Draconian Libations': The Stroke of Midnight (Black IPA)

[mhenry41h]

Draconian Libations': The Stroke of Midnight

OG: 1.062
FG: 1.013
SRM: 30.8
IBU: 65
ABV: 6.5%

11 lbs 08 oz - Briess 2-Row Brewer's Malt (76%)
01 lbs 10 oz - Weyermann Munich Type II (10.7%)
01 lbs 00 oz - Weyermann Carafa III (6.6%)
00 lbs 08 oz - Briess 2-Row Carapils (3.3%)
00 lbs 08 oz - Briess Victory (3.3%)

1.000 Oz - 15.4%AA Columbus - 60 Mins
1.500 Oz - 06.0%AA Cascade - 12 Mins
0.500 Oz - Columbus - 12 Mins
1.000 Oz - Columbus - 0 Mins
1.000 Oz - Cascade - 0 Mins
1.000 Oz - 03.8%AA Styrian Goldings - 0 Mins
1.000 Oz - Columbus - 7 Day Dry Hop
1.000 Oz - Cascade - 7 Day Dry Hop
1.000 Oz - Styrian Goldings - 7 Day Dry Hop

White Labs WLP001 - California Ale

152F Mash @ 75 Mins
75 Minute Boil
21 Day Primary Fermentation (Add Dry Hops on day 15)
No secondary and bottle or keg...enjoy

 

[mhenry41h]

Ive put some finishing touches on the recipe and posted an article on black IPA recipe formulation as well as the final recipe if anybody is interested.

http://draconianlibations.blogspot.com/2012/06/official-recipe-stroke-of-midnight-iba.html

 

[mhenry41h]

Finally got around to ordering the ingredients for this beer. I'm quite excited to brew it. Updates to come...

 

[mhenry41h]

Brew day went well. Adjusted final recipe was meant to be 1.065 and I hit 1.067. Northern Brewer sent me an open package of Carafa III so rather than a full pound, I only had .75 lbs make the mash. I upped the victory from a half pound to .75 lbs to compensate. I also split the oz of Styrian Goldings and added .5 oz at 12 mins and the other .5 oz at 0 mins. 5 G of gypsum were added for "Burtonization." The wort is very dark brown but I wish the other .25 lb of Carafa would have been there to push it to black.

 

[mhenry41h]

Bottled this today 9/20/12. Those 3 Ozs of dry hops put quite the nose on this beer. My whole house smells of hops. It's intriguing that I've used Rhee Ozs of dry hops in many IPAs in the past but I don't recall ever having such a distinctive and powerful hop aroma. I'm pretty stoked.

 

[mhenry41h]

Best recipe that I've ever written. This beer should be sold retail. End Of Story.

 

[sfrisby]

Congratulations.

 

[mhenry41h]

Congratulations.

Thanks frisby

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Hey this recipe looks pretty awesome, and I just happen to have a # each of Stryrian, Cascade and Columbus burning a hole in my freezer. Also, planning on using 1056 since I have some washed in the fridge. Will I be losing much going with American Ale 1? Pretty excited!!

 

[mhenry41h]

Hey this recipe looks pretty awesome, and I just happen to have a # each of Stryrian, Cascade and Columbus burning a hole in my freezer. Also, planning on using 1056 since I have some washed in the fridge. Will I be losing much going with American Ale 1? Pretty excited!!

You won't lose much in not using a Kolsch strain. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I don't think that you will be disappointed!
The Kolsch yeast added a nice clean touch and did accentuate the hops but so will 001.

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Another question - I've never used Gypsum, is it strictly necessary? If so when do you add it? I add campden tablet to my strike water, add Gypsum then?

Thanks - Chris

 

[mhenry41h]

Another question - I've never used Gypsum, is it strictly necessary? If so when do you add it? I add campden tablet to my strike water, add Gypsum then?

Thanks - Chris

You can add it to the strike water if you want. I tend to add it at the beginning of the boil. The gypsum helps to "harden" the water and makes the hops have a more dramatic effect. I use spring water from Giant for brewing so it already has some minerals in it. I also use yeast nutrients which I add with 15 minutes remaining in the boil.

 

[mhenry41h]

I would also save the Carafa III until time to vorlauf. Mash all of your other grains for 60 mins, open your mash run and mix in the Carafa, vorlauf, and then sparge.

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

I would also save the Carafa III until time to vorlauf. Mash all of your other grains for 60 mins, open your mash run and mix in the Carafa, vorlauf, and then sparge.

So I am just getting color from the Carafa, does it add too much harshness if you mash it? Just sparging extracts enough color? Do I get any fermentables or should I just remove the Carafa when calculating expected OG?

 

[mhenry41h]

You will get some gravity AND you will definitely get some slight roasty flavors. One lb was ideal in this recipe. I subscribe to the theory that adding dark grains at the end of the mash gives you a smoother/gentler roast character and most importantly, it doesn't mess with your mash ph.

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Stopped by the LHBS today. I forgot to write down the exact weights when I left the house at 6am so I went with:

11 # 2 row
2 # Dark Munich (German)
.5# Victory
.5# Carapils
Mill set to .4 (went with Double Crush)

1 # Carafa 3 Crushed seperate (single crush)

Also picked up the Gypsum, always learning right? Pretty excited for Monday!:rockin:

 

[mhenry41h]

Stopped by the LHBS today. I forgot to write down the exact weights when I left the house at 6am so I went with:

11 # 2 row
2 # Dark Munich (German)
.5# Victory
.5# Carapils
Mill set to .4 (went with Double Crush)

1 # Carafa 3 Crushed seperate (single crush)

Also picked up the Gypsum, always learning right? Pretty excited for Monday!:rockin:

Rock and roll! I'm anxious to see how this one turns out for you!

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Brewing tomorrow!! made some slight adjustments to the hop schedule. My CTZ is 17.1% so I am First Wort Hoping with it and rounded a bit to make the additions even:

1 oz CTZ FWH
1 oz CTZ/Cascade at 12
1 oz all at 0
1 oz all Dry Hop 7 days
73 IBU

Planning to mash at 154/155; the washed yeast i'm using is super attunative took my last barleywine down to 1.012 and my last pale to 1.009. Want a bit more body to stand up to the IBU's.

Also planning on using 2.5g of gypsum, first time with it don't want to go crazy.

Any last minute advice or tips would be welcome, i'll update when I can.

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Woohoo, 5.33g of 1.067 wort tucked away and put to bed. Overall pretty smooth, I wound up with more wort then could fit into my kettle so I wound up having to boil for about 2 hours. Pitched my slurry at 64f, nice and easy brew day.

 

[mhenry41h]

Woohoo, 5.33g of 1.067 wort tucked away and put to bed. Overall pretty smooth, I wound up with more wort then could fit into my kettle so I wound up having to boil for about 2 hours. Pitched my slurry at 64f, nice and easy brew day.

Great to hear! The late addition of Carafa III just adds a delightfully smooth and rather elegant touch of roast. I really love this beer. Might have one before bed!

 

[mhenry41h]

Oops

 

[mhenry41h]

Woohoo, 5.33g of 1.067 wort tucked away and put to bed. Overall pretty smooth, I wound up with more wort then could fit into my kettle so I wound up having to boil for about 2 hours. Pitched my slurry at 64f, nice and easy brew day.

How is this beer doing for you?

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

I think primary has winded down...it was pretty vigourous for a while there..I was out of town with the family last weekend so I haven't check gravity yet...hope to tomorrow and get my dry hop in there by sunday..will update when I do...has smelled pretty good the few times I check on it last week

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Checked gravity today 1.017 so about 74%, hoping to get another point or two. Added dry hops and used a hop bag for the first time with a dry hop, so we'll see how that goes, not sure how I feel about it. Tasted pretty good, not a ton of hop presence right now and the roastiness is pretty front a center but it will need some more time to breath. Plan on giving dry hop about 8-10 days and then bottle in a couple weeks. Will report back at bottling then again in june when it's ready to drink.

Chris

 

[mhenry41h]

The higher mash temp served its purpose for you then. I like hoppy ales to finish low (no higher than 1.012). I think that too much residual sugar takes the balance away from the hops and towards the malt. Drier, fully attenuated hoppy beers just taste better me. I really don't like malty sweetness together with hops.

 

[mhenry41h]

You keg this puppy up yet?

 

[zachattack]

Did you use the regular Carafa III or the dehusked Carafa "special"? It looks like NB only sells the dehusked.

 

[mhenry41h]

Did you use the regular Carafa III or the dehusked Carafa "special"? It looks like NB only sells the dehusked.

De-husked

 

[TwinsBrewers81]

Bottling Sunday, out of town at my brother in laws wedding...dropped about 1 or 2 points since I added dry hops so 1.016...hops are all a bit muddled right now..excited to get it carbed and start drinking it in 3-4 weeks

 

[mhenry41h]

6.7%, not bad. I was hoping that gravity didn't hang up closer to 1.020 otherwise you would have needed a bunch more hops to strike the right balance for the profile of the recipe. I also thought the hops were muddy early on. I always crash my beers to 38F after the bottles carb. Perhaps it's just me, but I think every beer that I've made tastes so much better after a good 30 days of "lagering" in the bottle. It seems like everything is more crisp and refined. I'm sure somebody will argue the point but I swear that it works for me.