Recipe results advice: When RIS goes bad....

So, let's just say my efficiency with my first AG BIAB venture sucked big time. Something like 48% for the main batch (but I did get 2.5 gallons of 1.036 runnings I used in another beer--I may just blend the two batches.)

Here's the recipe (adjusted for my 48% suck):

Vice Admiral Imperial Stout
April 20, 2009

Category Stout
Subcategory Russian Imperial Stout
Recipe Type All Grain
Batch Size 4.5 gal.
Volume Boiled 7 gal.
Mash Efficiency 45 %
Total Grain/Extract 18.88 lbs.
Total Hops 4.0 oz.

11 lbs. American 2-row info
3.125 lbs. Weyermann CaraHell® info
2.125 lbs. American Chocolate Malt info
2 lbs. Oats Flaked info
.625 lbs. Molasses info
3 oz. Willamette (Pellets, 4.40 %AA) boiled 90 min. info
1 oz. Willamette (Pellets, 4.40 %AA) boiled 30 min. info
Yeast : WYeast 9038 Imperial Blend info

Predicted Russian Imperial Stout Compliance
Original Gravity 1.065 1.075 - 1.095 48 %
Color 36.12 °SRM 30.00 - 40.00 °SRM 100 %
Bitterness 92.8 IBU 50.00 - 90.00 IBU 62 %
Alcohol (%volume) 6.2 % 8.00 - 12.00 % 55 %
72 % overall

So, the question is--what the hell did I make? Does it even fit into a BJCP category? It's not quite as dark as beertools estimated, but still looks like a stout. 6.2%ABV (theoretical) with 105 or so IBU seems out of whack. Will this stuff be drinkable? I tasted the hydrometer sample and it's pretty bitter. Can I blend it with the partigyle brew (just the sparge runnings with 1 oz 4.4%AA willamette boiled 1 hour, boiled down to 2 gal) to make something drinkable?

The next question is--if I had a 40qt cylindrical drink cooler, could I have mashed this mess? I used the "can I mash it" calculator linked on the forums here said the mash would take up just about 7 gallons--it took my 30qt pot and my 16qt pot to do the job.

Thanks for the advice. I'll stick to smaller brews with the BIAB method, and move to a cooler soon.

-jkpq45

Help--anyone??!? Do I add dark brown sugar to the mix to boost ABV, or will that just dry it out too much? Honey? Leave it alone?

Don't boost it with any sugar, that will just dry it out more in the end. Do you have any malt extract? As long as it is still fermenting you could boil some DME in very little water then add that to the brew. That way you'll get more alcohol and keep the right body and mouthfeel to it.

I'd think 2 lb of DME in 1 quart of water (it will be very thick, use foam control drops for the boil) and just boil it for 10 minutes to sanitize, poor into the fermenter. Recalculate your OG with that DME in mind.

Should I use pale/light/extra light/dark DME?

2 lbs into 4.75 gallons should boost OG by how many points? I'm missing the wiki stub that says how many gallon-points a pound of DME is worth.

So did we decide if this fits into a category/style of beer without modification? Or am I just screwed unless I add DME?

i think it fits well into a stout, but not an RIS. Personally i don't consider anything under 1.09 a real RIS. But i started on darklord as my base for RIS so i dont' really agree with a 1.075 RIS like some of the programs claim. Even by normal standards it's a bit light for an RIS though. It looks like it will be a pretty decent brew though. If you REALLY want an RIS i'd add some DME or extract to get more alc and flavor without making it totally dry. But if you don't wanna mess with it, just keep it going as is, i'm sure it will be a good beer even if it's not dead on style. It'll just be more motivation to try it again. And a lighter version of the beer will probably drink faster anyways.

Without adding anything I'd be worried the bitterness will be way over the top.

2 lb of DME into 4.5 gallons will give you a gravity of 1.019 so you can add 19 points to your current OG if you added 2 lb of DME. You'd end up with more volume than 4.5 gallons as well so there's a bit of fudge factor. I'd use regular light DME, you should have gotten the color from your specialty grains. You can add more DME if you'd like than that, i just used a brewing calculator (you can use one at beertools.com) to figure out how many gravity points it would add. As long as you add before fermentation is done it will turn out fine. I wouldn't try to restart fermentation in secondary or anything like that.

You can either add something or just see how it turns out. I had an efficiency issue this weekend (new grain mill) so I had to add some DME so I'd be within the style guidelines and not have a totally over the top bitter beer.

Anybody else care to chime in? I'm going to get a 4lb sack of DME on the way home tonight. I'll add between 2 and 3 lbs (leaning towards 3).

Boiled 2 lb light DME in a bit of water and added to primary last Friday. Theoretical OG estimated to be 1.065 + 1.019 = 1.084. Sounds more like an RIS now, huh?

Bubbling has slowed to once every 20 seconds. Brew is starting to clear and darken as yeast fall out of suspension, yeast cake is compacting, looks frickin' delicious.

We're about to polish off the last pint of this brew. So tasty, so sorry to see it gone. I have a cooler mashtun now, should improve efficiency over BIAB. Time for round two!

No molasses this time, I'll use a combo of black patent and chocolate malt to bring the color down. I'll mash higher (160*F on my system) to achieve more mouthfeel--this is thick, but thicker is always better!

Great! Glad it turned out tasty.