how do i know what kinda beer im making?

[dirtysock]

How do I know what kinda beer I'm making if I'm just winging it. I just went out and bought 10 lbs of pale malt grain and 3 lbs of dried dark malt. What type or style would this be called. I'm goin for an IPA with a bit of a darker color. Any suggestions? Or do I just call it an amber ale since that's most likely the color I'll get from mixing the two malts?

 

[Calder]

Call it anything you like. How about Dark IPA?

Tough to tell what you have. 10 lbs of grain, or extract? I assume you are going to be mashing. You sound like you are just starting so it is not really clear what you plan to do.

Is that 3 lbs of dried malt extract? The problem we/you have, is that there is no way of knowing what went into the dark DME and in what quantities. Was it Chocolate malt? Black? Roasted Barley? or just coloring?

Mash the grain, add the DME, and please add some hops, and my best guess is that you will have some kind of Robust Porter.

 

[dirtysock]

Yea 10 lbs of pale grain and 3 lbs dme. I plan on using around 4-5 oz of 9-10% alpha hops. The only reason I'm using the dme is to add sugar content for a higher abv% because I havnt had luck with the all grain method. Porter sounds good though.