Black IPA questions

Is Carafa II the same as dehusked Carafa II? If it is dehusked Carafa II, then I think you can add it to your mash with the rest of your grain bill. I made a black ipa in the fall with one # of dehusked Carafa II in the mash. I got all the color, just a bit of roastiness, and almost none of the astringency of highly roasted grains.

If Carafa II is not dehusked, I have no answer.

 

I'd add it just before flame out to sanitize. How much volume are you thinking this will add? Make sure you boil off appropriately.

 

Why wouldn't you mash it with the rest of the grain bill? It doesn't take much. Maybe 5% of the total grain bill.

 

I believe the dehusked is called Carafa Special and the husked is called Carafa, along with the designation I, II, or III.

To the OP, I believe since it's the dehusked you're fine to just mash with it. It's my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that one of the main benefits of dehusked Carafa is exactly what you're looking for, avoiding astringency. If you were to mash it, I would add it with about 10 minutes left or so.

That being said, I've never cold steeped and am looking forward to trying it myself soon. So I say go for it, if only to experiment with a new process.

 

To extract color while avoiding strong roasted flavor from Carafa or other dark malts, you can cold steep. I've done this with black patent. Add a few quarts of water per pound (I used half a pound when I did this) and stick in the fridge. Stir it up. Allow it to steep overnight, or thereabouts. Filter it on brew day (French coffee press, kitchen sieve, etc) and add the filtrate to the boil. Or, you can add the filtrate to your mash if you are concerned that something in there needs conversion (although we generally think of these roasted malts as steepable, so it shouldn't be an issue). Either way, the roasted husks never get heated, so tannin extraction is pretty minimal. As someone else said, if you have Carafa special or other dehusked malt, you can add it directly to the mash.

 

I'm drinking a black steam beer I made that had 7% de-husked carafa II in the mash.

The roast flavors are subdued but still present, and it is inky black. If I were going to make a Black IPA, I would back it down to 5% and I would probably do a cold steep.

 

Both regular Carafa (non-dehusked) and Carafa Special (dehusked) come in I, II, and III versions. So if you see something that just says 'Carafa II' it may or may not be dehusked. (And if the person saying 'Carafa II' is being precise, it would not be dehusked).

 

Bi-carbonate to increase alkalinity to counter acidity from dark grain. Last Black IPA I did, I added bicarbonate to account for the dehusked carafa III special I added to the mash.

My last BIPA contained 1lb 5.2 oz of DH Carafa III Special (7% of grist; ~40 SRM), and it had a promenant roast character (Smooth, but still a bit roasty) so maybe a cold steep would make a big difference.... also you could use Weyermann Sinamar for color but no roast, although I have no experience whatsoever with it.

 

I'll be making one shortly with some Midnight Wheat...up to this point I've used DH Carafa III Special which has worked fine @ 3/4# for a 5 gal batch with no astringency to speak of.

 

Really curious to see what you get from this... Planning on a RIS using a bit of midnight wheat, but haven't heard much about it other than what it might sub for in the grist.

 

There is a recent Brewing with Beersmith podcast with Bob Hansen of Briess Malting. Mostly the podcast is about malting in general but he does speak briefly about this malt.

 

I add my dehusked CIII to my mash with around ten minutes left. I stir well before vorlauf, and batch sparge, where I easily get the color I want.

 

My Black IPA is very very similar to Stone SSR. For a five gallon black IPA, I will add 3/4 lb of dehusked Carafa III and recirculate for about 10 minutes without a mashout. I use a no-sparge technique and use the partigyle + 3/4 lb sucrose to make a English style dark mild.