Black IPA - Update

All I can say JA that is one full on brew definitely not one for the faint hearted can't offer no critique I haven't got the experience. Good luck ;)
 
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If ya want a crisp IPA stay away from the caramel/crystal stuff and keep it cleaner.
Some people like the thicker malt bills in the bigger IPA's to help make bittering hops balance more.
The hop bill? wow not a brew day to tip a few while boiling.
IMO when you start adding little dabs of grain like that to a bigger beer they always seem to get lost in the hops.
With that said I would like it as it stands. I like all varieties of IPA's.:D
 
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IMO when you start adding little dabs of grain like that to a bigger beer they always seem to get lost in the hops.

That was my thought. Those various roasts and dark crystals are pretty strongly flavored on their own and small amounts can add a lot of complexity without overpowering the malt. Having this big a beer might mean losing some subtlety. I'd like all the flavor layers in the malt and hops to unfold on the palate and not just land all at once. I don't know if that's really possible.
This beer is for a club competition and not necessarily a style I'd brew for myself. I suspect that I'll bottle a lot of it out of the keg or just keg part of it and bottle condition the rest. That means I'm likely to have some aging for a while and the hops will fade and leave some of the malt and roast flavors to bloom a little.
I may explore a very different approach and make a small amount of a simpler beer designed to be consumed while it's still relatively fresh.
 
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I may explore a very different approach and make a small amount of a simpler beer designed to be consumed while it's still relatively fresh.

For competition definitely stay away from complicated malty bills. An IPA of any color is still an IPA. You need to have a little roast in a black or a little malt in a red or brown but that much would make it too complicated. I do like the idea of a Piney Black IPA.
 
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imo... for a black IPA, especially the way I like my IPAs, midnight wheat is your friend.
 
imo... for a black IPA, especially the way I like my IPAs, midnight wheat is your friend.
Couldn't think of that stuff in my last post, thanks.
Yup clean and black. Just a little black malt but not much if you want some of those dark malt qualities.
 
imo... for a black IPA, especially the way I like my IPAs, midnight wheat is your friend.
Yeah...that's where I'd go too, but my local guys don't stock that. Best I can get is Caracrystal wheat at around 60 SRM. I'm having to get the color from roast and I just don't want that burnt flavor messing with my hops.
 
Correction! I just called my local guys and I was wrong. They do have Midnight Wheat. I'll reformulate accordingly.:)
 
also if they have dehusked carafa, you can kinda use that as a sub. but make sure it's dehusked,
 
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How about a dry hop here? I just checked the gravity and it's 1.016. It won't stop there, but it'll stop soon and I think I should dry hop it. I used an ounce each of Columbus, Simcoe and Chinook at flame-out and left the bag in as it finished cooling to pitch temp. I think it'll get some aroma from that, but, you know...it's a big IPA...gotta dry hop. ;)
I tasted the sample and it's got a lot of good smooth bitterness that's playing off the slight roast flavors. I think I should double down on one of the hops, but it's hard to decide. I like Columbus for that danky pine, but the Chinook would leave some pine along with grapefruit. Any other beer and I'd default to Simcoe, but I'm not sure the tropical notes are what I want here. Maybe a combo of Simcoe and one of the others or, what the hell... just go ahead and throw in all three. :rolleyes:
Any opinions?
 
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Couldn't think of that stuff in my last post, thanks.
Yup clean and black. Just a little black malt but not much if you want some of those dark malt qualities.
yes for a black ipa you don't want to taste any roasted or chocolate grain, just use enough clean dark grain to make it black and focus on the hops
 
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Throw them in, throw them in, throw them all in!!! (just keep it piney);)
Some IPA's are dry hopped with up to a couple of pounds. Do what you prefer.
 
My beer won the inter-club competition! :)
The final version as brewed looks like this:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/454089/pine-curtain-black-ipa
I still think it could be simpler, but it really came together. Out of 10 beers, almost all quite good examples, mine scored the highest points among the participants who were actually scoring beers and got the most votes by a very clear margin. I even voted for it not necessarily thinking that it was my beer. There were actually several beers that I thought resembled mine and really gave up on trying to pick my beer out of the lineup.
I know it's just a local club competition ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/southaustinareazymergistsgroup/ ) it's a group of really good brewers and I'm pretty stoked about taking home the coveted "Golden Mash Paddle" traveling trophy.
 
Awesome stuff JA how cool is that! So you should win mate you've done the hard yards mate time to reap the rewards.
 
Thanks!
We have loads of fun. This bunch is prone to being intensely, but jovially competitive complete with plenty of good-natured smack talk. I'm generally more cautious in my optimism and not as prone to brag ahead of time, but I knew this turned out to be a good beer. I figured it would be in the hunt, but after sampling and judging all the beers, I was genuinely surprised that mine rose to the top of a very good field.
 

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