my buddy and I are going to do another collaboration brew on Sunday. not exactly sure of his grain bill as yet but trying to get a sense of hops(I’m the hops guy, he’s the grain guy) people like to use in black hoppy ales(bipa/cda I suppose). please share any and all likes, dislikes and grain bills too, if you’d like. I’m not crazy about the few examples I’ve had of this style but gotta push my brewing boundaries some time. I have a few thoughts but just am not sure.
thanks!
As far as BIPA/CDA, try to avoid a highly citrusy hop finishing schedule. Not a great combo with dark roasted malts. Try to add some Midnight Wheat or other debittered black malt combo for a good portion (at least 1/2?) of the heavily roasted malts. Then steer the finishing hops toward PINE for this style… I love Chinook or Simcoe for flavor/flameout/dry in a BIPA.
thanks! I think it’s the citrusy/roast malt combination I don’t like. but haven’t had enough examples to figure out why I don’t like it.
Don’t know about a CDA/BIPA but I really like Nugget hops in my dark ales.
I suggest that Northern Brewer is an excellent hop in darker beers due to its ‘woody’ notes. I’ve used NB in my American Brown ale for years as a compliment to the Cascade notes.
I hear that Brewers Gold is excellent in darker ales and it has some similarity to NB. I have a pound of BG in the freezer, but haven’t had the chance to test (taste) it yet. That is next on the list.
It’s really a matter of taste. I’ve had porters and Black IPA’s that have citrusy hop character and I like it quite a bit. Sort of like espresso and lemoncello. Having said that, you can’t go wrong with earthy/woody/piny hops (Chinook, Simcoe, Nugget, Willamette, etc).
FWIW, my favorite commercial Black IPA is Black Cannon from Heavy Seas and they list the following hops on their website: Warrior, Simcoe, Palisade, Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo.
There are also two schools of thought on how much roast character you want. Some try to have as little roast character as possible because it clashes with the hops to their palate. In that case I think you’d want to cold-steep a huskless malt (Carafa III special or Midnight Wheat) to get your color.
I prefer some roastiness in my Black IPA’s, so 4-6 ounces of Chocolate Malt would go in the mash and the rest of the color is made up from cold-steeped Carafa special or Midnight Wheat.
Simcoe and Amarillo work really well in this style. See Firestone Walker Wookey Jack and Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous. 50:50 ratio. I am in the camp that you need a dank and piney hop paired with a citrusy hop for this style. At least for my taste buds. ;D So Chinook, CTZ, Siimcoe, Nugget with Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, etc.
For grain bill. Really simple
90% base malt
5% medium crystal
5% carafa III
+1 . When I posted that a highly citrusy hop schedule was not good in a black ale, I should’ve been more clear. As a preference, I think that a high percentage of citrusy hops together with a grist with roasted barley and/or black patent can give a really sharp edge I don’t care for. But I didn’t mean that there’s no place for any citrusy hops here. Having said that, I love Stone SSR and Black Cannon ( haven’t been lucky enough to try the FW). Paired with piney hops and a grist with mostly debittered black malts, citrus hops absolutely can work well in a BIPA. There’s a chance I may have had a few Friday night homebrews when I posted that!
thanks for the thoughts everybody.
we decided last night to do something along the lines of sublimely self righteous since i’ve got plenty of chinook and simcoe and amarillo on hand.
VERY good choice! I was going to suggest simcoe and chinook. I brew a killer black IPA that has simcoe, chinook, and cascade. I use blackprinz malt for the dark color. It’s very smooth and mellow.
Its a little late - but I had a Black IPA with Mosaic hops a few weekends ago and it was VERY nice.
I’m usually not a fan of the BIPA, but every once in awhile one peaks my interest.