Recipes: Identity Crisis II (Black IPA) & 2nd Place - Homie's Hop Sock (IPA)

Every so often (more often then I would like to admit) I get an itch, an IPA itch.  Nothing can scratch this itch except a hop bomb.  Unfortunately many of the commercial IPAs I have been buying just don't cut it, some are just old (one hop bomb was simply caramel in the nose and flavor).  I even got a Black IPA from a local brewery that was brewed and kegged only days before I got my growler fill, and it just didn't work.  I haven't brewed an IPA in a long time, my 3 Fresh Hop beers were great but just didn't have the hop punch I was hoping for, and the Gumballhead Clone I brewed was quite hoppy but the 1/2 gallon of StarSan impacted the final pH making the finish on the beer difficult to drink.

Seeing as I now have my pump, along with a new wort chiller with whirlpool arm, and I just got a pound each of Calypso, Simcoe, and Mosaic to add to all the Cascade and Chinook from the harvest, it's IPA time.  And I just got a CO2 tank and regulator, as well as a keg so I can force carbonate and have the freshest IPA ever.  The pump worked great on my "dry run" with water, and for cleaning after brewday, but my new Hop Taco clogged shut from the Hop Pellets and wouldn't actually create a whirlpool, and I had to syphon the wort out after the chill was over.  Needless to say I will be figuring out a new method of keeping the hops and trub in the kettle while using the pump.

For this IPA, I wanted to brew a 10 gallon batch and switch it up some in the fermenters.  First I started by turning one into a Black IPA.  I took 7oz of Midnight Wheat and cold steeped it overnight in my French Press in 1 pint of water.  After running off the black syrup I added more water and added the new liquid to the original liquid giving me a total of 1 quart.  I boiled this down to 1 pint and chilled it for a few days in a mason jar.  After chilling the beer I added this pint of black syrup to the fermenter and racked the fresh wort onto it.  Everyone has an opinion about Black IPAs, but mine is that it is an IPA that is black, not a hop forward stout!  Prominent roasted or chocolate notes are not proper in this style of beer. This beer got 1056 American Ale and will get a heavy dose of Chinook and Simcoe in the Dry Hops with a touch of Mosaic for lots of pine and some fruity back notes.  The regular wort got 1469 West Yorkshire for some fruity esters and fuller mouthfeel, and will get a touch of Simcoe for pine with lots of Mosaic as well as Cascade and Calypso for a big fruity punch for the Dry Hops.  The base for the recipe is Pale Malt, Dark Munich for some added malt depth and color, as well as Dark Wheat for body, head retention, and color.  I like my IPAs dry, so I also added Raw Cane Sugar to dry out the beer, and for an added depth of flavor and color.  I wanted to stay away from crystal malts to keep it from becoming a mess as the hops fade, but the 2 hour boil will add some kettle caramelization.

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Stats:

9.75 gals (IPA 5.25, Black 4.5)

OG 1.061
FG 1.012 (IPA)

FG 1.009 (Black)
ABV 6.5% (IPA)

ABV 6.8% (Black)

IBUs 95 Est

SRM 10 / 40

77% Extract Efficiency

72% Brewhouse Efficiency

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Fermentables:

16.5# GW Pale Malt (3L)

2.25# German Dark Wheat Malt

2.25# German Munich II

1.5# Washed Raw Cane Sugar

60 mins @ 149* F

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Boil (110 mins):

FW 0.50oz Cascade Pellets 9.1% AA

15 min 1.00oz Chinook (Home Grown) ~13.9%AA

15 min 1.00oz Mosaic Pellet 11.6%AA

15 min 1.00oz Calypso Pellets 12.8%AA

25 min WP 0.75oz Chinook (Home Grown) ~13.9%AA

25 min WP 1.50oz Mosaic Pellet 11.6%AA

25 min WP 0.50oz Calypso Pellets 12.8%AA

25 min WP 1.50oz Simcoe Pellets 13.0%AA

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Kettle Additions:

Gypsum - 1 1/8 t Mash, 1 1/4 t Boil

Calcium Chloride - 5/8 t Mash, 5/8 t Boil
No Foam @ Start of boil

Whirfloc - 1 tablet @ 15 mins

Nutrient - 6 taps @ 15 mins

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Fermentation:

Regular IPA - 1469 West Yorkshire 1.2 L Stir Starter @ 2 hours (pitched all)

Black IPA - 1056 American Ale (Oakshire slurry)

66*F 3 days

70*F 7 days
72*F 2 days
42*F 1 day (to drop yeast clear)
65*F 4 days DH  (secondary - CO2 flushed)
42*F 1 day (to drop hops and cool for kegging)
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Dry Hops:

Regular - 1.0oz Simcoe, 1.5oz Mosaic 1.5oz Cascade, 1.0oz Calypso, 0.5oz Meridian

Black - 2.0oz Simcoe, 2.0oz Chinook, 1.0oz Mosaic

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Monday Jan 21 Brewed alone:  Maxed out my HLT on both the strike and sparge water, had to scoop water to MLT until able to lift, added an extra gallon of sparge water form the stove.  Overshot my volume and had to boil an extra 45 minutes.  

Hop Taco clogged rendering the pump useless, and calling for manual transfer via auto-syphon.  Once the syphon clogged with hops I scooped out wort with a mason jar and strained into the fermenter.  Finished with 4.5 gallons of Black IPA and 5.25 gallons of regular; regular has more trub.  Fermentation was visible by 1am that night, thick krausen by next morning.  1469 lagged behind the brewery pitch by a few hours, but the krausen on it rocketed past the 1056 quickly.  My experience so far with 1469 is that it is a true top fermenting strain and throws off a huge krausen that can last for weeks.

At 24 hours needed a blow off for the Regular IPA on 1469.

After 48 hours fermentation had slowed down, raised to 68 for 12 hours, then up to 70 for remainder to ensure full attenuation.

01/25 down to 1.016.

01/31 krausen is dropping out.  Raised temp to 72*F.

02/02 Crashed fridge temp to 42 to drop yeast clear before transfer

02/03 moved to CO2 flushed 5 gallon Better Bottle via CO2 forced transfer onto Dry Hops

02/08 Kegged IPA.  Force carbed 2 PET 2Ls of Black IPA using carb cap, bottled remainder to 2.4 vols CO2.