IDEA
One of my best friends favorite beer style is black IPA. When he and his girlfriend decided to get married, I know what to do. I already started to research the style and brewed a few test batches exactly for this situation, but now I had to switch gears and go all in. After ten test batches and a good amount of research behind me, I came up with a recipe that was satisfying. I wanted this beer to be dry, hop forward with little to no chocolate and coffee flavor, but with jet black color.
Recipe
Stats:
Est. OG: 1.073
Est. FG: 1.016
ABV 7.6%
Color: 101.3 SRM (without the black rice, it’s hard to predict how much darker the beer is with it)
IBU: 61.9
BU/GU: 0.851
Est. Brewhouse Efficiency: 78%
Water Profile: Black IPA, Meanbrews
| Name | Temperature (Celsius) | Temperature (Fahrenheit) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mash In | 66.7℃ | 152℉ | 60 | |||||||
| Mash Out | 75.6℃ | 168.08℉ | 10 | |||||||
| Boil | 100℃ | 212℉ | 30 | |||||||
| Whirlpool | 64℃ | 147.2℉ | 30 |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Percentage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simpsons - Golden Promise | 5.4 kg | 11.9 lb | 78.3% | |||||||
| Black Rice | 1.2 kg | 2.65 lb | 17.4% | |||||||
| Simpsons - Black Malt | 0.3 kg | 0.66 lb | 4.3% |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | IBU | Alpha Acid | Time (minute) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTZ | 41g | 1.45 oz | 48.8 | 14.1% | First Wort | |||||
| CTZ | 100g | 3.53 oz | 6.7 | 14.1% | Whirlpool | |||||
| Simcoe | 50g | 1.76 oz | 3.4 | 14.5% | Whirlpool | |||||
| Cascade | 50g | 1.76 oz | 3.1 | 13% | Whirlpool | |||||
| Simcoe | 50g | 1.76 oz | 0 | 14.5% | 3 days Dry-hop | |||||
| Cascade | 50g | 1.76 oz | 0 | 13% | 3 days Dry-hop |
| Name | Producer | Type | Style | Dry Alternatives | Liquid Alternatives | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRY-97 - LalBrew | Fermentis | Dry | Chico Strain | US-05 M44 - US West Coast |
WY1056 - American Ale WLP001 - California Ale Yeast RVA-101 - Chico Ale A07 - Flagship OYL-004 - West Coast Ale I BBUSA1 - Classic American GY001 - NorCal Ale #1 |
| Strike Water (Metric) | Strike Water (US) | Sparge Water (Metric) | Sparge Water (US) | Ca | Mg | Na | SO4 | Cl | HCO3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20.8L | 5.49 gal | 10.3L | 2.72 gal | 56 ppm | 0 ppm | 16 ppm | 115 ppm | 30 ppm | 16 ppm |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeast Nutrient | 1g | 0.04 oz | 15 | |||||||
| L-Ascorbic Acid | 3g | 0.11 oz | Strike Water before mash | |||||||
| Supermoss | 4g | 0.14 oz | 15 |
Brewday
I measured the rice and added it to the cold RO water. Then started heating it up to boiling temperate. After cooking the rice for one hour, I cooled it down to mash temperature. I forgot to take pictures on the brewday, so I used the pictures from one of the test batch day, thus the lower amount of rice and water.
While the rice cooled, I crushed the malts.
I topped up with the remaining RO water to compensate the boiled off water. To avoid clumping, I added the crushed malts in batches while stirring.
After sparging, I measured the pre-boil gravity. The measured value was 16.4 brix roughly 1.064 SG points, which is 0.002 points higher than expected.
Before the wort reached boiling temperatures, I prepared the hops additions.
I boiled the wort for 30 minutes, added the hops and the adjuncts at the previously stated times, then proceeded with the whirlpool.
After the wort was chilled, I measured the original gravity. The OG was higher than expected, with an SG value of 1.080.
The fermentation finished within 10 days. Sadly, I was unable to do the dry-hopping as some urget things came up. The temperature was between 18.8℃ (65.84℉) - 24.7℃ (76.46℉), with an average of 20.6℃ (69.08℉). Not ideal, especially the big fluctuation.
Please note that the gravity readings by my iSpindel are used for the tracking of the fermentation and should not be taken as specific gravity.
The final gravity came out at the predicted value, as with the rice, I forgot to take a picture.
Tasting
First week: My experience with black IPAs is that they require at least one month of conditioning as both the dark malts and the sizeable amount of hops need to settle and round up a bit. This beer was no exception. It was bitter, fruity and pungent, with no harmony between the hop and malt characters.
One month later: The smell was full on American IPA, no sign of any dark malt aroma. When tasting the beer, the first flavors were of light coffee with and interesting umami like notes. Then the hops immediately kicked in, dominating the beer with a nice dryness at the end, cleansing the pallet. As for the color, the picture doesn’t really give it back, but it was a fabulously jet black color.
Conclusion
The addition of black rice was a real fundamental change. Until that point, the beers had either too much dark malt character or the color was too bright. The light umami flavor from the rice adds a nice, unexpected twist to the beer. The next time I brew this recipe, I might experiment with the hopping or the yeast, but I will definitely not touch the malt base. I encourage everyone to try this recipe out.