Extract for Black IPA

[Alex_IL]

Hi,

I'm quite new to home brewing (so far 5 brews, all with extract, 5gal).

Starting now to design my next recipe - Black IPA.

My question is - What is the difference of using pale malt extract and getting the dark flavours, aromas, and color from the specialty grains VS. Using a darker extract (amber, dark, or some kind of a mixture of them with pale) and going brighter with the specialty grains?

Many thanks,
Alex

 

[GrogNerd]

pale extract is usually fresher. better seller = better turnaround = fresher product

I always go with the pale extract and use specialty grains to get to the color I want

 

[Revvy]

Hi,

I'm quite new to home brewing (so far 5 brews, all with extract, 5gal).

Starting now to design my next recipe - Black IPA.

My question is - What is the difference of using pale malt extract and getting the dark flavours, aromas, and color from the specialty grains VS. Using a darker extract (amber, dark, or some kind of a mixture of them with pale) and going brighter with the specialty grains?

Many thanks,
Alex

When I am formulating any extract with grain recipes I ALWAYS base it around Extralight DME, then I get all my flavor and color complexity from my steeping (or partial mashing) grains. That way you get to use more and varied grains.

For example, let's say you are making an amber ale....If you based it around amber extract, you have very little room to get complexity from roasted or crystalized grains.....you run the risk of muddying the flavor and ending up too dark for your recipe.....

Staying with my Amber example...The Srm range for that style is SRM: 10 – 17 so if your base extract already puts you into 14 srms, you son't have much room to move around it....you may be able to sneak in a pound of crystal 30 let's say in it.

But if your Extralight DME has a color of 5 SRMs, you can really get into the recipe and play around with different combinations of grains until you get into the right color and Og range for the style.

And that will also get you a deeper, more complex flavor.

It's kind of like making model airplanes....remember the "snap together" types that you started out with? You had maybe 8 pieces; 2 body halves two front wings, 2 rear wings and maybe 2 pieces for a cockpit, or two pieces for landing gear...

But if you got one of those 500 piece b52 bomber kits....you had a much more complex final product.

It's the same thing with creating beer recipes, especially with extract. It's really no different than with all grain recipe creation, you start with a pale base malt, then build up your complexity with specialty malts....which you get to control. If you start with or use a "straight" darker extract as your base, you're stuck with whatever "blend" the maltser created to get there.

 

[kadozen]

Go with extra light extract. Like Revvy and GrogNerd said, you'll be able to tinker more. The only time I use anything other than extra light is when i use the 100% Marris Otter extract.

 

[m00ps]

The darker extract also will have significant proportions of crystal malts and stuff which you DEFINITELY want to watch (i entirely omit) for a black IPA. It can be tricky to balance the sweetness and roast while achieving that black color. Dont want a hoppy stout on your hands im guessing

 

[Alex_IL]

Actually you hit a very interesting point (at least for me). I only drank one black IPA, and it made me go crazy (probably the best tasting beer I have ever had!).

For me that was basically a very hoppy stout.
Can you elaborate on the difference, and balance of sweetness, bitterness, and roast in a black IPA?

Thanks!

 

[m00ps]

Copied from my IPA article out of laziness:
Black IPA. These are tricky. My main goal here is to make something as far removed from a hoppy stout as possible. This means keeping it dry (notice a pattern here?), and minimizing roast flavors, while still achieving a pitch-black color. Unless you are using dyes, you will need some sort of roasted malt for color. De-bittered malts are definitely the way to go. I’ve used carafa III, blackprinz, and midnight wheat with success (midnight wheat being my preference). I’ve found one pound in a five-gallon batch will get you dark enough to not see through it at all. The thing is, even de-bittered malt retains some degree of roast. To keep this in check, I have been adding half of my darkening malt in the mash, and leaving out the other half until mashout. This seems to work very well. One other thing to note is the hop selection for Black IPAs. Not all hops lend themselves to the roasty flavors found in Black IPAs. I’ve found piney, resiny/dank, and citrusy hops work best for my tastes here.

I don't mention crystal malts because I talked about them earlier in it:
Ive come across a few helpful articles from Vinnie Cilurzo [1] at Russian River, and Mitch Steele at Stone[2], which I like to point people to when they are trying to get their hops to pop. I wont list them all here, but these are my main points I keep in mind when designing my IPA grain bill.

You want an IPA to be dry, that much is nearly universally agreed upon. According to the new 2015 BJCP guidelines for the style 21A – American IPA: Dry to medium-dry finish; residual sweetness should be low to none. Sweetness will clash with the hops. You can dry out a beer by mashing low (148-150 works for me), and adding some simple sugar (usually 5-10% by weight), but this also means minimizing crystal malts (less than 5% is recommended). Personally, I omit them entirely. I know, it can be hard to cut crystal out of the recipe, since it may seem uninteresting with just boring ol’ 2 Row and sugar, but you aren’t trying to make a balanced beer like an Irish Red, an American Brown, or some type of German Lager. This is an IPA, its not supposed to be balanced. Its about the hops. Before we get to that, however, there are two more little things Ive started doing which really bring out the juicy character of all these new, extra fruity hops. The first is to include a decent amount of wheat as well. It helps with the body since you want a dry beer, but not thin and watery. I like 20-30% of the grain bill. This can also help with the whole haze factor, if that’s what you want. The second little secret is I have also been adding 2-3% acidulated malt to help with the mash pH, due to the absence of darker grains. There is no flavor contribution at these levels. Though I have gone up to 8% once, and still didn’t get any tangy flavors.
[1] http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/5-tips-for-better-ipas-from-vinnie-cilurzo
[2] http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/5-tips-on-brewing-ipas-from-mitch-steele/

 

[Alex_IL]

Thanks again!
It definetly gives me some things to think about. Maybe I do prefer a hoopy stout...

Even the so called "IPA"s I brewed so far were probably not as bitter as defined (~30 IBU), and had only 5-6 ABV. So perhaps my definitions are not precise.

 

[grassfeeder]

go with, as others have said, light to extra light DME. Play around with some Munich Light 10 and some Crystal 60 as well as some Midnight Wheat for color.