Black IPA

[James]

5.8 kg gladfields pale, 450g crystal 40l, 230g carafa 2, 230g crystal 120l, 110g roasted barley, 28g pacific gem 60min, 28g cascade 30min, 28g centennial 10mins, 28g zythos and 28 g centenial at zero mins, us-05. 23litre batch, 1.063sg and 1.018fg 60 min boil and mash

[James]

Thanks Paul. Appreciated the feedback

[Paul Fraser]

Cracked this tonight James.

Poured black with a thick beige head which clung to the glass as it slowly faded. Can just see some ruby highlight when held up to the light as it is really black.

I get a nice floral/fruity hop aroma jumping out. I also get some roast malt character with a very faint alcohol nose.

On the taste I get a smooth dark roast malt character initially. I then get a bitterness which increases somewhat along with the alcohol. As it goes down I can feel the alcohol warmth. The abv I worked out is only 5.9% - what temp did you ferment at?

Lower end of carbonation but still good. A med/full bodied brew. I think this helps give it that smooth mouthfeel.

I think this could be a really good beer but in my opinion the dark malt character dominates the flavour a bit too much. I would personally want the hops to come through more in the flavour with the dark malt supporting it. In saying that I am enjoying this pint right now. Also with the 0min addition, did you give it a hot steep for any length of time or did you chill it pretty much straight away?

Thanks for sharing, cheers.

[James]

Thanks Paul. Don't have temp control on the fermentation yet so would have been varying between 18 to 22 id say. Chilled it straight off after the hop addition and flame out. Hot steep, never done this, does it help the aroma?

Just reading Ross' comment and i would tend to agree with him and you, bit too much charcoal coming through from the dark malts. May pull back the roasted barley in my next trial.

Thanks for the help.

[Ross]

Aroma: Centennial and cascade stand out on the nose as well a hint of chocolate. Followed by some Alcohol notes.

Appearance: Deep Brown not much light getting through the glass.

Flavour: Dark malts are coming through strong, with a charcoal after taste not overly bitter.

Mouth feel:  Good body and carbonation

Overall: Great beer I could not pick up any faults. If I was comparing it to pkb this is much stronger in taste. If you could reduce the charcoal taste slightly I think it would be even better. 

[James]

Thanks Ross appreciate the feedback.

[Crusader-Rob]

Pouredthis tonight after everyone left afterth single hop swap.

for me, the beer straddlkes two style, Black IPA, and Robust Porter. The mal suggests Port the hops suggest IPA

Appearance: Dakr with ruby highlights, slightly cloudy looking, but a nice looking beer.

Aroma: hops, Centennial jumps at me. Nice malty dark malts aroma.

Flavour: Good flavour, nice and clean fermentation. hoppy beer.

Mouthfeel: Nice body, not full but enough to consider it a  porter. head is lasting, and full sticks to the glass on the way through.

[James]

Thanks Rob

[Paul Finney]

Tasted this last week but just getting around to writing it up.

Appearance: Looked great, nice tan coloured head, and nice deep black with a touch of ruby highlights in the corner of the glass.

Aroma: Lots of hop aroma with roasted notes too. 

Taste: Solid bitterness which lingers. Tastes good though. 

Overal: I really enjoyed this beer. I agree it is borderline porter as the darker malts come through a bit more than they should. So maybe pull back the roasted Barley a bit and up the carafa. Good work James

[Stewy]

Pours black, of course. Small light tan head. Slight fruity aroma. Tastes of hoppy bitterness followed by a malty sensation in my mouth. This is just what I like. For me, I like malt. Added with hops it creates a great beer. Well done James. Have we met?

[Julie Fitzjohn]

Hi James. I managed to pick up some bug that made me feel nauseous just in time for GKBF :-( which ruined that and made me slow to get to the case swap also

appearance lovely dark beer with ruby highlights, nice tan head, hangs around

aroma - too late to catch the hops :-(. I get some malty sweetness, touch of fruit

taste - charcoal on sweet malt, bitterness at end. not particularly picking up the alcohol but maybe a wee fruity ester?

mouthfeel - nice body, smooth beer, carbonation seems spot on

overall - so I am drinking it much to late to appraise it as a fresh IPA. I think though it does sit between styles a bit because there is a lot of malt going on. I reckon if you have any spare you should hold a bottle back for three months and have it a bit warm in winter and see where the malt build gets to - I think you might enjoy it as a junior stout...I am enjoying it now, I just wouldn't want anyone to ask me which style to put it in.  cheers

 

 

[oliver]

Bl on the cap.

Appearance: black with a white/tan head, solid fluffy with some bigger bubbles.

Aroma: coffee, little plastic as it warms up, not a lot of hop aroma. 

Flavour: classic black ipa malt character, little bit of roast up front which fades to hop flavour and bitterness. Not a lot of hop in the nose, beer is still cold. Nice dry finish. Bit of lingering ashy bitterness which is slightly astringent, pretty minor though. Hops are coming through a bit more as it warms up, nice and citrusy.

Body: spot on, carbonation is bang on too.

Overall: Great beer, well brewed, really enjoyed this one. Only improvement for me would be to try get the hops to jump out a bit more and maybe cut back the roast barley a tad unless you want to go in the pkb direction in which case you're pretty close. 

What yeast + mash temp did you go with on this one? (I'm struggling to get my beers to attenuate properly atm).