Imperial Session Black IPAs

Citra with dark malts is amazingly good.

There's a local brewery, Red Brick, that had a "Black Eye Rye" Black IPA.. Came in, higher in ABV than you are wanting, and I think probably a bit more roasty flavor came through, almost roasted barley, or even a good fist full of black patent in there.. Not sure. It had a slight coffee, burnt brown sugar note, but then the spice from the rye and the piney citrus came through in the finish with a ultra dry grating feeling on your tounge from the roasted malts.

But they used Citra, Cascade and Chinook. Want to say it was north of 7.5%, but probably 8%, and 80 or so IBU's.

I thought it was good. I could do with less roast, but loved it being almost too much, if I were to brew something like it. The hop combo was fantastic though.

 

So what I'm saying is. Brew a black IPA with chinook, citra and cascade. Use some roasted barley or carafa III or something.. Do about 65-70 IBU and 6.5%, and LMK how it taste, then pass me the recipe.

 

I've done a few black IPAs to this point. I really enjoy the route of making it more of a Black Imperial Amber Ale rather than Black IPA; lots of malt character (both from munich and a blend of caramel malts), get the srm where you need it with midnight wheat or carafa special II or III, maybe a touch of chocolate malt, and lots of late hops.

So far as hopping goes, the hop bursting method doesn't work so well. You need a sturdy bittering charge. Try too use something on the smoother side, the dehusked roasted malts will still add a bit of astringency. I'd also think that this is a style that needs a couple of varieties late to round it out. Maybe a hefty dose of cascade, something somewhat englishy (EKG, fuggles, Willamette, etc.), and then just a touch of citra at flameout and in dry hop. Something like:

20min 1oz Willamette
10 2oz cascade 1oz Willamette
FO 3oz Cascade 1.5oz Willamette .5oz Citra
DH 3oz Cascade 1oz Citra

Plug that into your software and then use Magnum @60 to get to the IBUs you're looking for.

 

I am a big fan of piney, dank in your face bitter CDAs. Apollo, Chinook, CTZ and Simcoe.

 

Had one just finish carbing. 5% and a little too roasty. Gonna try Midnight Wheat or maybe Sinimar next time or a cold steep of Carafa III. Black as fucking night. I swear when I poured it the room got a little darker! Dry hopped with Centennial. The real citrusy hops really seem to go well with the darker malts

 

I like mine to have as little roast character as possible, so take what you will. I also prefer them to be high on the woods and dank side with fruit to round out as opposed to citrusy. Gordon Strong is fairly vocal that citrus hops and dark malts do not belong together, I don't totally agree, but it depends on how much and which types of dark malts. Carafa III or Midnight Wheat both work well. Chinook, Simcoe, and CTZ play well. My first CDA was all Cascade plus some Simcoe thrown in for DH. It was pretty good, but not as good as the one I did in Spring: Calypso, Chinook, Mosaic, hint of Simcoe. Blueberries and Pine Cones!

 

Your SRM is well beyond 25 for sure. I steeped 7oz Midnight Wheat for my CDA and it was BLACK. 1/2# Midnight Wheat would go BLACK as a moonless night w/o the Carafa. I am assuming the roast is for a touch of dryness. Midnight Wheat is not the same as chocolate or roasted wheat, you might need to add it to your BeerSmith ingredients list.

 

550

 

Dont be fooled, the Midnight Wheat, isn't technically a "Wheat" persay. Just really dark with no flavor contribution!

 

Try 2oz Centennial dry hop. The citrus and slight roastiness is a great combo!

 

Imperial Black Saison IPA which is how I read it the first time doesnt sound that bad. Imperial Hoppy Black Saison.

 

The first ever CDA I had was a group brew for an annual brewfest, Black Rye Black IPA. O thought it was good, Matt Van Wyk (the brewer thought it was not and really didn't want to brew it).

 

Mine usually ends up being more like an Imperial Black (or a hoppy imperial porter).

For hops, we primarily use Warrior, Amarillo, Centennial and Sorachi Ace (might be missing one or two, chinook/cascade?) and have won a couple of awards with it. I've also done a single hop Simcoe black ale and it ended up pretty nice.

As for grains, we usually push the borderline of a stout. Never black patent, but definitely coffee malt and a little roasted barley. The carafas are always a good choice. Believe me when I say Pale Chocolate is great malt to use in a "Black IPA"... Chocolate covered oranges is nice in a beer.

 

Mitch Steele called out Black IPA in his presentation, as he can't abide by calling those CDA's.