Day 23: American Black Ale

[hoppingwolf]

So I'm calling this an American Black Ale instead of a Black IPA because I think it needs a tad bit more bitterness to qualify as IPA. It's pretty close to Black IPA and the hop flavor that I was going for is there, so I'm probably just being a nerd on the intricacies of style.

Here are the specs from Beersmith:

Batch Size: 5.5 gal
OG: 1.066
FG: 1.016
Estimated Color: 29.8 SRM
Estimated IBU(Rager): 122.6 IBUs
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Malt:
Pale Malt 2-Row (Briess) - 72.1 %
Munich II (Weyermann) - 19.7 %
Midnight Wheat (Briess) - 4.9 %
Dark Crystal (Simpsons) - 3.3 %

Mashed at 150-152F for 1 hour

Boil Hops:
1.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 mins (37.2 IBUs)
3.00 oz Nugget [10.10 %] - Boil 10.0 min (22.5 IBUs)
1.50 oz Centennial [9.30 %] - Steep (18.2 IBUs)
1.50 oz Citra [13.00 %] - Steep (25.4 IBUs)
1.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [8.00 %] - Steep (19.3 IBUs)

The steep hops were added to the kettle after I shut off the heat. I stirred them into the wort and then let them sit for an hour while I put the kids to bed. I don't usually let steep hops sit that long, but I think it worked out well. You could probably get away with a 30 minute steep with the same results.

Dry Hops:
Added these directly to primary and let sit for 6 days
1.00 oz Dr Rudi [8.70 %]
1.00 oz Pacific Jade [9.00 %]
0.50 oz Galaxy [15.00 %]

Fermentation:
1L starter Whitbread Ale (Wyeast Labs #1099)
Started fermentation at 66F and ramped up to 68F after 4 days

Brewed 10/26/2014
Dry Hops added 11/3/2014
Kegged and Carbonated 11/9/2014
Bottled off the keg on 11/20/2014


I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I tried my bottle last night and the hop aroma is not as pronounced as it was a month ago, but all the other flavors are close to how I remember them(the rest of the keg kicked pretty quickly with other sharing and consumption). This was my first time using midnight wheat and I really like its smooth roasted flavor contribution.

Bring on the feedback! Positive and negative comments welcome!

Hope you enjoy it!

[tony]

Thank you for the brew. I thought the brew was very well done and the hop flavor and aroma were great. It had a nice slightly sweet character that balanced out the hops very well.

Thanks
-Tony

[kczar]

I loved reading the title because for the life of me I could not put my finger on what to call this beer. This was wonderfully hopped and I wouldn't one bit about the long steep. Remained flavorful and woth just the right amount of hop bite.

[Kyle H.]

I love black IPAs and this is a good one. The only thing I would change is there is a harshness I can't quite put my finger on. I don't think it is from the midnight wheat, but I have never brewed with it. I think it may be from the 60 minute columbus addition. Smooth that out and in my opinion it would be perfect. Thanks for sharing, I know a case of this was difficult to give up.