Beer Forum

Going to try my hand at a Black IPA. I do not have experience with galaxy and calypso. Just wanted some feed back on my planned recipe. Want to focus on the stone fruit flavors in hops and less citrus.

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 75.19 %
2 lbs Dark Munich (20.3 SRM) Grain 15.04 %
1 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.52 %
4.8 oz Midnight Wheat (740.0 SRM) Grain 2.26 %
14.00 gm Calypso [12.80 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
14.30 gm Summit [15.50 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 26.5 IBU
14.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
14.00 gm Galaxy [14.00 %] (10 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
14.00 gm Calypso [12.80 %] (0 min) Hops -
14.00 gm Galaxy [14.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
14.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.05 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007) [Cultured] Yeast-Ale

est. OG 1.064, 5gal batch

Probably going to bump up the IBUs with and 60 min addition of magnum but want to get the flavor and aroma figured out first.

For the most part, I like the grain bill. With the exception of the Dark Munich. One that seems like a good sized percentage and I am afraid the Dark Munich will be too intense for an IPA. I would dial it back to 10% of the Light Munich (8-10L), or just eliminate it. This beer is more about the hops, than the malt. You could increase the Midnight Wheat a few percentage points (up to 5%) to make up for the color difference. +/- adding to the mash vs. sparge vs. cold steeping. IMHO (and experience) it doesn't make a huge difference. Just for an example, Stone Sublimely Self Righteous grain bill is:

90% 2-row
5% C-60L
5% Carafa II

I tend to like my commercial and homebrew Black IPAs dank and piney. It seems to go well with the subtle roast character. For the most part your hop varietal selection is good. I have not been impressed with Calypso. If it were me, I would maybe sub that out for some CTZ or Simcoe if you have it available?

The othere thing is your hop amounts. 14g of each hop late in an IPA is nothing. I would double or even quadruple your Galaxy 10 minute addition and at the very least increase all of your 0 min additions to 28g-56g. The same should apply to your dry hop as well. When I dry hop my IPAs, I generally use 4-6oz/5 gallons.


Not a fan of the German Ale yeast for an IPA either, but that is just my opinion

Hope this helps!!!

Hoser wrote:I like the grain bill. With the exception of the Dark Munich. One that seems like a good sized percentage and I am afraid the Dark Munich will be too intense for an IPA

+1

There was a recipe in BYO awhile back for a Stone collaboration beer "More Brown than Black". In the recipe they hop with 2 oz of Nelson and 2 oz of Delta at whirlpool, and 2 oz of Galaxy and 2 oz of Citra at dry-hop. I've made this beer twice, once substituting Cascade for Delta, and it's turned out great. Super fruity. Galaxy makes a great Dry-hop.

Here are the changes i made:

Est OG 1.066, 5gal Batch

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 74.07 %
3 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.22 %
8.0 oz Midnight Wheat (740.0 SRM) Grain 3.70 %
22.00 gm Magnum [10.00 %] (60 min) Hops 23.7 IBU
14.30 gm Summit [15.50 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 26.3 IBU
28.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
28.30 gm Cascade [5.40 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
28.30 gm Cascade [5.40 %] (10 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
28.00 gm Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
28.30 gm Galaxy [14.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.05 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007) [Cultured] Yeast-Ale

Hoser, did you not like Calypso in a BIPA or just as a hop in any beer? Also the German ale yeast is an experiment and yeast i am harvesting from a previous batch.

bhaas wrote:
Hoser, did you not like Calypso in a BIPA or just as a hop in any beer? .

I just don't care for it in general, I don't feel like it is a very flavorful or aromatic hop in general. It doesn't bring a lot to the table compared to some of the other newer high alpha dual purpose hops.

I would still double your 0 minute and dry hop additions, BTW. And dry hop with Galaxy, as well.