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Stone 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA clone

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Brewed this 2 months ago, ****** best beer i've brewed thus far. 5 gallons lasted a damn long time. Love this so much im going back at it this sunday, made a starter this morning. Thanks for the recipe, I am in love with this beer as an IPA.
 
Just re-brewed this, i will definitely say that the carafa and chocolate malt should be halved when using this. I was aiming more towards the IPA aspect of it, and given 2 weeks conditioning the hop aroma and bitterness are completely overpowered by the intese carafa and chocolate. Regardless, still an awesome stout-like beer with a thick light brown head that tastes beautiful.
 
Just re-brewed this, i will definitely say that the carafa and chocolate malt should be halved when using this. I was aiming more towards the IPA aspect of it, and given 2 weeks conditioning the hop aroma and bitterness are completely overpowered by the intese carafa and chocolate. Regardless, still an awesome stout-like beer with a thick light brown head that tastes beautiful.


Did you do a side by side with fresh Stone 15th?
 
Just re-brewed this, i will definitely say that the carafa and chocolate malt should be halved when using this. I was aiming more towards the IPA aspect of it, and given 2 weeks conditioning the hop aroma and bitterness are completely overpowered by the intese carafa and chocolate. Regardless, still an awesome stout-like beer with a thick light brown head that tastes beautiful.

This was my issue with most commercial black IPAs I have tried so far - the IPA character was pushed to the background while the dark/roasted malts dominated. Not sure if this can be avoided when aiming for a real dark color... :drunk:
 
Try an IPA recipe you like and add carafa III. Black, a bit roasty, no big malt from the roast. I feel the same way and this has worked for me.


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This was my issue with most commercial black IPAs I have tried so far - the IPA character was pushed to the background while the dark/roasted malts dominated. Not sure if this can be avoided when aiming for a real dark color... :drunk:

What about Blakprinz or Midnight Wheat malts for getting that color without the roast? I'm thinking though that Blackprinz is similar to CarafaIII..roasted dehusked barley. Anyway what about using the Midnight Wheat?
 
What about Blakprinz or Midnight Wheat malts for getting that color without the roast? I'm thinking though that Blackprinz is similar to CarafaIII..roasted dehusked barley. Anyway what about using the Midnight Wheat?


I've used mindnight wheat in a BIPA, but instead of mashing it, I steeped it before the boil. IMHO it was fantastic, all the color with no roasty taste. The grain bill was 2 row and flaked wheat. Used all NZ and Australian hops, called it "The Flight of the Black Dundee"
 
Try an IPA recipe you like and add carafa III. Black, a bit roasty, no big malt from the roast. I feel the same way and this has worked for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
What about Blakprinz or Midnight Wheat malts for getting that color without the roast? I'm thinking though that Blackprinz is similar to CarafaIII..roasted dehusked barley. Anyway what about using the Midnight Wheat?

I bought some midnight wheat a while ago and was hoping I could use it for exactly this purpose. Thanks for reassuring me; I shall try it soon!

:mug:
 
I'm not familiar with midnight wheat but if you want something that tastes no different from an IPA, why not make an ipa?

Maybe a silly question?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I'm not familiar with midnight wheat but if you want something that tastes no different from an IPA, why not make an ipa?

Maybe a silly question?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew


It still gives you a mild roasted flavor just with less astringency. It's a pretty cool malt to fool with anyway.



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I brewed this with a few changes on 9/7/14 - also decided to use midnight wheat instead of chocolate malt.

I couldn't get Pacific Jade, so I subbed Galaxy instead. Here's what my recipe looked like:


I used a 1.6 Liter starter of WLP090 SD super yeast, and it took off promptly. OG was a little low at 1.089, for a total of 6 gallons into the fermenter. Within a week it was at 1.020 and not quite finished. It has slowed bubbling this past week, and tasted amazingly good last week as well. Still roasty, but not to a point of covering the hops. This beer is very complex, and I plan on letting it sit another week on the yeast before dry hopping.

Another great recipe from skeezer!

 
I brewed this with a few changes on 9/7/14 - also decided to use midnight wheat instead of chocolate malt.

I couldn't get Pacific Jade, so I subbed Galaxy instead. Here's what my recipe looked like:


I used a 1.6 Liter starter of WLP090 SD super yeast, and it took off promptly. OG was a little low at 1.089, for a total of 6 gallons into the fermenter. Within a week it was at 1.020 and not quite finished. It has slowed bubbling this past week, and tasted amazingly good last week as well. Still roasty, but not to a point of covering the hops. This beer is very complex, and I plan on letting it sit another week on the yeast before dry hopping.

Another great recipe from skeezer!



Hope you enjoy it. I had almost forgot about this, I should do it again sometime.
 
Skeezerpleezer,

No doubt this will turn out great - it's my 4th AG batch (apfelwein doesn't count right?) and easily the most complex recipe yet.

I did wait to add the roasted malts until the last 20 minutes of the mash, and just kept them on the top of the grain, fly sparging onto them. This got all of the color and the right amount of roast flavor, which lets the hops shine right through. I also pulled about 5 cups of wort before the boil began, and boiled it in a separate saucepan, adding the dark candy sugar, and boiled that down to a syrup, adding it back around 20 min left into the main boil kettle. I think this might help to give it some malty/caramel flavors as well.

I'm pulling another sample tonight for testing/tasting so I'll post a photo of the beer.

Thanks for sharing your recipes, they have been a HUGE help in learning how to brew my favorite beers at home.

Highest regards,

Wes
 
So it's down to 1.017 after 16 days - 9.3% abv so far.



Nice and black, with slight roast and a dank hop flavor, and smooth bitter taste up front. The WLP 090 was great for this - clean flavor, and it's 79.1% attenuated, fermenting around 66-67 F. Can't wait to taste this after dry hopping and bottle conditioning. It really is quite smooth, actually could stand for a slight bit more roast, but it's definitely in there. Might as well be able to taste all of those hops, after all this ran me around $80 to brew - but it's worth it! I'm very happy with where this is going!

I haven't actually tried the 15th anniversary. I haven't been able to find it in Denver, but I have access to Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA and it's one of my favorite beers.

I'll be pouring at the Great American Beer Festival in 2 weeks, and I'm curious what Stone will have to drink! I'll be posting some photos.

 
I haven't actually tried the 15th anniversary. I haven't been able to find it in Denver, but I have access to Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA and it's one of my favorite beers.

Well, seeing as I just saw the 18th anniversary IPA at the store earlier this afternoon, I have a feeling the 15th anniversary beer might be hard to find at this point. I'm glad to say I drank my one bottle of it on a camping trip at the Grand Canyon. Never found another bottle of it after that, though.
 
Brewed 9/7/14, bottled 10/6/14 and I'm half way through it now. At its peak now, and just delicious. A hop bomb with just the right touch of roast. Midnight wheat worked well to keep it dialed down enough so that the roast astringency doesn't dominate.

Great recipe that I will brew again and recommend for fans of double hopped beers! And 9.4% at that!

Cheers!

 
I brewed a version of this yesterday and the candy was the last 15 mins. I couldn't get pacific jade and substituted Amarillo.
I had a taste before I added 15 min hops and candy and it was spicy and delicious, I may try a batch with out candy...
I had a huge boil off in the 90 min boil and ended up with 4.5 gallons (started with seven) and gravity waaaay up there at 1.135! Added 1 gallon on water and it came down to 1.093 then a huge 1 gallon starter when cooled. Within 12 hrs that sucker is bubbling hard.
 
Brewed 5.5gal batch of this 4 days ago. Followed recipe exactly, except for 2 packs rehydrated US-05 and whirlpooled (by hand) the citra & pacific jade flameout hops at 175° for 60 min. Batch sparged @ 150° filled my 10gal home depot mash tun to the brim! OG was 1.104. Will update with more details. Smells awesome, still very active in carboy 96 hrs post pitch. Tons of hop material in suspension. Definitely will need a quality cold crash.

Excited about this one!
 
Kegged today! Finished at 1.024 after 3 weeks in primary. Hopefully that's not too high. Warm gravity sample doesn't taste sweet due to 100+ IBU :). Thicker mouthfeel than I'm used to but carbonation will help with that. Can't wait to taste this out the tap! The 2.5oz, 7 day Nelson Sauvin dry hop really stoked the hop aroma.
 
I bottled mine and still have 20 or so left, and the hop aroma is still amazingly potent.

Only big difference was that I subbed Galaxy instead of Pacific Jade. If I do again I may also back off the Columbus bittering addition slightly, as it's pretty powerful.

Sounds like you had great attenuation! That's a monster Black IIPA at ~10.7% abv! Cheers!
 
I bottled mine and still have 20 or so left, and the hop aroma is still amazingly potent.

Only big difference was that I subbed Galaxy instead of Pacific Jade. If I do again I may also back off the Columbus bittering addition slightly, as it's pretty powerful.

Sounds like you had great attenuation! That's a monster Black IIPA at ~10.7% abv! Cheers!

It is a monster that's for sure! My thoughts exactly - I've already made a note on my brewsheet to do 75% of my Columbus for the next time. Maybe a little off the Carafa and Chocolate combo too as mine is more "roasty" than what I like personally. I like your suggestion of using midnight. That being said, it's FANTASTIC. Should be fully carbed by Super Bowl Sunday :tank:
 
It is a monster that's for sure! My thoughts exactly - I've already made a note on my brewsheet to do 75% of my Columbus for the next time. Maybe a little off the Carafa and Chocolate combo too as mine is more "roasty" than what I like personally. I like your suggestion of using midnight. That being said, it's FANTASTIC. Should be fully carbed by Super Bowl Sunday :tank:

I'm sue most of you have seen the announcement by now, but this is being re-released as a permanent fixture. Replacing the SSR Black IPA. Of course it is being Re-released as Enjoy By Black IPA.
Does this mean they're using Galaxy/Nelson hops to dryhop much like Enjoy by is now??
 
I'm sue most of you have seen the announcement by now, but this is being re-released as a permanent fixture. Replacing the SSR Black IPA. Of course it is being Re-released as Enjoy By Black IPA.
Does this mean they're using Galaxy/Nelson hops to dryhop much like Enjoy by is now??

I didnt gather that from the article. I thought they were doing a whole new brew for the black IPA. It just says they've learned what to do from SSR and the 15th. Either way, I'm bummed about the departure of ssr and excited for the new enjoy by black.
 
I didnt gather that from the article. I thought they were doing a whole new brew for the black IPA. It just says they've learned what to do from SSR and the 15th. Either way, I'm bummed about the departure of ssr and excited for the new enjoy by black.

I read it that they were essentially re-releasing "a" version of this beer, and naming it Enjoy by Black.
Maybe I misunderstood or read it wrong. either way its kind of exciting.
 

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