Inspiration
This recipe is inspired by the cold, windy winter along the IJ Banks of NDSM - a smoked black IPA. You can sometimes find people who live and work around the area having fires along the kade edge. In a way it's a follow-up to a beer I made a few years ago called Shingle Bay Fire. The beer is made with Carafa II for its coffee like aroma and flavour, without imparting much roasted bitterness. I'm also using Oak Smoked Wheat malt to see if I can get a bit of the fire-like quality I'm trying to capture in the beer. Crystal malt 150L is also there to add hints of toffee with dark fruits, and a light touch of roastiness. The hop profile is Simcoe and Columbus to try and move towards earthiness, pine and dank flavours.
Recipe
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 12 liters
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.019 (would have preferred somewhere closer to 1.015)
ABV (standard): 5.80%
Fermentables
Weyermann Pale 74.5%
Malted Oats 10.6%
Carafa II 6.2%
Carapils 3.7%
Oak Smoked Wheat Malt 3.7%
Caramel/Crystal Malt 150L 1.2%
Hops
Columbus 22g @ 60
Columbus 19g @ 80C Whirlpool for 30min
Simcoe 37g @ 80C Whirlpool for 30min
Columbus 94g @ Dry Hop
Simcoe 94g @ Dry Hop
Mash Guidelines
68°C for 60 min
76°C Mash Out
Yeast
US-05 x 1.5 packets
Water
Amsterdam Source
3.5g Calcium Sulfate added to mash
Fermax Yeast Nutrient
mash pH: 5.65, added gypsum after so lower than this 5.05 post-boil
Notes
In Brooklyn we have a very soft, neutral water profile. For WCIPA we recommend calcium sulfate and we aim to stay around 150ppm or less. You know your water best so adjust accordingly. Fermentation temperature/steps: pitch at 18 and let rise to 19 and hold. Free rise to 22 for D rest once gravity is at about 1.030.
Brewed on: 11/12/2020, fermentation start at 19C
15/12/2020 Up to 22C: 1.020
17/12/2020 Cold Crash 4C: 1.019 - Too high, but need to get this beer finished before I go away. There was also not much more sign of activity. The beer at this point was tasting really astringent and difficult to drink. The nose and the initial flavor are both really nice - like a slightly smoky shot of espresso with a very pure chocolate and dark fruit flavors. The unfortunate part is the lingering and harsh aftertaste of roasted bitterness and a mouthfeel that I think is astringency. I'm not sure why, but it's possibly from over-crushing the grains by accident. It's also a west coast style IPA, and I haven't really had a very bitter one in a while, so that could also be contributing.
19/12/2020 Dry Hop - Beer tasting much better now that it's cold crashed for a couple of days. The beer is clearly still a little too sweet, and the astringency experienced before persists. But overall it's gotten a lot nicer and unified since last trying it. Very curious to see how the dry hop adds to the beer, and more aging will be with reducing the astringency from earlier.
21/12/2020 Packaged in bottles. Beer smells and tastes quite nice. Interested to see how bottle carbonation and aging will change the beer. Should be ready in three weeks on 11/01/2021
06/02/2021
Last beer drinking now. Ended up with a foamy tan head that persists with good lacing. Aroma is caramel, chocolate, slightly roasted, and a hint of smoke. Flavor is really deep chocolate, caramel, sweet, molasses, slightly citrusy. Carbonation is a tiny bit high for the style, but not offensively. The sweetness persists, and is overall too high in the beer. The beer doesn't drink like a Black IPA, but more like a Porter unfortunately. The bitterness isn't high enough and the sweetness is far too high. As far as the overall impression/result goes, I'm fairly happy with it. But the concept of a Smoked Westcoast-Style Black IPA is not reached and, again, became more of a Porter by the end.
Batch Size: 12 liters
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.019 (would have preferred somewhere closer to 1.015)
ABV (standard): 5.80%
Fermentables
Weyermann Pale 74.5%
Malted Oats 10.6%
Carafa II 6.2%
Carapils 3.7%
Oak Smoked Wheat Malt 3.7%
Caramel/Crystal Malt 150L 1.2%
Hops
Columbus 22g @ 60
Columbus 19g @ 80C Whirlpool for 30min
Simcoe 37g @ 80C Whirlpool for 30min
Columbus 94g @ Dry Hop
Simcoe 94g @ Dry Hop
Mash Guidelines
68°C for 60 min
76°C Mash Out
Yeast
US-05 x 1.5 packets
Water
Amsterdam Source
3.5g Calcium Sulfate added to mash
Fermax Yeast Nutrient
mash pH: 5.65, added gypsum after so lower than this 5.05 post-boil
Notes
In Brooklyn we have a very soft, neutral water profile. For WCIPA we recommend calcium sulfate and we aim to stay around 150ppm or less. You know your water best so adjust accordingly. Fermentation temperature/steps: pitch at 18 and let rise to 19 and hold. Free rise to 22 for D rest once gravity is at about 1.030.
Brewed on: 11/12/2020, fermentation start at 19C
15/12/2020 Up to 22C: 1.020
17/12/2020 Cold Crash 4C: 1.019 - Too high, but need to get this beer finished before I go away. There was also not much more sign of activity. The beer at this point was tasting really astringent and difficult to drink. The nose and the initial flavor are both really nice - like a slightly smoky shot of espresso with a very pure chocolate and dark fruit flavors. The unfortunate part is the lingering and harsh aftertaste of roasted bitterness and a mouthfeel that I think is astringency. I'm not sure why, but it's possibly from over-crushing the grains by accident. It's also a west coast style IPA, and I haven't really had a very bitter one in a while, so that could also be contributing.
19/12/2020 Dry Hop - Beer tasting much better now that it's cold crashed for a couple of days. The beer is clearly still a little too sweet, and the astringency experienced before persists. But overall it's gotten a lot nicer and unified since last trying it. Very curious to see how the dry hop adds to the beer, and more aging will be with reducing the astringency from earlier.
21/12/2020 Packaged in bottles. Beer smells and tastes quite nice. Interested to see how bottle carbonation and aging will change the beer. Should be ready in three weeks on 11/01/2021
06/02/2021
Last beer drinking now. Ended up with a foamy tan head that persists with good lacing. Aroma is caramel, chocolate, slightly roasted, and a hint of smoke. Flavor is really deep chocolate, caramel, sweet, molasses, slightly citrusy. Carbonation is a tiny bit high for the style, but not offensively. The sweetness persists, and is overall too high in the beer. The beer doesn't drink like a Black IPA, but more like a Porter unfortunately. The bitterness isn't high enough and the sweetness is far too high. As far as the overall impression/result goes, I'm fairly happy with it. But the concept of a Smoked Westcoast-Style Black IPA is not reached and, again, became more of a Porter by the end.