Brewing A 'Black' IPA

Thanks to the generosity of brewer John Gillooly at Speakeasy Brewing in San Francisco I was able to successfully brew up a batch of Black IPA. I guess it could be called India Black Ale (IBA) but nobody does so I'm going to stick with Black IPA. For me, this beer stuck out from all the others at the Stumptown Brewing's 'Russian River Revival' beer fest. Read my take on the festival here.

Without looking at it you would think you were drinking a great example of a west coast style IPA with great hop flavor and aroma with a nice balance of unexpected roastiness. Then looking at it you are shocked by the fact that the beer is black as night. When I had this experience my first thoughts were "I've got to brew myself ten gallons of this!"

After a couple of back and forth emails with John I formulated my ten gallon batch and proceeded to brew it during a demonstration of the Santa Cruz County fair with the help of fellow brewer Michelle.

The following is the ingredients and processes I used to remake this amazing beer. A big "Thanks" goes out again to John from Speakeasy Brewing for making my life better by having this recipe in my portfolio of great homebrews.

• 10gal. batch
  
  
  Efficiency 80%
  
  
  Attenuation 80%
  
  
  ABV 6.7%
  
  
  SRM Blk
  
  
  IBU 66
  
  
  Original Gravity 1.066
  
  
  Final Gravity 1.014

• Mash in 7 gals. of H2O at 150f. for 60min. *add carafa at last 5min of mash
  
  
  
  23 lbs. 2-row
  
  
  1 lbs. Munich
  
  
  1 lbs. dark wheat
  
  
  20 oz. carafa III
  
  
  
• Boil 60 min. with
  
  
  
  columbus 14% 1.5oz. 60min.
  
  
  centenial 9% 1.5oz. 20min.
  
  
  cascade 5.5% 2 oz. 10min.
  
  
  cascade 5.5% 1 oz. 2min.
  
  
  cascade 5.5% 1.5oz. 1min.
  
  
  
• Ferment at 65f. until complete with US05 ale yeast (2pkgs per 5gal)