Showing posts with label black IPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black IPA. Show all posts

Monday, November 21, 2016

Black IPA Review

Appearance: Dark body, deep mahogany when held up to the light, with sticky off-white head. Good head retention.

Aroma: Tropical fruit, similar to the pale ale I brewed with the combination of Azacca and Nelson. Not much pineyness. Would be "juicy" but a moderate background note of chocolate and slight crystal malt sweetness moderates that. As it warms the hop character comes out more, making it more juicy.

Taste: Hard to place, mix of juiciness and chocolatey quality in the aftertaste. Bitterness is moderate and not harsh. Tastes less juicy that it smells. Fortunately the hop and dark malt characters do not clash.

Mouthfeel: Light body, pretty dry, a little bit of residual sweetness. Carbonation moderate. Drinkable. Maybe a hint of booziness considering it's ~7% ABV.

Overall: Pretty good. The flavors and aromas meld pretty well. I wish I taste it blind and compare to a normal IPA with the same hopping etc. but without the dark malt, so that I could really taste how much difference the dark malt really makes. Not sure how reliably I could distinguish it from a normal IPA. It reminds me of the American Stout I brewed following the recipe from BCS but with less sweetness and less body. Don't think I would change anything.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Black IPA #1

As per Modern Homebrew Recipes by Gordon Strong, with hop substitutions, and slight malt substitution (I ran out of bulk 2-row, so substituted 1# of Pils malt.)

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Black IPA #1
Style: Black IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.04 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.29 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal  
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.065 SG
Estimated Color: 26.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 49.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU        
5.50 gal              Boston, MA                               Water         1        -            
3.00 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   2        -            
3.00 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   3        -            
9 lbs                 Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM)   Grain         4        57.4 %       
3 lbs                 Golden Promise (Simpsons) (2.0 SRM)      Grain         5        19.1 %       
1 lbs                 Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM Grain         6        6.4 %        
1 lbs                 Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)            Grain         7        6.4 %        
8.0 oz                Munich (BestMälz) (7.6 SRM)              Grain         8        3.2 %        
3.0 oz                Acid Malt (3.0 SRM)                      Grain         9        1.2 %        
1 lbs                 Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)         Sugar         10       6.4 %        
1.00 oz               Azacca [15.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min         Hop           11       18.9 IBUs    
2.00 oz               Azacca [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           12       15.2 IBUs    
2.00 oz               Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpoo Hop           13       15.2 IBUs    
1.0 pkg               Safale American  (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)  Yeast         14       -            
2.00 oz               Azacca [15.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days      Hop           15       0.0 IBUs     


Mash Schedule: 152F, Mash Out, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 11.0 oz
----------------------------
Name                    Description                                          Step Temperature Step Time    
Mash Step               Add 19.36 qt of water at 165.3 F                     152.0 F       60 min       
Mash Step               Add 11.75 qt of water at 199.5 F                     168.0 F       10 min       

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 2.28gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------

Brewed 10/29/16:

Starter made, with re-used yeast.

8 gallon into kettle, 1.0526, before sugar.

Boiled down to ~7.25 gallons with 1.070 gravity. A little high but should be OK.

After steeping for 15F, cooled to 100F, and let cool overnight. Pitched at 66F, no aeration, on 10/30/16 around 9am.

Active bubbling and krausen by 9pm. The next day was very active fermentation.

11/5/16
Added 2oz of Azacca, dry hops. ~67 F ambient.