Black IPA (May 2022)

About This Beer

Owen’s first Black IPA with his own modifications — the original Home Brew West Black IPA kit was brewed as batch 8 (Black Riwaka IPA, December 2020). This version keeps the recipe but makes two deliberate changes: Gladfield Dark Chocolate substituted for Weyermann Carafa Type 3, and the boil shortened from the HBW-original 90 minutes to 60 minutes. Like the original kit, it uses a step mash with a protein rest at 50 °C before the main saccharification.

Predecessor to the March 2023 Black IPA.

Grain Bill

7.0 kg total, all Gladfield:

• 6.0 kg Gladfield Ale Malt (base — 85.7 % of grist)
• 0.35 kg Gladfield Medium Crystal Malt (caramel character, body)
• 0.35 kg Gladfield Munich Malt (malty depth)
• 0.30 kg Gladfield Dark Chocolate Malt (colour, roasted chocolate — substituting for Weyermann Carafa Type 3)

The Dark Chocolate substitution is the defining NZ-malt move. Carafa Type 3 is dehusked roasted malt — gives black colour without harsh roast bitterness. Gladfield Dark Chocolate is closer to a roasted malt with more pronounced chocolate-coffee notes; the swap shifts the beer toward a more obvious roast presence vs the smoother Carafa profile.

Hop Schedule — 350 g Across Three Varieties

Simcoe carries the bittering at 20 g @ 60 min. The whirlpool stand combines all three varieties (160 g total), and the day-5 dry hop adds another 170 g.

Riwaka was originally planned at 150 g but reduced to 100 g on brew day — possibly a stock-on-hand decision.

Brew Day — Step Mash

Mash schedule (multi-step):

• 22 L @ 50 °C for 30 min — protein rest (first appearance in the captured collection)
• → 68 °C for 60 min — saccharification
• → 75 °C for 10 min — mash out

The 50 °C protein rest is unusual for a Black IPA — there’s no wheat or oats in the grist that would typically benefit. May have been inherited from the HBW recipe, or simply experimentation. Doesn’t reappear in the 2023 re-brew.

Sparge 12 L at 75 °C, pH-adjusted to 5.5 with ½ tsp 88 % lactic acid. 60-minute boil — Owen’s modification from HBW’s 90-minute spec.

Fermentation

2 packets of MJ M44 US West Coast pitched at 20 °C — return to M44 after the M29 saison experiment in Hazy IPA II three weeks earlier.

Dry hop on day 5 from pitch: 70 g Simcoe + 70 g Riwaka + 30 g Mosaic = 170 g total.

FG hit 1.010 against a 1.015 target — standard M44 over-attenuation at 20 °C.

Water treatment: 1 tsp calcium sulphate, ½ tsp calcium chloride.

Packaging

120 g of castor sugar (fine-grain sucrose, typically Chelsea brand or equivalent in NZ) for bottle conditioning. At 22 L bottled that’s ~5.5 g/L, middle of the standard range.

Numbers

OG fell 9 points short — the largest OG miss in recent batches. The protein rest may have hurt extraction, or the new multi-step mash process wasn’t yet dialled in. Pre-boil over-shoot by 1 L (more sparge runoff than planned) also contributed.

Cost

The notebook records $104 − $15 = $89 total, giving $4.00/L at 22 L bottled. The $15 adjustment reason isn’t recorded.

Lineage

• Black Riwaka IPA (December 2020) — the original Home Brew West kit, Owen’s first Black IPA
• This brew (May 2022) — first Black IPA with Owen’s own modifications
• Black IPA (March 2023) — next captured Black IPA, ~11 months later