[micsager]

Both Zymergy and BYO have articles on this "new" style of beer.  One actually opined that The Sam Adams Longshot was Cat 23 this year becasue they want a black IPA to compete with Widmer W10.

Well, as I live in "cascadia" I jumped on the bandwagaon yeesterday and brewed the W10 recipe from BYO.  Although I did add some oak chips to the fermenter that was not part of the recipe. 

Anyone else trying these recipes? 

[dbeechum]

Nope, but I've brewing some badass Black IPAs and Black DIPAs for the past few years.

[micsager]

Good deal.  The W10 called for Carafa Special II for the "black."  Do you use that, or something else?  And what do you think of me adding the oak chips?

[dbeechum]

Absolutely, the Carafa "Special" line of malts (aka German "debittered" huskless chocolate malts) are the only way to roll in this style. (Ok, not true.. you can also use a beer colorant called Sinamar which is basically made from Carafa)

As for Oak, sure why the hell not, although it would be better to use oak cubes than oak chips. Keep a close eye on it thought to avoid possibly overloading things along 3 fronts - hops, oak, and "coffee"

[pyrite]

Anyone else trying these recipes? 

I have not tried to brew this style yet, but I am curious to see how Abe's Ground Floor CDA from Zymurgy will turn out. When I do brew this recipe I will be using the cold steeping of carafa malts as dbeechum advocates.

[troy@uk]

  I am very intrigued by the style, I like Terripin's IBA a lot.  I prefere English IPA over American IPAs because of the more earthy/mello hopps rather than the sharp/citris/grapefruit.  I want to try this dark IPA idea as an English version.  I think I should use Marris Otter as a base and an English yeast for lower attenuation, and Northdown, Fuggles, EK Goldings for hops.
  Does anyone have any ideas for the dark grains so that it doesn't get astringent from the lower attenuation?
  Will this just be an Irish style stout with more flavor and aroma hops?

[hopfenundmalz]

    Does anyone have any ideas for the dark grains so that it doesn't get astringent from the lower attenuation?
 

I don't know how you get astringency from low attenuation.  Can you explain that thought to me?

Cold steeping is a way to avoid astringency with dark malts.  Crush the malts fine.  Then soak overnight in de-chlorinated water, and I use about 2 qts water/ lb grain.  Add the filtered liquid to the boil, or add the whole black mess to the mash during the last 5 minutes, or even during the sparge.  If you do this with Carafa II you can get a really nice chocolate flavor (Weyermanns calls the Carafa series chocolate malts on their web site).

[pyrite]

    Does anyone have any ideas for the dark grains so that it doesn't get astringent from the lower attenuation?
 

I don't know how you get astringency from low attenuation.  Can you explain that thought to me?

Cold steeping is a way to avoid astringency with dark malts.  Crush the malts fine.  Then soak overnight in de-chlorinated water, and I use about 2 qts water/ lb grain.  Add the filtered liquid to the boil, or add the whole black mess to the mash during the last 5 minutes, or even during the sparge.  If you do this with Carafa II you can get a really nice chocolate flavor (Weyermanns calls the Carafa series chocolate malts on their web site).

I'm guessing you mean crush the malts to what ever you have your mill's rollers set at, as you would on a regular crush?  Another question, should the CDA be opaque black, jet black or just borderline black?  So it seems as the malts do contribute chocolate flavors when cold steeped, is this okay in a Black IPA?  I thought the Black IPA was supposed to taste like a regular American IPA with only the color changing?
   

[pyrite]

I forgot where I read that at this years GABF in September the Black IPA category will be one that pro brewers can enter into.  It would be nice if we here on this homebrew community forum could have access to the new Black IPA style guidelines they will be judged by.  Maybe they're available some where and I just haven't looked hard enough.

[bruck]

+1 on the oak.....The first thing I thought of when I read that article was oak. I am brewing a brown this weekend, but the next beer I brew will be a black IPA.

[MDixon]

I forgot where I read that at this years GABF in September the Black IPA category will be one that pro brewers can enter into.  It would be nice if we here on this homebrew community forum could have access to the new Black IPA style guidelines they will be judged by.  Maybe they're available some where and I just haven't looked hard enough.

This was amazingly difficult to find, it took a gazillion clicks and pages to get to:
http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/brewers_2010/beer_styles.html

58. American-Style India Black Ale

American-style India black ale has medium high to high hop bitterness, flavor and aroma with medium-high alcohol content, balanced with a medium body. The style is further characterized by a moderate degree of caramel malt character and medium to strong dark roasted malt flavor and aroma. High astringency and high degree of burnt roast malt character should be absent. Fruity, floral and herbal character from hops of all origins may contribute to aroma and flavor.
Original Gravity (°Plato) 1.056-1.075 (14-18.2 °Plato) • Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (°Plato) 1.012-1.018 (3-4.5 °Plato) • Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 5-6% (6 -7.5%) • Bitterness (IBU) 50-70 • Color SRM (EBC) 25+ (50+ EBC)

[hopfenundmalz]

    Does anyone have any ideas for the dark grains so that it doesn't get astringent from the lower attenuation?
 

I don't know how you get astringency from low attenuation.  Can you explain that thought to me?

Cold steeping is a way to avoid astringency with dark malts.  Crush the malts fine.  Then soak overnight in de-chlorinated water, and I use about 2 qts water/ lb grain.  Add the filtered liquid to the boil, or add the whole black mess to the mash during the last 5 minutes, or even during the sparge.  If you do this with Carafa II you can get a really nice chocolate flavor (Weyermanns calls the Carafa series chocolate malts on their web site).

I'm guessing you mean crush the malts to what ever you have your mill's rollers set at, as you would on a regular crush?  Another question, should the CDA be opaque black, jet black or just borderline black?  So it seems as the malts do contribute chocolate flavors when cold steeped, is this okay in a Black IPA?  I thought the Black IPA was supposed to taste like a regular American IPA with only the color changing?
 

I have fixed rollers, but pass the dark malts through twice for this.  You could also use a coffee grinder.