Black IPA’s are a relatively new American style that comes from introducing heavily kilned malts into the mash. Malting is an integral process to the brewing industry, as it prepares the grains in specific manners to be manipulated for certain styles and flavors of beer. Barley grains are made to germinate by being soaked in water which releases the proper enzymes to turn the starches into sugars. The sugars are the necessary component in the brewing process as they are what the yeast feast on to produce ethanol. After germination is stopped, malt is kilned in a specific manner to achieve a flavor profile, whether it is bready, roasty, caramel, toffee, etc.
In the beginning malts were dried over fires lending all malts a smokey taste. With the invention of drum roaster, malts began to be roasted in a more efficient manner that also subdued and eventually eliminated the smokey profile. Since all malts were initially fire roasted, they were generally all brown malts that didn’t have enough sugar content to produce larger alcohol beers. With more efficient malting methods malts got both paler and darker, allowing brewers to use less kilned malts for the body of the beer and then use darker malts to provide color and further flavor. This is an exact example of Dangerous Man’s Black IPA.
Rob, Keigan, John, and Ramsey (growing, aren’t we!) used a pale malt for the body and included oats to thicken up the mouth feel. They then used Carafa III, a dehusked malt that provides color without adding acrid roasting flavors, and recent Patagonian malts to provide flavors of toffee, fig, coffee, and toast. Warrior, Chinook, Zythos, and Citra hops were added to the boil to provide large pine notes, citrus and tropical fruit, and a pleasant, firm bitterness. Chinook, Zythos, and Bravo were used to dry hop this beer twice over.
Big, bold, dark, and deep, the Black IPA is waiting for you at the Dangerous Man’s taproom. Drink local, drink Dangerous.
