Mucky Whiskers Black IPA

[chuckywhiskers]

Hello everyone,

I recently put together this recipe for a simple all-grain Black IPA and have had decent success. I'd love to see what some other people think and to hear changes or tweaks they make. This is a brewfather recipe. I'm using the 30L Klarstein Mundschenk to make a 4 gal. batch.

https://share.brewfather.app/phq5ohQOjZK97R

 

[RCope]

One of the great things about brewing your own beer is that you get to make what you like. Most Black IPA's that I've done, seen, or tasted would use a dehusked dark malt such as Chocolate Wheat, Carafa II, and/or Carafa III for the color and less of the roast/coffee flavor that Chocolate Malt brings. But I see nothing wrong with your recipe or your hop choices. Cascade is a classic hop for the style, eg. "Cascadian Ale".

I'd add a dry hop, though. Perhaps 2 oz Cascade and 1 oz Citra. And I'd switch the Chocolate Malt to Chocolate Wheat. My 2 cents...

 

[smata67]

What you have there would be more an american brown ale (and imperial at that abv) than black IPA. A pound of chocolate malt and the crystal, the chico, and hop schedule is what gets you there. As mentioned previously, to call this a black IPA, you would use a huskless malt like Weyermann Chocolate Wheat or Briess Midnight. The quantity is about right, you need 12oz to 16oz in 5G to get the intense black color. But the black ipa style calls for a milder coffee/chocolate/roasted flavor, which is at odds with the necessary quantity, so the fix is to add the darker malt late in the mash or at sparge time. I have ignored this and ended up with a strong coffee/roasted flavor, which was actually quite good, especially after a few months, but not likely within the black ipa category.

The high abv works in this style, the coffee/roasted flavor is effective at eliminating the perception of alcohol. I have two 8.5% black ipas on board now and there is no alcohol burn at all. Other than changing the dark malt and its timing, the only change I would make is to add some cascade for flavor, works great with the roasted malts in brown ales and black ipas. You could move the cascade bittering closer to flameout and use something like warrior or magnum for bittering.

 

[Kickass]

I do my black IPA’s with midnight wheat and a very soft touch of lightly roasted malt. Then dry hop. I think the hops complement dark, dryer malt. Too much sweetness in the middle has a muddling effect, in my opinion. That said, if you like a pound of chocolate and a pound of special, let it rip!