIS recipes and am hoping it will work well with this one too!

Update: This batch I made with Pacman on 1/13/18 went from 1.065 down to 1.013 in 4 weeks. Just kegged it up today with Le Dry Hops! 6.8%ABV

 

[Griffin495]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I see this is for a 5.5G batch. Can I ferment it in the common 6G bucket? I’m worried about krausen even with a blow off tube which I’ve had with 5 gallon batches. I’ve akready bought the grains and brew day is Saturday. Would I be safer to keep it to 5.25 gallons and end up with a stronger, hoppier beer?

 

[tomwhit19]

Anybody have this come out not hoppy with the specified hops? Used the hops in the recipe at the times specified and I basically got a dark brown/black ale, which isn’t bad it’s pretty good, just not hoppy at all

 

[JLeuck64]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I see this is for a 5.5G batch. Can I ferment it in the common 6G bucket? I’m worried about krausen even with a blow off tube which I’ve had with 5 gallon batches. I’ve akready bought the grains and brew day is Saturday. Would I be safer to keep it to 5.25 gallons and end up with a stronger, hoppier beer?

This recipe is one that I almost always have to deal with krausen coming out of the air lock. So much so that I bought a bigger fermenter, like an 8 gallon bucket that wine makers like to use.

 

[Griffin495]

Ended up brewing this on Saturday. I was worried about a blow out but I had already bought the grains, so I just scaled the water down to a 5.25 gallon batch. I know that will change the ABV and IBU, it'll just be a stronger and more bitter beer. Plugged my numbers into Brewer's Friend and used 70% efficiency and it predicted an OG of 1.071 and I hit 1.070!

Years ago when I first started brewing, my cousin came over and caught the chilling down process. He's wanted to brew with me ever since, but life always gets in the way. I asked him what he wanted to brew and he said Black IPA. This weekend, we finally got together to brew it. He was really excited about it and asked lots of questions about the whole process. In a way, I'm glad it took so long to do it. I feel like I'm a better brewer and way more knowledgeable now than I was back then. I was able to answer his questions, yet keep them on a simplified level he would get.

Anyway, looking forward to trying this beer out and thanks for the recipe. Did I mention I've only ever had one black ipa? And that was Saturday when my cousin brought some over.

 

[JLeuck64]

Update: This batch I made with Pacman on 1/13/18 went from 1.065 down to 1.013 in 4 weeks. Just kegged it up today with Le Dry Hops! 6.8%ABV

Update: This batch with Pacman yeast turned out to be stellar! So drinkable after just a few weeks in kegs versus having to wait for about a month of bottle conditioning. Only thing I need to work on with my IPA's is getting hop aroma to carry through to the finished product. I've tried steeping and dry hopping, but lately I've been thinking about picking up a hop back and giving that a try...

 

[Griffin495]

Do I need to cold crash this batch before bottling or does it really matter since its so dark?

 

[JLeuck64]

Do I need to cold crash this batch before bottling or does it really matter since its so dark?

I've always gone from the primary fermenter directly to the bottling bucket with no problems.

 

[hellomynameisryan]

I brewed this recipe in early January, and it has gotten SO good. Thanks so much for sharing! Bravo!

 

[tomwhit19]

Asking again still no answer


Anybody have this come out not hoppy with the specified hops? Used the hops in the recipe at the times specified and I basically got a dark brown/black ale, which isn’t bad it’s pretty good, just not hoppy at all

 

[hellomynameisryan]

Asking again still no answer


Anybody have this come out not hoppy with the specified hops? Used the hops in the recipe at the times specified and I basically got a dark brown/black ale, which isn’t bad it’s pretty good, just not hoppy at all

I used 6 ounces of hops instead of the 5 ounces listed. I think I just spread that extra ounce in the later hop addition stages. It seems nicely hoppy, but definitely not a "knock you down" level.

 

[JLeuck64]

Anybody have this come out not hoppy with the specified hops? Used the hops in the recipe at the times specified and I basically got a dark brown/black ale, which isn’t bad it’s pretty good, just not hoppy at all

I have struggled to get that "hoppy" aroma in all of my IPA home brews, not just this recipe. I have tried the usual things like late hop additions, dry hopping in the fermentation bucket, dry hopping in the keg. I get the best hop aroma when dry hopping in the keg but it fades. I have come to the conclusion that unless I upgrade my equipment (like a pump and a hop back or similar) I won't be able to really enjoy that "hoppy" aroma, but it would cost some $$$ just to get something more like a store bought beer.

This recipe is purdy good and is hard to screw up, anything we can do to improve our equipment and/or process will make it even more AMAZING...ER! ( ;

 

[dirkjk]

I have struggled to get that "hoppy" aroma in all of my IPA home brews, not just this recipe. I have tried the usual things like late hop additions, dry hopping in the fermentation bucket, dry hopping in the keg. I get the best hop aroma when dry hopping in the keg but it fades. I have come to the conclusion that unless I upgrade my equipment (like a pump and a hop back or similar) I won't be able to really enjoy that "hoppy" aroma, but it would cost some $$$ just to get something more like a store bought beer.

This recipe is purdy good and is hard to screw up, anything we can do to improve our equipment and/or process will make it even more AMAZING...ER! ( ;

Do you use a dry hop container or let them free float? Do you let them sit for just a few days or for the duration in the keg? At what temp do you keep the beer during the dry hop?

 

[JLeuck64]

Yah, I use a container... just a sanitized hop sack. When I put beer into a Party Pig I have always added ~ 1 ounce of dry hops in the Party Pig (keg) for the duration. I always would naturally carb those Party Pigs so depending on the style of beer that I put in a Party Pig it may sit for 2 - 4 weeks before I ever tapped one. Always, always, always! The very first glass I pulled from one of those Party Pigs was the MOST hop aroma I would get. Every glass after would gradually get softer on the hop aroma, actually it would drop off quickly then slowly taper off more like a logarithmic curve... lol!

Lately I have started learning how to use Cornelius kegs and force carbing my homebrew. The first few batches that I put dry hops in I really didn't change much of my process (scaled up the amount of dry hops to accommodate the larger container, everything else stayed the same) but I noticed a drastic change in taste ... for the worse. I started noticing a HUGE grassy flavor coming through after only about 4 days of dry hopping. It got worse everyday after and then it started to mellow out toward the end of the keg. I had another keg dry hopping at the same time and after I tapped that one for the first glass it had a strong grassy influence also... which mellowed towards the end of the keg also.

I did some surfing around the forum and the internet and it seems that most folks, when they are force carbing, will pull their dry hops out of the keg after a week at the longest.

So... I am learning about dry hopping in a different way now that I am force carbing. The first few batches didn't turn out the same way as when I was carbing with dextrose, or dry hopping in the primary for that matter... Kinda bummed since the lure towards force carbonation would mean I had drinkable beer sooner than carbing with dextrose.

What I am realizing is I need to change my dry hopping process in the keg... or maybe I should go back to dry hopping in the primary??? or perhaps try moving towards a hop back kind of a process... that last option will probably work the best I would think but cost some $$$
) :

 

[brewskitom]

Brewing this again tomorrow. It's been a long time since the last time. So good. I can't wait.

 

[CaveHomeBrewing]

Cracked my first bottle of this recipe and I have come over to the dark side. I think I'll tweak the IBUs up slightly in my next brew as this will be a repeat recipe!

 

[Matt L]

I saw this recipe yesterday and it’s fermenting away right now.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

old thread i know but i'm looking for something dark to brew during my little eclipse get together that i could drink over the summer and i think this will do.