Dark Double IPA - Midnight Oil

    This month I decided to re-brew my dark IIPA again.  This beer is unique in that there is really not an officially accepted BJCP style for this type of beer.  The unofficial style name is "Cascadian Dark Ale".  I must admit when I first I brewed this I thought I was the first to make a dark version of an IPA but I soon learned that there was an unofficial style.  Currently this style is being considered by BJCP but it has not been accepted as of yet.  The taste is a lot like an IPA with the intense citrus aroma and taste with a very subtle hint of roasted malt.  De-bittered black malt (de-husked roasted malt) is used to create the color without imparting the harshness of the roasted malt. With a pound of hops for this 5gal batch, this beer will satisfy any hop lover.  

Recirculating the mash to set the grain bed

My good friend Justin joined me in brewing this beer to jump start his own brewing hobby from Mr. Beer no-boil kits to full 5gal batches.  Mr. Beer is a good way to start into this hobby.  I started with a Mr. Beer kit myself and after gaining confidence I needed I moved to extract boil kits.  Then to following extract recipes and eventually to all-grain. On this brew my strike temp was 163F to hit a target of 151F for a 90 min mash.   

Draining the brew kettle

I designed this recipe as a partial mash recipe with 16.25 lbs of grain and 3 lbs of DME (Dry Malt Extract).  I reserved the DME until the end of the boil just in case I needed it to hit my numbers.  I ended up with 80% eff. which put me right below hitting my goal original gravity reading of 1.090.  So during the last 30 mins of the boil I added in the DME.  

Gravity right before pitching the yeast... 1.102!

Adding the DME and boiling off a little more gave me 5.5gals at an original gravity of 1.102!  Which should give me ~11% ABV.  The first time I brewed this I hit around 1.089 and got ~9% ABV.  So this one should be a little stronger but the hops should balance it out. 

After about a week into fermentation I'll be dry hoping with a couple of ounces of Cascade and Centennial hops and then aging in a keg.