Here it comes: Black IPA!

[Draconian41]

Great looking recipe! In process of copying it over to Beersmith!

The only thing that won't add up will be the IBU's if you transfer it over. Im a numbers geek and I always split the difference between Rager and Tinseth formulas and that is what I use. I select both Rager and Tinseth for display in Beersmith and work it until my desired IBU is exatcly split between the two formulas...I know...I have problems

[Draconian41]

Looks pretty good-
Let us know how it turns out.

Something to think about in a future batch - try cutting the bittering addition way low (like to 1/4 oz) and add a boatload at 15, 10 & 5 mins, but aim for the same total ibus. Keep the rest the same. Then try them side by side and see what you like better and tweak from there.

I like to do pale ales with a ton of late addition hops and just a touch of FWH. Anytime I get into an IPA level of hop load, I like a decent 60 minute high alpha charge to keep my losses down. I really hate losing beer to hops!

[Draconian41]

For those who care about the recipe and might consider brewing it, I have finalized the recipe and posted and article about it and black IPA's in general on my brew blog. Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://draconianlibations.blogspot.com/2012/06/official-recipe-stroke-of-midnight-iba.html

[BDawg]

interesting twist with the Kolsch yeast. I could see that working well.

[Draconian41]

interesting twist with the Kolsch yeast. I could see that working well.

I had heard a BN Podcast where several different yeast strains were tried in the same IPA grist. The yeast that had some of the highest marks from the tasters was a kolsch strain. This makes sense to me, specifically when balancing a black IPA grist with big hops...I dont want the yeast to be center stage...the marriage of the dark grain and hops should be the focal point, at least in my mind. Im anxious to try it.

[Draconian41]

I'm brewing this beer right now. No Brewer sent me an open 1 lb bag of Carafa 3 so only .75 made the mash so I upped the Victory from .5 to .75 to compensate. I also added 5 G of gypsum to the mash. The only other change is reducing the 0 min addition of Styrian Goldings to .5 oz an added the other .5 at 12 mins.

[Ozwald]

interesting twist with the Kolsch yeast. I could see that working well.

I had heard a BN Podcast where several different yeast strains were tried in the same IPA grist. The yeast that had some of the highest marks from the tasters was a kolsch strain. This makes sense to me, specifically when balancing a black IPA grist with big hops...I dont want the yeast to be center stage...the marriage of the dark grain and hops should be the focal point, at least in my mind. Im anxious to try it.

BBR did an experiment with APA's just like that. One brew, a few different yeasts. I believe the comment was something about the hops really popping in the Kolsch trial. I've played with it a little bit, but I'm not a big fan of the Kolsch yeast yet. It's a bit of a loose cannon & harder to work with than say 1056. One of these days I'll pick it back up, but probably not all that soon.

[brewinhard]

interesting twist with the Kolsch yeast. I could see that working well.

I had heard a BN Podcast where several different yeast strains were tried in the same IPA grist. The yeast that had some of the highest marks from the tasters was a kolsch strain. This makes sense to me, specifically when balancing a black IPA grist with big hops...I dont want the yeast to be center stage...the marriage of the dark grain and hops should be the focal point, at least in my mind. Im anxious to try it.

BBR did an experiment with APA's just like that. One brew, a few different yeasts. I believe the comment was something about the hops really popping in the Kolsch trial. I've played with it a little bit, but I'm not a big fan of the Kolsch yeast yet. It's a bit of a loose cannon & harder to work with than say 1056. One of these days I'll pick it back up, but probably not all that soon.

What ferment temp did you run the kolsch yeast at? Maybe bumping it up a few degrees (65F or so) would help in your IPA.