Fermenting/Conditioning an Imperial Russian Stout

Hello all,

I am going to brew an Imperial Russian Stout this weekend and was wondering what the normal fermentation/conditioning cycle is for it. This is my 3rd brew and the darkest of them. Also, does "conditioning" mean it is still kept at fermentation temperatures?

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Recipe:
Imperial Russian Stout
Derived from: "Lick Springs Black Hole Imperial Stout" recipe
http://www.ratebeer.com/Recipe.asp?RecipeID=116

Made into 5 gallon batch and cut 20% of grains out to create an ABV more around 11.1% so the ingredient amounts may seem a little too exact. =)
Also, I cut some Maris Otter grain out and replaced with LME to be able to fit grains into mash tun

3 Lbs Ultra Light Liquid Malt Extract
10.83 Lbs Maris Otter Pale Malt
1.08 Lbs Roasted Barley
0.92 Lbs Black Patent Malt
0.8 Lbs CaraMunich Malt 50L
0.8 Lbs Flaked Barley
0.4 Lbs Chocolate Malt
0.4 Lbs Special B

0.18 oz Star Anise pods 5 min

5 oz Centennial Hopps 9.1 AA:
2.57 oz for 45 min
1.68 oz for 30 min
0.75 oz for 0 min

California Ale Yeast

Mash grains at 155 degrees. Boil 90 minutes.
Aerate well and pitch onto yeast cake of any good working neutral yeast
such as 1056. Needs lots of time to meld the flavors and should continue
to improve with time.

I brewed one of these recently. It was in the primary 2 weeks. I racked it to secondary when the airlock had slowed down to once a minute. It was in the secondary for 1 month. I checked the gravity once a week, and there was no change from week 3 to week 4, so I bottled it at that point. I plan on leaving it until June. It will be 3 months in bottles by then.

A friend in my Homebrew club brewed an Imerial Stout almost 3 years ago as a Christmas brew. He gave away about a case, and kept the other half of the batch. He's been sampling it, one bottle every three months, since Christmas '03, and it continues to improve in flavor.

The times for all stages are definately longer. Flingdingo has it right. Primary for about 2 weeks, secondary for a month, condition in bottle for as long as you can be patient. My first is still in the bottle and I don't plan to crack it open till after summer. That will give it about 9 months.

Cool, thanks for the replies. So while conditioning in the bottles or keg (haven't decided yet) for a few months, leave at fermentation temp. or put in the fridge?

billism said:

Cool, thanks for the replies. So while conditioning in the bottles or keg (haven't decided yet) for a few months, leave at fermentation temp. or put in the fridge?

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Ideally, you want to bottle condition at celler temps.

I have a friend who is really into Imperial Russian Stouts and conditions his for a year.

El Pistolero said:

Ideally, you want to bottle condition at celler temps.

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What is "cellar temp"? In Houston, most people do not have cellars beause of the high water table.

Surely someone can answer that last question. =) I have never lived in a climate where I have had a cellar.

I always thought "cellar temp" was about low 60s high 50s.

Cellar temps ~55F, as far as I understand it. If you have a neighbor who's an oenophile maybe he'll rent you some space in his wine cellar!