X Opus X, Session American Black Ale

Capping the mash with Black Malts

When I hear someone talking about a particular hop or style of beer, my mind starts spinning about it.  So much so, that the recipe just seems to fall into place.  Recipe formulation is starting to become my favorite aspect of brewing.  Spending hours on grain styles, hops and yeast combinations.  This is what happened on this beer.  Hours of mental formulation coming together in a beer which I'm having a hard time defining.  Really, it's just a Pale Ale with Black Malts added on top of the mash.  Coming in around 4.2%, hopped like an American IPA.  Where does that put me?  Is it a Black IPA?  Not by the current definition.  Plus the ABV is to low.  What about a Session Pale?  Well its black without the typical black maltyness attributes.  Then going by a Session Black American Ale is good enough until the BJCP updates their outdated style guidelines.

Raven Black Ale, Revisited Take #8

5 beers fermenting in the chamber.  Raven is on the far left

This past weekend was National Homebrew Day and the American Homebrewers Association's "Big Brew".  While I've never attended a formal Big Brew event, seeing the pictures across the web is enough to make any brewer jealous.  To celebrate the occasion I wanted to brew 2 beers focused primarily on hops.  I decided to rebrewing my Citra Blast DIPA and my Raven American Black Ale. 

Last year I started working on my American Black Ale (Black IPA) focusing more on citrus hops vs the dark roasted flavors found in a Cascadian Dark Ale (Which is more like a Janet's Brown).  I've brewed this beer seven times, tweaking the recipe in small amounts on each batch.  Adapting the recipe to my personal tastes is one of my favorite things about brewing.  Getting to identify the subtle changes that occur in each batch.  I've changed the yeast, process, mash temps and the hops.  (Once I like a recipe, I normally don't post that I'm brewing it, but having brewed this beer so often and the older recipes needed some updating, hence the post.)  The original Tasting Notes posted are posted here.

Pioneer Series: Cascadian IPA

Early last year I brewed my first 100% Brett beer, (over a gallon size) Pioneer Series: Citra.  Inspired by Chad at Crooked Stave.  Since the start of the project some of my original parameters have changed a little but the goal remains the same.  Creating solid 100% Brett primary fermentation beers.  

This time I wanted to create a beer a little farther off the norm than the first.  I started looking at hops, grains and different styles of Brettanomyces yeasts that I could use.  The more I thought about the flavor contributions I wanted, the more I started drifting towards a darker more robust beer.  The idea of using dark malts in a 100% Brett beer started to grow.  Wanting to staying away from porters and stouts (keeping the series intact) I settled on a Cascadian IPA.   

As of right now I consider Cascadian IPA's to have more dark roast and maybe a little chocolate in the beer compared to a Black IPA.  For Black IPA's, I look for more aroma driven hop flavors with less impact from the darker base malts.  But like I said, "As of right now I consider..."  As these styles are continually evolving and my opinion will likely change.  

Raven Black Ale (BIPA) Recipe Finalized

Over the last year I've been tweaking my Black American Ale recipe into a very sessionable hop forward Black IPA.  Knocking off gravity points with every batch to achieve what I feel is a great balance of hop aroma against the grain bill.  Now on my 6th batch attempt with this recipe, changing only aroma hops, I feel the recipe has reached an important milestone in its development as a Lewybrewing staple recipe. Personally, I love cloning my own beers as a brewing testing of sort.

Going back to my post outlining the recipe plans, the goal was to have a well constructed Black IPA.  I didn't necessarily have an alcohol target range, I was more shooting for a beer that was very quaff-able, keeping the harsh tannins away.  Each batch slowly became a catalyst to lower the beer further into a session ale.  When this started, my working recipe was around 7%, as of today I'm sitting right at 5.0%.  

Quick Pour before fully carb'ed

Raven Black Ale revisted

I have a love/hate relationship with Black IPA's which I understand are now called American Black Ales?  Most commercial examples are missing something.  They are to close to a hoppy porter with the roasted grains fighting for dominance over the hops.  However, when the right Black IPA comes along it is a perfect marriage of dark malt complexity and clean flavors.  I've only had 4 commercial examples that fall close to perfect.

Stone Brewing Company:  NHC Beer that was given away in San Diego.

Coronado Brewing Company:  Black IPA Test batch (pub only)

Clown Shoes:  Hoppy Feet 1.5

Firestone Walker:  Wookey Jack

Last year I brewed Raven, a big, black, rye IPA that I didn't turn out the way I wanted.  I tried to push the limits of the Pacific Ale yeast (WLP041) by raising the fermentation temperatures to speed up the fermentation.  (If you have used Pacific Ale before you know what I mean about it fermenting SLOW.) This stupid idea stalled the yeast and I finished at 1.033.  The taste was on the right track but ended up being a syrupy mess.  

With an open brew day this coming Saturday I pulled up Beersmith and starting working on the tweaks needed to rebrew this beer.  Normally I would just rename the beer, but I like the "Raven" name so it's staying put.  The recipe is loosely based on my Old Glory recipe (Tasting Notes).   A traditional Northwest Style IPA that has been a big hit with my non-IPA drinking friends.  

Blackout IPA #3

Blackout IPA #3

The History:

This beer started when I was sitting at Obriens Pub in San Diego.   As a special release they had Alpine' s Black IPA.  Honestly I forget the real name, but knowing Alpines line-up well, I can tell you it is not a normal brew for them.  Unlink most other Black IPA's I've had this one was really good.  I feel that most Black IPA brewers are brewing a Imperial IPA with black coloring.  Any brewer could do that with a bag of Roasted Barley steeped in the mash.  When I got home I started learn and more about this upcoming style.  I focused on Glacier hops partly because I have 2 pounds of them in the freezer and partly due to the fact that I have never brewed with them before.  The plan was to do a single hop Black IPA and have it on my Hop Rocket from Blichmann.  

The 1st attempt was outstanding.  The flavors mingled like a gay strip club.   The recipe and the notes are HERE.

This is now my third attempt of the beer.  The second attempt was a little to roasted chocolate for my tastes.  So I just had to do the recipe again. 

Aroma:

Roasty somewhat smoked hints of chocolate.  Not much hop aroma I need to work on that.

Appearance:

Deep dark body with a nice thick tan head.  Robust bubbles.  Jet black in color with hints of dark brown around the edge of the glass.  Great lacing.

Flavor:

Roasted nuts with bitter chocolate, good malt balance. Kind of muddled with a unexplainable hop bitterness that kind of clashes with the Roast.  Medium hop flavor on the earthy side. 

Mouthfeel:

Higher than expected carbonation

Overall Impression:

Not as good as the original batch.  The older hops with the lack of a HopRocket defiantly take away some of the necessary attributes required in this style.  This is a good beer, but lacking compared to the original batch brewed.  I have a new bag of Glacier hops and my HopBack will be reinstalled for #4. 

Raven Black Rye IPA

Finishing up my 4 C's Rye Red IIPA last weekend I started to think about Rye Malt in a new light.  The spice that the rye brings is a very desirableness characteristic for an IPA.  Black IPA's also would benefit from this addition.  To date I have only brewed one Black IPA recipe.  It is mostly Glacier hops with Chinook for bittering called Blackout.  Most people say the max amount of Rye is about 20% of the total grain or you will run into problems.  I've never tried this style of beer before if you can call a Black Rye IPA a style.  But I did find a couple of examples while planning this recipe.


Barlow Brewing: You'll shoot your eye out Black IPA

Homebrew Talk Black Rye IPA

As normal I am going to load the back of the recipe with hops and keep the bittering hops minimal.  I am a little nervous about the Citra dry hop addition in the recipe.  Other commercial brewery's use Citra as a dry hop but my personal taste for Citra is in more sessionial beers like my Fargo Session ale #1.  To let the pineapple shine through.  Either way the brewing adventure is always evolving and that is the reason I homebrew.

Raven Rye-BIPA

Specialty Beer

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 2/11/2012
Batch Size: 6.00 gal	Brewer: Chris Lewis
Boil Size: 6.87 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 56.23 % 3 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 17.56 % 1 lbs Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Steeped ONLY Grain 6.62 % 1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 6.62 % 9.6 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Steeped ONLY Grain 3.97 % 1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 36.4 IBU 0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops - 1.00 oz Amarillo [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops - 0.25 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (30 min) Hops 6.5 IBU 0.75 oz Palisade [7.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.3 IBU 0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Whirlpool) Hops 2.2 IBU 1.00 oz Palisade [7.50 %] (Whirlpool) Hops - 1 Pkgs Pacific Ale (White Labs #WLP041) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.081 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.070 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG	Measured Final Gravity: TBA SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.28 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: TBA %
Bitterness: 50.5 IBU	Calories: TBA cal/pint
Est Color: 35.4 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Full Body	Total Grain Weight: 15.10 lb
Sparge Water: 3.96 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Full Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Saccharification Add 18.88 qt of water at 168.2 F 156.0 F 10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Temperature mash for use when mashing in a brew pot over a heat source such as the stove. Use heat to maintain desired temperature during the mash.
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2)	Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI	Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F	Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
Created with BeerSmith

BlackOut IPA

This recipe has become a staple at my house.  The 1st take on this turned out great.  With the correct level of Hops/roastiness that a Black IPA should have.  I am currently conditioning my batch #2 of this beer. 

Blackout IPA

American IPA

 

Type: All Grain	Date: 9/9/2011
Batch Size: 6.00 gal	Brewer: Chris Lewis
Boil Size: 6.87 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min	Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 64.29 % 2 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 % 2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 14.29 % 1 lbs Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 % 1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops - 1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 34.7 IBU 1.00 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (10 min) Hops 5.4 IBU 0.50 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (Whirpool) Hops - 1 Pkgs California Ale V (White Labs #WLP051) Yeast-Ale
2.5 oz             Glacier [5.60 %] (HopBack)
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.39 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.97 %
Bitterness: 40.2 IBU	Calories: 291 cal/pint
Est Color: 28.4 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 14.00 lb
Sparge Water: 4.17 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 17.50 qt of water at 168.2 F 156.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2)	Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI	Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F	Age for: 7.0 days
Storage Temperature: 42.0 F
Notes
Black IPA trial #1. Started at 9:34 AM. 1st Runnings were 16.5 Brix, Second Runnings were 15.5 Brix. 14 Brix at Preboil. Started boil at 11:56 AM. Planning to use my Randell on this with Glacier Leaf hops during serving. Notes: The 2nd Glacier hop addition at 0 is a whirpool hop addition
Created with BeerSmith

UPDATE #1

My yeast starter did not take, so this along with my other 2 beers I brewed this day I am using a vile each of yeast.  Not the big starter I planned.  But, I hope this is a great beer.  I'm sure you might of read the notes of the brewing hop additions and other tweets I did...But either way I am going to tell you.

This will be my 1st randell'd beer.  I am unsure if I will be using my Hop Rocket or a old can filter that I plan to modify.  Either way I will be adding the Glacier hops at the tap.  

Right now this beer is fermenting great in the chamber at 68 degrees.  This morning I bumped it up to 69 and if it looks good on the hydro test tonight I will start to cold crash it down.  Maybe 59 for a week?

 UPDATE #2

I took a gravity last night (Sept 25th) and I think it has some more to drop gravity wise.  I was at 1.018.  So I will monitor this one closer than the others.  Tasted good so far, a little to much roasted malt in the nose, but I hop that will be covered up with the Hop Rocket adding a ton of aroma.

 Here is the left over Glacier leaf hops from dry hopping.  A word of advice, don't put them in the garbage disposer.  It will clog and suck....So now my trash can smells like a dry hopped IPA.  Wondering how that will do during GABF with no trash pick-up this week.  Going to be interesting.

UPDATE #3

Well the time has come to use the hop back from Blichmann Engineering, filling it with 2.5 oz of whole hop Glacier hops.  Inserting the liquid lines and it was on. If you want to see pictures of the HopBack in action click here for the updated Hop Rocket post. 

Pouring the 1st beer was black as night.  Very clear, well attenuated Cascadian Dark Ale.

The addition of the Glacier hops was well integrated into the recipe.  If this recipe used something like Cascade I think the hops would over power the simple clean ale characteristics of this beer.   As you can see the head on this pour is a creamy white color, not the typical darker foam that most porters or stouts have.

UPDATE #4

I brewed this beer again last Friday.  This beer had so many praises from friends and family that it is now in the Lewybrewing rotation.  After 10 years of brewing I only have 3 that have made this list. 

UPDATE #5

The second batch of this Blackout IPA is in secondary and currently at 1.010.  The last one dropped to 05 which is a little to low so I will monitor this one and report back when I transfer it to the keg.  Which should be Weds this week.