Flavours Not Matching The Style.

[Fish13]

I brewed this up about 4 weeks ago.


Original Gravity (OG): 1.078 (P): 18.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.020 (P): 5.1
Alcohol (ABV): 7.66 %
Colour (SRM): 14.0 (EBC): 27.6
Bitterness (IBU): 108.4 (Average)

90.98% Pale Ale Malt
3.01% Carapils (Dextrine)
3.01% Chocolate, Pale
3.01% Vienna

2.7 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma)

0.1 g/L Whirlfloc Tablet @ 10 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion at 66C for 60 Minutes. Boil for 60 Minutes

Fermented at 18C with Safale US-05.

Now i have had 2 bottles of it so far. first was very very bitter and syrupy - hey you get that - my second one was still thick but had a very nice head but the colour was very dark but has some red tinges to it. the bitterness is there and you must sip it.

i get some roasted and coffee flavours coming through which remind me of a stout. its not overly strong in hop aroma it is subtle. i could enjoy this as a sessional beer.


here is a pic of the beer.

 

[black_labb]

I'm guessing you brewed a black IPA and find it a bit closer to a dry stout in flavour? You don't really name the style or what you were aiming for but that's my guess.

Choc grain can give the coffee flavour if the beer is balanced towards bitter or a chocolate flavour if it is sweeter on the palate. Being hopped like an ipa you tend to get more of the coffee flavour which may or may not be what you are after. Some people brewing black ipa's will cold steep dark grains to get the colour without the astringency which is what is giving you the coffee flavour. I tend to feel that making an ipa black just for the colour is a bit silly imo, but that method does make a black ipa that tastes very ipa like.

I'd suggest that you could have cut back a touch on the bittering hops and added more late hops (dry hops ??) instead. Having a very fresh hoppy aroma will change your perception of the beer and the coffee flavours would blend into the background more than they are now.

I'd suggest you haven't let the bottles fully carb up making them a bit syrupy, try giving them a bit more time.

 

[manticle]

What's the style?

 

[warra48]

3.01% Chocolate Malt.

That's what will give you "some roasted and coffee flavours", regardless of anything else .

 

[milob40]

if your not after the roasty dry flavour, cut down the choc and sub with some carafar t2 or t3, this worked on a similar project of mine :icon_cheers:

 

[Fish13]

Sorry about that its supposed to be a IIPA. Yeap know it wasn't carbed for the first bottle but the second one was

 

[malt_shovel]

Sorry about that its supposed to be a IIPA. Yeap know it wasn't carbed for the first bottle but the second one was

Drop the chocolate all together. This will bring the colour adjustment back in line and removing the coffee as pointed out earlier.

The 2.7g / L for a high alhpa at 60mins is going to dominate the bittering. I am guessing that is contributing around 75% or more of the total bittering units calculated (would be good to see this IBU figure after each addition in the recipe).

For a more hop forward and balanced IPA, I would aim for around 30 - 50% of the bittering to come in the 60min addition and the remainder from late additions with a IBU / GU ratio around 1 (so for this recipe aim for around 80IBU). Also if you are no chilling, you may be getting more bittering than you calculated..

How was the final gravity, was it 1.020? Seems a little high for US-05 with a mash at 66oC (would expect around 1.014 - 1.015). Maybe look into yeast health / pitching rate to get the FG down a little more to remove the syrupy tones.

I suspect that with some time, your bittering will calm down somewhat and the flavour additions will come further to the front. This may be one of those beers that will need a lot of time to hit it's prime, contrary to most IPA's which has lots of late hops that fade quickly with time. Maybe call it a Imperial Amber?


Cheers

 

[stakka82]

flame disclaimer: the following is only my opinion based on my personal tastes.

100 plus ibu is madness, drop the bittering addition at 60 mins next time, keep the rest, and sub the choc malt with caraaroma or a medium/dark crystal



ps this would put it into ipa territory but imo it'd be an awesome beer.

 

[emnpaul]

the colour was very dark but has some red tinges to it.

i get some roasted and coffee flavours coming through which remind me of a stout. its not overly strong in hop aroma it is subtle. i could enjoy this as a sessional beer.

Roasted and coffee doesn't really sound like 3% Pale Chocolate malt to me. I'd be thinking more Toasty/roasty and brown as opposed to very dark. Also with that amount of columbus late, I would think it'd have a pronounced hop finish, but I can understand that amount of bitterness playing havoc with your palette.

Any chance the bottles are mislabelled or you grabbed a big stout by mistake?

 

[Fish13]

These bottles aren't labelled and are my ownly dark beer. All the others are Pilsner's or LCBA clones. I haven't done a stout yet. I must check the guidelines for the imperial india pale ale. The guiding hand so far has said to get the initial bitterness close to the og. I will move the 20 minute addition to 0 and hopefully it will be more in your face and aroma. Yes the final SG is correct. The starting gravity was lower as i needed to sparge better.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

get yourself a copy of brewing classic styles, gives you a better understanding of the style and some great recipes, you wont regret it.

 

[Bribie G]

With nearly two packets of a very high AA Columbus in one brew it's going to be way bitter and hoppy. As suggested I'd go for the late hopping or even go the "10 minute IPA" route.

 

[Fish13]

It was one bribie but it would be way worse with 200g in there. Btw did you get my pm about magnum?