It always seems to happen. Every time I plan a number of beers in advance, I never manage to stick to the schedule. Thankfully I did make it through five of the six beers I had recently planned, but it looks like the Pale Ale is going to get pushed back. Sometimes my creative ADD takes over.

I've really been fascinated by some of the fringe IPAs (black, wheat, rye) lately, and I've been wanting to make one for awhile now. Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous is one of my favorites, as well as Odell Mountain Standard and Hops in the Dark. That was until I tried Stone's 15th Anniversary Escondidan IPA. What an incredible beer that is; such a huge mouthfeel with a boat-load of Citra character. I've been wanting to make something similar ever since I tried it.

Then very recently I bought a sixer of Ruthless Rye from Sierra Nevada, which recharged my impulse to brew a Rye IPA. Fantastic beer, again with a lot of Citra aroma. Well it just so happens I have a lot of Citra hops, and I love Citra and Amarillo together, so why not make a Black Rye IPA featuring those hops? I want this beer to be a little bigger than an IPA, but not quite as huge as the Stone BIPAs. Maybe something around 8% give or take.

So I tossed together a quick recipe for what I think will be a great beer. The only thing holding me back on brewing this next is the fact my last four beers have all been 1.060 or higher, and I'm in dire need of a session-strength beer right now. Which leads to my next creative impulse.....

A couple of months ago, I purchased 12oz of experimental hops(HBC 342), and they've been practically screaming at me from the freezer, begging to be used. The plan is to take my pale ale(a 1.055 beer) recipe, and replace all the hops with HBC342.

So now it's a coin toss over which beer I'll brew in the next couple weeks; I'm still debating...Anyway, on to the recipe for the Black Rye IPA!

6 gallons
13lbs 2-row
2lbs 10oz Rye
14oz Crystal 60
14oz Carafa Special III
Mash @ 152*
1.5oz Warrior (17% AA) @ 60
2oz Amarillo/Citra @ 15
3oz Amarillo/Citra @ 0
Dry Hop - 4oz Amarillo/Citra
Safale US-05 - fermented at 62*F

Target OG: 1.075
Target FG: 1.015