Black IPA recipe (please critique)

Beer Recipes
1

Would you make any changes to this recipe?

11lbs pale malt
.6lb 60L Crystal
.6lb Carafa III Special

1 oz chinook first wort
.5 oz simcoe 20 min
.5 oz amarillo 20 min
.5 oz simcoe flame out
.5 oz amarillo flame out

1 oz simcoe dry hop (7 days)
1 oz amarillo dry hop (7 days)

Additions:
French oaks cubes soaked in rum added to primary for 7 days. 
Toasted Coconut added in primary for 7 days

Yeast: US-05

2

So it’s a coconut/rum/oak/black IPA? Sounds a little busy to me, with some potentially clashing flavors.

If it were me, I’d either skip the hops and go coconut porter, or maybe skip the “black”, and change the hops to really tropical/fruity varieties (Citra, Galaxy, Calypso, Meridian, etc) to go with the coconut & rum theme. Serve it in a tiki glass with an umbrella.

Actually, a rum barrel, coconut IPA sounds like something I might have to try out a test batch of. Maybe with a little hibiscus, too. Sort of a Scorpion Bowl IPA.

3

Yeah, that’s good advice - too busy as is. I say either :

1/  Coconut ‘rum barrel’ porter with only the oz of fwh chinook and a .5 oz 20 min addition

2/ Black IPA with no coconut or rum soaked cubes.

EDIT  -  Though Mitch Steele did do a pro/am last year with two homebrewers - for their ‘Coconut IPA’.

4

Thanks I’m definitely going to give this a try.  I’m not scarred about taking a risk with flavors here.  I’ll keep the board updated. I think I may change my direction with this. Thanks.

5

It also seems to me to be light in the hop category for an IPA.  If it were mine I would bump all three additions 60 minute, late additions and dry hopping - by at least twice the amounts listed.  This looks like a Black Pale Ale to me but maybe that is what you are going for.

6

Yeah, so much going on there I didn’t notice the hop amounts. You’re right, that is more of an APA schedule. Double the amounts minimum.

7

I think I’d go with a more tropical/fruity hop bill as erockrph suggested, even if you still want it to be black. Maybe try adding the Carafa Special at sparging to get less roasted character.

8

I agree with many of the above posts. At least double your hops and probably triple your late additions and dry hop. Sub simcoe with a more tropical hop like Citra to compliment the coconut. I like the malt bill, except I like to add 3-4 oz of chocolate to my black IPAs to give it a hint of roast flavor. I like the idea. Being experimental is what makes this fun for me.

9

Black pale ale seems really similar to robus porter.

10

Only if it’s an imperial session black pale ale.

11

A black APA would be almost dead on a robust porter.  I do think there is a place though for the black IPA, with potential higher alcohol and bitterness than a robust porter.

12

Me too but I think thats a Russian Imperial Stout.

I actually don’t have any problems with what anyone calls their beer, I’m just just funnin