Black IPA Recipe help

[thisispants]

Hi,

I'm looking at making a beer for winter and would like some help / suggestions.

I really love IPAs, so I'm making something slightly wintery, a black IPA.

I'm thinking of making the grain bill mostly Marris otter, then adding some carafa II special (I can't find carafa 3 anywhere convenient) and some wheat (head retention).

I'm also going to use the London Fog Ale yeast from white labs.

I'm after a hoppy yet malty IPA.

Is there anything else I should think about adding?

 

[MHB]

My local has CarafaS3, the other one I would look at is Roast/Chocolate Wheat, about the same colour as CarafaS3 or Roast Barley )~1200EBC).
Both the Chocolate Wheat and the CarafaS3 (as long as you are getting the S for Special) have no husk, so you get a lot less of the bitterness associated with Roast Barley.
Personally I would look at the Chocolate Wheat as it has less flavour, worth adding it late in the mash to get even less flavour.
Mark

 

[thisispants]

it'd be hard to add to the mash without affecting the mash temp though wouldn't it.....

What about midnight wheat??

 

[MHB]

Same Same, having tasted both I just like taste of the Weyermann one better, and its what my local stocks.
You would only be adding a small amount, I doubt it would have any measurable effect on the mash temp. Especially as the mash is basically over by the time you add it (assuming a sensible mash time ~60minutes).
Mark

 

[Dan Pratt]

+ 1 for using Chocolate/Midnight wheat. Thats my go to for a black ipa.

A good trick is to mill it seperately and twice for a fine powder ( by itself ) and keep it for the mash out.

Raise the temp to mash out add the black malt you decided on and let that get your colour.

This will reduce the flavour output but give you plenty of colour.

 

[thisispants]

I've put together this recipe.....

Type: All Grain

Batch Size: 22.00 l

Boil Size: 27.92 l

Boil Time: 60 min

End of Boil Vol: 25.87 l

Final Bottling Vol: 20.49 l

Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Date: 29 Apr 2018

Asst Brewer:

Equipment: Pot and Cooler ( 5 Gal/19 L) - All Grain

Efficiency: 72.00 %

Est Mash Efficiency: 81.3 %

Taste Rating: 30.0

Taste Notes:



Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

5.50 kg

Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC)

Grain

1

91.7 %

0.30 kg

Midnight Wheat (1450.0 EBC)

Grain

2

5.0 %

0.20 kg

Biscuit Malt (45.3 EBC)

Grain

3

3.3 %

20.00 g

Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min

Hop

4

18.0 IBUs

15.00 g

Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min

Hop

5

17.6 IBUs

10.00 g

Topaz [17.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min

Hop

6

16.6 IBUs

20.00 g

Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min

Hop

7

8.5 IBUs

10.00 g

Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min

Hop

8

3.3 IBUs

20.00 g

Admiral [14.75 %] - Boil 0.0 min

Hop

9

0.0 IBUs

15.00 g

Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min

Hop

10

0.0 IBUs

1.0 pkg

SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml]

Yeast

11

-

25.00 g

Amarillo [9.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days

Hop

12

0.0 IBUs

25.00 g

Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days

Hop

13

0.0 IBUs

Ingredients

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.061 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.018 SG

 

[thisispants]

Sorry, that didn't turn out well...how can I lower the SG...I don't want it t be too sweet.

Sorry for the formatting, it's beersmith and I'm still figuring it out.

 

[MHB]

Wort isn't fully fermentable, the higher the OG the higher the FG.
You can influence the fermentability a bit my mashing cooler and slower but there will be 15-17% (protein, minerals...) of the extract that cant be fermented no matter what you do, there will always be some Dextrins to (~20%).

You can balance the residual sweetness by upping the bitterness a bit, but you look to have 64ish IBU, there which should be plenty. Personally I would regard anything that predicts IBU's with decimal places to be having a bit of a lend (or far too much fun).

You are only looking at 70% apparent attenuation, that means its probably defaulting to one of the Chico yeasts (US-05...), choosing a more attenuateive yeast would peel off a few more points, plenty to choose from if dry try S-04, or have a look at what liquid cultures are available.
For a higher gravity beer, doubling the pitch wont hurt and will up the chances of you getting maximum attenuation.
Adding an enzyme to the mash - so it is denatured in the kettle could help, just be careful not to get too dry.
Make sure you have plenty of Calcium (100-150ppm min) in the water and optimise the pH for Beta Amylase Low 5's (5.1-5.3pH).
Mark

 

[Schikitar]

Here's a recipe* I brewed about 6 months ago, came out great (just needed a slightly longer maturation in the bottle than say your typical IPA);

Black Chops - BIIPA
Batch Size - ~28L

Grain Bill
5.4kg Gladfield American Ale
800g Gladfield Aurora Malt
400g Dark Crystal
400g Midnight Wheat
300g Carafa III
200g Acidulated Malt

Adjuncts
750g Sugar @ Mash Out

Hop Schedule
25g Columbus @ FWH
40g Centennial @ 60 mins
25g Citra @ 25 mins
25g Cascade @ 25 mins
10g Centennial @ 10 mins
15g Citra @ 5 mins
15g Cascade @ 5 mins
10g Citra @ Flameout
10g Cascade @ Flameout
100g Centennial @ Cube Hop
50g Cascade @ Cube Hop
50g Citra @ Dry Hop

*Now there are a few gaps in this recipe because I made it up as I was going, had a bunch of mates round yabbering at me whilst brewing and I got a bit boozy and forgot to write everything down!

Anyway, there might be some takeaways there for you, I'm going to go back and try brewing this again because it's amazing 6 months later, like a really robust porter now that all the hops have settled into place!

 

[Dan Pratt]

Regarding the hops.

Bittering with 3 types you have 51ibu i see, way to much for any IPA these days.

Id suggest just Topaz to about 35ibu and use these sexy hops for late on the boil.

On the gravity.

Like MHB says run with a US05 for better attenuation and mash lower to get thay fg closer to 1012. A 6.5-7% abv is a good range for this style.n

 

[MHB]

I didn't suggest US-05, it is only a medium attenuator, in fact I was suggesting that it might be the default and that there are many better choices!
To my mind it always finishes sweet, doesn't flock properly and is pretty boring.
Mark

 

[Dan Pratt]

I didn't suggest US-05, it is only a medium attenuator, in fact I was suggesting that it might be the default and that there are many better choices!
To my mind it always finishes sweet, doesn't flock properly and is pretty boring.
Mark

sorry I miss read it, which now i can see you suggest other strains of liquid.

 

[beerbaleer]

Hi,

I'm looking at making a beer for winter and would like some help / suggestions.

I really love IPAs, so I'm making something slightly wintery, a black IPA.

I'm thinking of making the grain bill mostly Marris otter, then adding some carafa II special (I can't find carafa 3 anywhere convenient) and some wheat (head retention).

I'm also going to use the London Fog Ale yeast from white labs.

I'm after a hoppy yet malty IPA.

Is there anything else I should think about adding?

make sure the yeast drops
out so your beer is clear, i think black beer needs to be very clear to avoid looking a bit muddy.