Brewed: Black Doug

By scot in Beer Recipes, Home Brewing on Saturday, March 11th, 2017

If you ever sit around with your friends making a list of movies that you would want on a deserted island, The Hangover is at the top of my list. And, unlike most, I enjoyed all three movies. Black Doug is an American black ale (or cascadian dark ale if you prefer) that pays homage to the Hangover and Mike Epps‘ character sharing the same name.

Black Doug takes inspiration from Wookey Jack by Firestone Walker Brewing Company, one of the smoothest and best black ales available.

The darkness to the beer is obtained by Carafa III, giving color without the astringency of other dark malts. A touch of chocolate rye adds some depth to the beer that can be obtained from the Carafa along.

Still, the question begs: why brew a beer that is more of a fad style? I like a good American black ale and I love hops. I needed some variety to all the east coast ipas that I have been brewing.

Home Brewing For Black Doug

The biggest thing I did to this beer to make it different from other American black ales, I decided to use east coast ipa hopping process: lots of late hops with dry hopping occurring as primary fermentation begins to slow. Otherwise the beer followed a normal brew day. Enjoy!

Recipe for For Black Doug

General Information:
Brew Date: Saturday, March 11, 2017
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: S-05, not hydrated
Yeast Starter: none
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.50
Original Gravity: 1.068
Finishing Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 61.4
Color: 28.9 SRM
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Alcohol by Volume: 7.09%
Primary Fermentation: 10 days @68*F

Grain Bill:
12.00 pounds Maris Otter
2.00 pounds Red Wheat
1.00 pounds Rye
0.56 pounds Carafa III
0.50 pounds Caramel 60L
0.19 pounds Chocolate Rye

Mash:
Saccharification @154.4*F

Hop Bill:
2.00 ounces 2015 Equinox @20 minutes
1.00 ounces 2015 Cascade @10 minutes
1.00 ounces 2015 Citra @5 minutes
2.00 ounces 2015 Cascade @whirlpool for 25 minutes
2.00 ounces 2015 Equinox @whirlpool for 25 minutes
1.00 ounces 2015 Citra @whirlpool for 25 minutes
2.00 ounces 2015 Cascade @4 day dry hop
2.00 ounces 2015 Citra @4 day dry hop
2.00 ounces 2015 Equinox @4 day dry hop

Extras:
1.0 tsp Irish Moss @15 minutes
1.0 tsp Yeast Nutrient @15 minutes
3.0 quarts of rice hulls
~4.5 gallons of reverse osmosis water used

Updates:

• 2017-03-12 (morning): @63.0*F, slow fermentation.
• 2017-03-12 (eveningg): @63.0*F, added heat blanket set to 68*F.
• 2017-03-13: @66.0*F, hard fermentation.
• 2017-03-14: Added dry hops.
• 2017-03-18: Bottled with 3.75 ounces of priming sugar and 2.0 cups of water. 25, 22 ounce bottles. Bottle crown label: BD.

Useless Fact: It would take you 10 years to view all the photos shared on Snapchat in the last hour.