I’m not 100% sure this is the definitive first version of the Black IPA I brewed in my kitchen, but it’s in-line with the recipe we brewed around 2014 through 2015.  

I’ve found the style fascinating ever since trying Stone Brewing’s Sublimely Self Righteous when it first landed in the UK roughly 5 years earlier. A dark beer designed to taste like a pale beer? How oxymoronic. But I loved the complexity of them and when working on recipes it’s a fun challenge to find the balance between roast and hops, sweetness and bitterness.

It’s possible to take it many directions and by the very nature of the style you can’t really go wrong. We’ve done juicier, New England-inspired versions and India Porter-leaning versions with more malt complexity. We’ve made IPAs and used Sinamar to contribute all of the colouring in an attempt to truly nail the dark beer that tastes like an IPA mantra. 

At its heart however the one below is very much a west coast IPA recipe. There’s a good amount of caramel and crystal malts in there, a good bitterness level and heavy late hop bill led by US classics Simcoe and Chinook. I’ve always preferred using a clean yeast such as California Ale for fermentation. I also prefer to fine a beer like this, as a heavy haze doesn’t really seem to suit it.

In contrast, the water profile is much more balanced than I’d use for a west coast IPA. Too much sulphate brings out the astringency in the dark malts and too much chloride takes away from the hop character. Keep some hardness in the water to balance the dark malt acidity as well.  

We recently started brewing Dark Arches again after roughly a 7 year hiatus. We’ve been able to revisit quite a few styles that we would have struggled to find much if any demand for a few years ago in the peak of hazy IPA demand. It’s great for market balance and us as brewers are loving having some different beers in the cellar. Above all, I get to play around with my favourite style again!

Dark Arches BIPA All Grain Recipe

Boil Size: 25.0 l Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.064

Post Boil Volume: 22.5 l Original Gravity: 1.068

Batch Size (fermenter): 19.0 l   Final Gravity: 1.018

Estimated Colour: 80 EBC (Before sparge) Est. Mash Efficiency: 85%

Estimated IBU: 56

BU:GU Ratio: 0.84

Target Water Profile:

Ca Mg Na CO3 SO4 Cl

90 7 45 90 75 100

Grist:

Amount Grain % of Grist         

4.3 kg – Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) – 87 %        

0.2 kg – Carafa Spezial III (1400.0 EBC) – 4.0 %         

0.2 kg – Caramalt (30.0 EBC) – 4.0 %         

0.2 kg – Medium Crystal (250 EBC) – 4.0 %         

0.05 kg – Chocolate Malt (985.0 EBC) – 1.0 %  

Total Grain Weight: 4.95kg

Mash

Target Mash Temperature – 67°c

Add 12.9 l of water at 76°c (2.6:1 ratio)

Duration – 60 minutes

Before Sparge – Add the following grains, plus remaining salts, on top of the mash bed before beginning to sparge:

Amount Grain

500g Carafa III (1400 EBC)

500g Black (Patent) Malt (985 EBC)

Sparge – Add 18 l water at 76°c

Boil

Duration – 75 minutes

Boil Additions

Amount Addition IBU   

12 g Magnum [11.00 %] – Boil 75.0 min 20.5    

1 Tab Protafloc – Boil 15.0 min —

Whirlpool Additions 

Amount Variety g/l IBUs

53.0 g Chinook [13.00 %] – Whirlpool/Steep 30 min 2.36 12.25    

53.0 g Simcoe [14.10 %] – Whirlpool/Steep 30 min  2.36 13.3

40.0 g Mosaic [13.90 %] Whirlpool/Steep 30 min      1.78 9.9

Total: 6.5 g/l (Assuming 22.5 l post-boil vol.)

Stir for 2 minutes to create a gentle whirlpool after flame out. Repeat after 5 minutes and then allow to stand for a further 20mins before rapidly cooling. 3-5% Utilisation can be expected in a whirlpool as temperature of the wort is still above 80°c. Utilisation decreases as wort gravity increases. 

Fermentation

California Ale (WLP001) or other clean character, medium-high attenuation, ale strain

Pitch at 18°c and allow to rise to max. 21°c during primary fermentation.

And end of fermentation, reduce temperature to 18c and crop excess yeast. Split the dry hop into two additions and add 24 hours apart, rousing if possible after each addition. 24 hours after second dry hop, crash as close to 1c as possible, transferring off the spent hops and yeast if possible.

Dry Hops:

Amounts Variety (Pellets)

45.0 g Citra T90 

45.0 g Mosaic T90

35.0 g Simcoe T90

35.0 g Chinook T90

Total: 8.4 g/l (Assuming fermenter volume of 19 l)

Add finings as required. It’s worth keeping a stock of Weyermann Sinamar on hand for darkening the colour if you don’t achieve a level you’re happy with. This can be added anytime during conditioning. After 3 further days of conditioning, package the beer. Target CO2 volume – 2.5 Vol/ 5.0g/L