SmoothHop Black IPA Recipe
This has become one of my staple brews. I originally chose this as one my first batches because my two favorite beer styles are IPAs and stouts, but also because I didn’t want to disappoint myself at first. Black IPAs (or Cascadian Dark Ales) in commercial breweries are not common for whatever reason. Because of this, I don’t have my senses dialed in to exactly what I think this particular style needs to taste like. For example, with a NEIPA, I need it to taste like Dancing Gnome and anything less would be disappointing.
It has a wonderful chocolate flavor from the malt that meshes perfectly with the juicy hops and kveik yeast. I usually bottle this beer as it tastes better as it conditions in the bottle. The sweet spot for this beer is 3+ weeks of conditioning.
Beer Stats
- Method: BIAB / All Grain
- Boil Time: 75 minutes
- Batch Size: 5.5 Gallons
- Efficiency: 81%
| Original Gravity | Final Gravity | ABV | IBU | SRM (Color) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.068 | 1.016 | 6.8% | 70 | 34.4 |
Grain Bill
| Amount | Fermentable | Bill % |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lbs | Breiss Pale Ale Malt 2-Row | 77.3% |
| 1.5 lbs | Flaked Oats | 11.6% |
| 8 oz | Weyermann Carafa Special Type II | 3.9% |
| 8 oz | American Chocolate Malt | 3.9% |
| 4 oz | American Carapils (Dextrine Malt) | 1.9% |
| 3 oz | American Roasted Barley | 1.4% |
| 12.94 lbs | 100% |
Hops
| Amount | Variety | Type | AA% | Use | Time | IBU | Bill % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.40 oz | Apollo | Pellet | 20 | Boil | 60 min | 23.93 | 4.9% |
| 0.80 oz | Centennial | Pellet | 9.7 | Boil | 25 min | 16.14 | 9.8% |
| 1.00 oz | Citra | Pellet | 12.8 | Boil | 10 min | 13.88 | 12.2% |
| 1.50 oz | Columbus | Pellet | 15.8 | Whirlpool @ 180° F | 10 min | 16.14 | 18.3% |
| 2.50 oz | Citra | Pellet | 12.8 | Dry Hop | 5 days | 30.5% | |
| 1.00 oz | Columbus | Pellet | 15.8 | Dry Hop | 5 days | 12.2% | |
| 1.00 oz | Galaxy | Pellet | 17.8 | Dry Hop | 5 days | 12.2% | |
| 8.20 oz | 100% |
The full recipe is also available on Brewer’s Friend.
Mash Guidelines
Since I was doing Brew-in-a-Bag, I steeped the mash in 5.5 gallons of water at 156° F for 60 minutes. To do this I heat up my kettle to 165° F, drop in the grain bag and make sure all dough balls are mixed out. I then put the lid on my kettle and wrap them in a couple moving blankets.
After the 60 minute timer went off, I sparged with 1.5 gallons of 170° F water for a total of 8 gallons of pre-boil wort. My pre-boil gravity was 1.055.
Yeast
I underpitched and used 1.5 tablespoons of Omega Hornindal Yeast mixed into some of the first runnings of wort. The yeast and wort sat covered for about 2 hours as the rest of the brew day finished up.
I pitched at 90° F and held the temperature through the first 3 days into the 80s with a heating pad.
Brewing Notes
I added 1/2 of a campden tablet to my pre-boil wort. I did not adjust my water chemistry for this one, but I have well water and it is very drinkable and fresh tasting. My next batch, I may adjust my water to have a 150 Gypsum : 100 Calcium Chloride ratio.
