What a stout!

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rewster451

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columbia, MO
I just brewed up my Imperial stout.

First I toasted 1/2 lb. of Crisp Maris Otter.
I steeped it with 1/2 lb. of roasted barley,
1/3 lb. of dark crystal,
1/4 lb. black patent,
1/4 lb. Briess Special Roast,
1/4 lb. Chocolate Malt.

Strained, sparged.

Added 3.3 lbs. Dark Liquid Extract,
3.3 lbs. Light liquid extract,
3 lbs. Plain Light DME.

2 1/2 oz. Cascade pellets (bittering)
1 oz. Whole cascade at 30 min.
1/2 oz. cascade pellets at 30 min.

At 15 min. added 8 oz. Blackstrap Molasses,
1 1/2 tsp. gypsum,
1 tsp. Irish moss,
1 oz. whole cascade

At two minutes added 2 oz. whole fuggles.

Cooled, strained, sparged.

O.G. 1.087!!

Pitched Wyeast 1084.

Today it's bubbling slowly and there's already sediment. I'm happy.
 
Sounds nice! I'll be interested to hear how you like the molasses. I've read that blackstrap has a very pronounced flavor. Report back in about a year, when it's ready. :D
 
I've been watching this beer more closely than I usually do, because I'm so excited about it. It started bubbling slowly, but for the last two days it's been going over 120 bubbles a minute! The krausen is unbelievable, and so is the smell. My only concern is that it might be too hoppy. I wanted it to be hoppy, and because of all the malts I figured too much would be just enough. All I can smell right now is the hops though. Not too worried, but I thought I'd post this and see if anyone has any thoughts on that.
 
The hops give off a lot of aroma during fermention,Ageing will lesson the flavor as well you should be fine time is the key with this style.Looks like a tasty recipe to me.Good luck! :cross:
 
I'd agree--with an imperial stout it will need a long time to age to be "right", which will also mellow that strong hop bite as well.

Sounds like a good one!!!!
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Thanks for all the help guys. I definitely want to give this one at least six months to mellow before I even try it. How much of that should be in the bottle and how much in secondary? And since I'm moving to california in August, if it really takes a year, will it travel? Having beer bombs in my U-haul is not something I want to deal with.
 
rewster451 said:
How much of that should be in the bottle and how much in secondary? And since I'm moving to california in August, if it really takes a year, will it travel? Having beer bombs in my U-haul is not something I want to deal with.

Do your secondary in a Cornelius keg, you don't have to worry about it exploding or breaking. Then, what a reward when you get to Cali and bottle it!

(just a comment on convenience, dunno whether it's "better" to do secondary for 9 months rather than bottle conditioning for that period.)
 
I started a thread on champagne yeast, and learned a lot about it from that, but for this beer in particular, I wanted to ask a specific question. When should I add it? When I rack to secondary? A few weeks before I bottle? And, like I asked in the champagne yeast thread, should I re-rack and let it settle again? Or maybe I shouldn't screw around with champagne yeast at all. I look forward to responses.
 
For most all of the recipes in my database that use champagne yeast have it added 3 days before bottling.

Good luck,
Wild
 
I can't believe this. Three weeks after the yeast was pitched and it's still bubbling. Slowly. Very, very slowly, but it's bubbling. It's like one bubble every half hour. I'm very excited about this. The trub is settling, the alcohol % is growing, and the flavor is mellowing. You guys were definitely right when you said this was going to take a long time.
 
Well, just in the last two weeks this beer stopped showing signs of activity all together. I pitched the champagne yeast when it first started slowing down. It never picked back up again at an enormous rate, but that's to be expected.
I have to admit that I'm getting impatient. I really want to bottle this sucker. Someone please tell me why I should let it settle for four more months. Please. I need the encouragement.

As to why I pitched champagne yeast so early: 1)I wanted to make sure that all fermentables were fermented before bottling 2)I wanted to let it settle out to keep it from having that winey taste.

If nothing else, would it hurt to rack it to tertiary, just so I can do something with it and sample a little tiny taste of it?
 
Take a sample for testing and drinking...that'll give you something to do. Meanwhile, brew something else. :)
 
Use a teriary, but make sure to be super clean in the transfer. I really think you should leave it in the tertiary for another three or four months.:D If all your yeast dies off, so be it, there will be no new fermentables when you re-re-pitch in April or May.
 
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