My Imperial stout is thick....

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McMalty

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I just bottled my first imperial stout. I noticed at bottling that it's kinda thick, almost the consistency of milk. Of course this was after i added the dme and it also was brewed with a lb. of lactose. Anyway.....is this stuff gonna thin out during carbonation/conditioning? If not, i'm pouring it on my waffles (j/k, it's not that thick). Anyone else run into this sort of issue? btw, 1114 OG, 1034 FG
 
Pretty sure the high FG has something to do with it... lol
 
It's supposed to be thick, right? Especially at 1.114... It will not thin out in the bottles, but it will come together with time.
 
Sounds wonderful!

Not too far from my Double W IS. It takes a bit of age, but it'll be fine for sure.
 
yeah dont worry about it, but give it 6 months to a year before it will really come around.
 
I know it's supposed to be thick....but the sweetness makes it feel syrup-y to me. I dunno, i guess all i can do is wait. yeah, this brew was huge, far and above the biggest thing i've ever made. I boiled it down to 1130, but I added water to thin it out to reach my target gravity of 1120, so i got pretty close with 1114 @ 4.5 gals. It was pretty simple, Recipe is in my head but i'll give my best shot since i don't have my notebook in front of me:

18 lbs pale malt
2 lbs rolled barley
1 lb black malt
1 lb crystal 120
1 lb lactose in the boil
Bittering hops: horizon, 60 mins
flavor hops: fuggles, 5 mins
American ale yeast WLP060, i suggest a starter for sure

I don't know if i'd use that much lactose again.....it's pretty damn sweet, undeniably a dessert beer.
 
Yeah, the lactose is overkill.

Other than that, this looks pretty good!

What was the mash temp?
 
2 lbs rolled barley

Do you mean flaked barley here? Because they roll the flaked barley to flatten it out right? Or more likely roasted barley? Correct?

It sounds great to me I love thick stouts. With that much lactose I would call it an Imperial milk stout though. Still sounds yummy.
 
How many IBUs? I agree that the lactose was overkill, it would probably still be almost as sweet without it (lactose isn't that sweet to begin with) but it wouldn't be as thick/syrup-y. It takes a lot of IBUs to balance all the sweetness.
 
yes, i meant flaked barley, (which happens to be rolled, that's why i was thinking that). Mash temp hovered around 160ish; it's difficult to maintain in the dead of winter in MD.

Yeah it's definitely an imperial milk stout, which was my intention. It would be sweet w/o the lactose, but nothing like this, you can definitely tell there's an eff-load of lactose in it.

call me a dummy/novice/whatever, i don't care, but i haven't ever really paid too much attention to the IBUs, i just add the hops and forget about it (not really a hoppy guy). don't get me wrong, i know the specs, but i just say, ok whatever, lets makes some damn beer. The AA on horizon is like 16%, so i figured it would be a good counterblend for all this intense malty/lactose sweetness. it kinda gave it a bitter-sweet taste (well, not kinda, that's exactly how i would describe it. it's at the end of both spectrums)
 
ksbrain said:
That's incredible attenuation with a mash temperature of 160!

Incredible good or incredible bad? What should the temp be? I always try for 158 but I'm just using a brew sculpture and like I said, its the dead of winter in MD and its difficult to maintain a constant mash temp
 
Incredible good or incredible bad? What should the temp be? I always try for 158 but I'm just using a brew sculpture and like I said, its the dead of winter in MD and its difficult to maintain a constant mash temp

I never go above 156 until mashout. Most of my beers live around 149-151F. 160 is my mashout temp before sparging.
 
That's incredible attenuation with a mash temperature of 160!

You got 70.2% attenuation. American ale yeast WLP060 is rated at 72-80%. Considering you mashed at 160 and you added a bunch of lactose to get the high FG you got, I would say teh attenuation is on the high side of what the yeast is capable of which in this case is a very good thing. So you got lucky :).

So the deal with a 160 mash is that you will have more body and more residual sweetness left after fermentation is complete.

This beer is going to be very sweet and thick due to both the 160 and the lactose you added. Most beers this big are hard to get down to a low FG. You will prob end up around 1.030 assuming you have good aeration and some strong yeast.

EDIT: I'M AN IDIOT!!! ksbrain IS SMART!!

Not sure what I was thinking. Yeah 1.034 is a pretty high FG. Looks like you did pretty well, but yeah. It will stay thick and what not. I dont bottle, for some reason in my head i thought it was fermenting in the bottles. I'm stupid.
 
yeah, i hydrated a packet of Safale US-05 american ale yeast and added it to the carboy 2 days b4 bottling (JIC the original yeast was down for the count and/or to help it out, since it's 10.5%).

I feel obligated to bottle this b/c it's an IS. I can't exactly sit a keg in the corner of my basement for 6 months and crack it open every once in a while like i can with the bottles.

What's the difference if i mash at 160 or 150? not being a JA, i'm asking. b/c most of the recipes i use call for 155-160. Sometimes i sparge even higher....like 180. call me crazy, but i like the results.
 
yeah, i hydrated a packet of Safale US-05 american ale yeast and added it to the carboy 2 days b4 bottling (JIC the original yeast was down for the count and/or to help it out, since it's 10.5%).

I feel obligated to bottle this b/c it's an IS. I can't exactly sit a keg in the corner of my basement for 6 months and crack it open every once in a while like i can with the bottles.

What's the difference if i mash at 160 or 150? not being a JA, i'm asking. b/c most of the recipes i use call for 155-160. Sometimes i sparge even higher....like 180. call me crazy, but i like the results.

If you mash at 150 more of the sugars are fermentable. Instead of having left over sugars that are complex that yeast cant break down you get a thinner beer. Technically you should see a higher attenuation from your yeast. If you had mashed at 150 your FG should end up lower, like 1.025 or something. It would give you less body and less residual sweetness..... technically.
 
i brewed the milk chocolate stout all grain kit from austin homebrew. It had a pound of lactose in it too. I can't remember the final gravity but i think it was around 1.030. Really thick and sweet. It's been sitting in the basement for about 2 months now. I'm hoping it will be good by next christmas
 
So, i'm not sure i get it......I should be using this high of a mash temp? If it's good to do so, why doesn't everyone mash this high?

No, 160 is generally regarded as too high. It leaves a beer way sweeter and can sometimes extract tannins. You should lower it to at least 158 for really malty dark beers and as low at 149 for light colored beers. All of this is general rule, although if you enjoy your beers mashed at that temp then keep doing it.
 
No, 160 is generally regarded as too high. It leaves a beer way sweeter and can sometimes extract tannins. You should lower it to at least 158 for really malty dark beers and as low at 149 for light colored beers. All of this is general rule, although if you enjoy your beers mashed at that temp then keep doing it.

i'm using a 8 gal kettles on a brew sculpture.....158 and 160 are basically the same thing to me. It's incredibly difficult for me to nail and sustain a constant mash temp with my set up....even if i wrap the mash tun in insulation. I usually end up having to fire the burner for no more than 2 mins b/c my temp will start dropping below 145. I know the fluctuation in temp isn't the best thing for the brew, but i'm just trying my best to stay within the range of a good mash temp.
 
my cooler loses 2-4 degrees over an hour. i love insulated mash tuns. no need for direct fire for single mash infusions.
 
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