Hop profile in a Dark IPA

[MikeRLynch]

Hey all, about to brew up a Dark IPA here, and I'm wondering how you all approach the hop profile in these beers. I'm not going for any real roast flavor, just color. I don't know if I should go with a real citrus-like profile, or go for the more piney, resin, dank idea.

I've heard this style called "cascadian dark ale," so I was thinking of using mostly cascade hops. Check out this recipe and let me know what you think. The additions towards the end I think I'll space out over the last 15 minutes.

Contradiction Dark IPA
10 gal batch

24 lbs. 2-Row Brewers Malt
2 lbs. 2-Row Caramel Malt 60L
1 lbs. 2-Row Carapils® Malt
2 lbs. Weyermann Carafa® II
2 oz. Magnum (Pellets, 14.50 %AA) boiled 60 min.
4 oz. Cascade (Whole, 5.50 %AA) boiled 15 min.
6 oz. Cascade (Pellets, 5.50 %AA) boiled 1 min.

OG 1.072
FG 1.015
SRM 27.5
IBU 82
ABV 7.5%

Single infusion mash at 153 for 1 hour. Ferment with Wyeast 1056 at 67 degrees.

 

[TimBrewz]

Looks good- sort of a Lagunitas hop bill with all that Cascade at the end. I'd add just a little bit of roast barley or black malt (1-2 oz) to give the Carafa a little more roast character. BYO and Zymurgy have articles about this style and most recipes go that route. I brewed one with all carafa and one with carafa plus 2 oz black patent, the former was a much more interesting beer.

Good luck.

 

[Haputanlas]

I haven't seen many recipes with cascade hops in them.

I used simcoe, amarillo, and chinook in mine. Turned out fantastic.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Dry Hop. I think that's important for the style. I use a Cascade/Citra combination for my Flavor/Aroma/Dry Hop combo. Nugget for the bittering. Hop schedule looks something like 60, 30, 15, 10, 5

 

[MikeRLynch]

I haven't seen many recipes with cascade hops in them.

I used simcoe, amarillo, and chinook in mine. Turned out fantastic.

Where'd you use these? Evenly disbursed or did you use one kind for aroma, one kind for dry hop, etc?

 

[kjjohns5]

You're going to want to dry hop the crap out of this beer. My 5 gallon black ipa, I dry hopped with 4 oz, and it was perfect.

 

[Haputanlas]

homebrewtalk.com/f39/extract-recipe-black-ipa-161100/index3.html


Take a look at this link. It has my recipe and hop additions.

 

[VanHolton]

You're going to want to dry hop the crap out of this beer. My 5 gallon black ipa, I dry hopped with 4 oz, and it was perfect.

I second this. I just dropped 4 oz of Amarillo in mine. Can't wait to bottle it next week! If I were you, I may mash lower to attenuate as far as possible. You don't want too big a mouth feel with these. Should feel like an IPA. Then again, if you do hit 1015 like you plan to, that's not bad.

Honestly, too, I'd do some FWH in addition to your bittering. I like em bitter, which means you may even want to have more flavor and aroma additions too. That's just me though. The recipe I brewed called for 18oz of hops in a 5 gallon batch.

From what I've read, any of the Northwestern hop varieties are good.

 

[brrman]

Here's the bill from my Black IIPA...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/heavenly-scourge-black-iipa-141308/

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.92 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients
Grains
15.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 88.57 %
1.00 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 % (last 10 mins of mash)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %

Hops
3.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 110.4 IBU
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (1 min) Hops 1.9 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [8.80 %] (0 min) Hops
2.00 oz Centennial [8.80 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops

 

[jgourd]

Here's my take on a Black IPA:

Back in Black IPA
-----------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal (7.76 gal preboil)
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated FG: 1.016 SG
Estimated IBUs: 73
Estimated Color: 31 SRM
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Grains:
13.00# Pale Malt (2-Row) US (89.66%)
1.00# De-bittered black malt (6.90%)
0.50# Caramel/Crystal 60L (3.45%)

Hops:
1.25 oz Centennial (9.1%) @90 min
1.25 oz Cascade (5.4%) @30 min
0.75 oz Centennial (9.1%) @30 min
1.25 oz Cascade (5.4%) @5 min
1.25 oz Columbus (13.2%) @5 min
2.00 oz Cascade (5.4%) @0 min
1.00 oz Columbus (13.2%) @0 min
3.00 oz Cascade (5.4%) (dry hop)
2.00 oz Columbus (13.2%) (dry hop)

Yeast:
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) (California Ale)

Mash/Sparge Schedule:
Single Infusion, 152F; Batch Sparge

I might throw some Amarillo and/or Simcoe at the end of the boil and dry hop.

 

[telejunkie]

i haven't brewed one yet, but planning on it in the very near future...already have two recipes drawn up for the style, but I'd agree with timbrewz...imo the best black ipas are the ones with a definite undercurrent of roast flavor, otherwise your just wasting good carafa and might as well brew an ipa. Some bp or rb in small amounts definitely benefit this beer style imho.
My recipes have Amarillo/Columbus in one and Simcoe/Centennial/Crystal in the other. I'm not an all-cascade for an ipa/dipa fan

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Lots of threads on this style lately!

Here's a recipe I made a while back based off of Stone SSR Ale. I've had multiple people tell me it's one of the best beers they've ever tasted - I was pretty blown away myself too. Definitely my best batch of home brew ever.


5 Gallon batch
OG: 1.083
FG: 1.021
IBU: 95
SRM: 37

15 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row)
14.0 oz Carafa III
14.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L

Mashed @ 152

1.75 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (30 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (15 min)
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (2 min)
1.00 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (2 min)

Pacman Yeast starter cultured from bottles

1.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)
1.50 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)


I'm going to brew it again tomorrow - the last batch went fast! Since I don't have the Pacman culture around anymore I think I'll prob pitch 2 packs of US-05 and maybe mash a degree lower. Finishing at 1.021 was just fine but I think 1.019 would be perfect.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Honestly, too, I'd do some FWH in addition to your bittering. I like em bitter, which means you may even want to have more flavor and aroma additions too. That's just me though. The recipe I brewed called for 18oz of hops in a 5 gallon batch.

You put over a pound of hops in a 5 gallon batch!?!?!

How did you get any wort out of that thing? I'm all for the hops, don't get me wrong, but that does seem like overkill to me. Not to mention the cost issue. I don't have time to order any online, so I have to make each oz count. I'm shooting for about 3/4 lb cascades (10 gal batch) with some more dank, sticky varieties mixed in there as well, maybe Simcoe or something. I definately agree with dry hopping, I love Amarillo, so I think I'll go that route.

Good response guys, keep those recipes coming!

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

while the style is being discussed - what category should this be entered into in a comp? IPA/Imperial IPA (depending on strength of recipe) or Specialty Ale?

I know the BJCP doesn't have a BIPA/CDA category yet however I think I read somewhere that it's being discussed.

 

[VanHolton]

You put over a pound of hops in a 5 gallon batch!?!?!

Well, almost. Looking at my notes, I had to buy 18 oz, but since I had to split them up and add 1.6 oz here, .9 oz there, etc., I ended up with about 11 oz in the boil plus 4 oz dry hop. My volume did suffer a bit, but let me tell you, the hydrometer sample I took the other day when racking was one of the best damn beers ever to touch my taste buds. And that's before dry hopping! I can't wait till this beer is ready. I'm going to have to exercise some serious self control.

CDAs/Black IPAs, whatever, should be entered in category 23.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Alright, just transfered this to a keg, and I have to say, the roast quality is still too high for me. I ended up with two pounds of carafa II in a 10 gal batch, which colored it up real nice but still left it tasting like a hoppy stout. I dryhopped it with 2oz of Amarillo and 6oz of Citra. I'll see if the dryhops add some bright notes, and I'll see if the roast falls out a little in conditioning. Anyone else having issues getting a pitch black color, without that stout-like roast flavor?

Contradition Dark IPA

10 gal batch

20 lbs 2 row
.5 lbs crystal 40
1 lb crystal 60
.5 lbs crystal 80
1 lb carapils
2 lbs Carafa II

2oz Cascade and 2oz Warrior @60
6oz Cascade and 1oz Simcoe @ 15
8oz Cascade and 1oz Simcoe @ 0
6 oz Citra and 2oz Amarillo dryhop

 

[telejunkie]

just to clarify, did you use carafa II or carafa special II?

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Mike - I can't wait to hear how this turns out with the dry hopping. I would really like to make a pitch black IPA that tastes/feels like an IPA, not a hopped up porter/stout.

Keep us posted.

 

[MikeRLynch]

@telejunkie Just carafa II. I tasted it, and while it did have less roast than say, chocolate or roasted barley, it wasn't roast-free. Basically I'm looking to make a schwartzbier IPA. A tiny little roast, with a lot of color.

@Bulldog I'm excited too. If you are looking to brew this, I would cut the Carafa II in my recipe by half. This might not get you the pitch black color, but it will cut down on the roast. Post a pic if you do this and let us know how it came out. I have to drink 10 gallons of this stuff before I get to try it again

 

[jgourd]

@telejunkie Just carafa II. I tasted it, and while it did have less roast than say, chocolate or roasted barley, it wasn't roast-free. Basically I'm looking to make a schwartzbier IPA. A tiny little roast, with a lot of color.

@Bulldog I'm excited too. If you are looking to brew this, I would cut the Carafa II in my recipe by half. This might not get you the pitch black color, but it will cut down on the roast. Post a pic if you do this and let us know how it came out. I have to drink 10 gallons of this stuff before I get to try it again

Carafa special is de-husked which basically means much less "roasty" than its "non-special" counterpart. I'd have gone with the special.

 

[VanHolton]

Anyone else having issues getting a pitch black color, without that stout-like roast flavor?

Mine turned out this way. It's definitely the best beer I've ever brewed, and it's in the running for best beer I've ever drank! I used 2 row, about a pound of dark Munich, some wheat, crystal 40, and a shade over a pound of Carafa II Special. The recipe is in the latest issue of Zymurgy. It's cool how it's pitch black, yet not heavy, and just a shade of roastiness in the finish. Definitely hop-forward (15 oz in the 5 gallon batch, but it turns into a sweet, roastiness as it goes down.

The recipe is in another HBT thread in the General Techniques forum. Search "Sparge Hop Addition" and you should get it.

 

[bovineblitz]

I used 8oz carafa III special and 2oz debittered black patent, worked great. Just a hint of roast, delicious.