Imperial Prep

Been at this for right around the 2 year marker and my consistency's gotten high enough that I think I'm ready to venture into big boy territory. However, I'm not certain all my equipment is ready.

Correct me if I'm wrong but for any Imperial style, the malt bill is generally higher than a normal batch designed to create abv levels of 4-7%. ?

I made my own mash tun using the 5 gal cooler from home depot, spigot and appliance tubing rig. However the most complex malt bill I've used so far has been a stout that weighed about 13lbs in grain. That with strike water filled my mash to the brim. Sparging was 'fun' that day... Had to pay especially close attention to the levels.

My guess is I'll need to invest in a 10 gal cooler and rebuild? I'll also be investing in a chest freezer so I can have even more concentrated control on fermentation temps.

Couple of options. Get a bigger mash tun and use more grain or keep your mash tun and make a smaller batch, which means also getting a smaller carboy/bucket to keep a reasonable head space in the fermenter. You definitely need more grain for a given volume of water to make a high gravity beer. However, keep in mind that many high gravity brews (Belgians, DIPAs) use added sugar in the boil to boost gravity/ABV. This could be candy sugar, extract, corn sugar, table sugar or even honey or maple syrup. I did a 1090 Belgian that maxed out my system so I made a slightly smaller batch (4 gal) and used 1.5 lbs of Belgian dark candi sugar. Lots of possibilities.

Hmm, I have 6gal carboys to make the most of 5 gal batches. Will I need a carboy larger than 6gal capacity?

I would just make smaller batches. do you really want 5 Gallons of 10% beer sitting around anyway?

MyCarHasAbs said:

Hmm, I have 6gal carboys to make the most of 5 gal batches. Will I need a carboy larger than 6gal capacity?

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I think you could make a smaller batch and just try using your 6 gallon carboy. Big beers often have pretty violent fermentations, so you might find you actually need the added headspace. Just be sure you don't do a secondary, as you will lose the CO2 cover, and then you'll have an oxidation problem.

JordanKnudson said:

I think you could make a smaller batch and just try using your 6 gallon carboy. Big beers often have pretty violent fermentations, so you might find you actually need the added headspace. Just be sure you don't do a secondary, as you will lose the CO2 cover, and then you'll have an oxidation problem.

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I never do secondary. Taking samples won't effect the CO2 cover will it?
As for head space, I can always extract half a gallon less than usual.

ricshayne said:

do you really want 5 Gallons of 10% beer sitting around anyway?

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If I'm paying $40 to $50 for grain, that answer is yes haha. I have a dedicated fridge in the basement for storing beer, there's plenty of room.

MyCarHasAbs said:

Hmm, I have 6gal carboys to make the most of 5 gal batches. Will I need a carboy larger than 6gal capacity?

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I think that will be fine. I usually just cover the top with sanitized tin foil to allow the initial gas to escape, but prevent unwanted bacteria from entering. This works even better in a closed fermentation chamber. After the initial vigorous fermentation, I'll switch to a standard airlock with vodka. This method seems to help me avoid dealing with messy blowouts.

I have a theory (untested) that the slight backpressure from blowoff tubes/airlocks contributes to an even more vigorous fermentation and messy blowouts.

I'd also recommend letting this thing ride out for at least a month before taking gravity samples. Why bother it?

What style of beer is this? IPA? Stout? Porter? Belgian? I'd recommend going with a style that you can just pitch a couple of rehydrated packs of US-05 into.

PGEduardo said:

I think that will be fine. I usually just cover the top with sanitized tin foil to allow the initial gas to escape, but prevent unwanted bacteria from entering. This works even better in a closed fermentation chamber. After the initial vigorous fermentation, I'll switch to a standard airlock with vodka. This method seems to help me avoid dealing with messy blowouts.

I have a theory (untested) that the slight backpressure from blowoff tubes/airlocks contributes to an even more vigorous fermentation and messy blowouts.

I'd also recommend letting this thing ride out for at least a month before taking gravity samples. Why bother it?

What style of beer is this? IPA? Stout? Porter? Belgian? I'd recommend going with a style that you can just pitch a couple of rehydrated packs of US-05 into.

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Undecided on the style yet but I'll probably start with something like a nut brown ale. So you would not start with your standard airlock for Imperial? I use the thermowell hoods and often secure it with electrical tape.

Keep that 5-gallon cooler. That's how I started out. When I upgraded to a 10 gallon mash tun, I kept the 5 gallon for my HLT. If I do a mash out straight from the kettle to the MLT, I never need more than 5 gallons of sparge water.

The best part? They're both round coolers, so the 5-gallon nests perfectly inside the 10 gallon for storage.

JonM said:

Keep that 5-gallon cooler. That's how I started out. When I upgraded to a 10 gallon mash tun, I kept the 5 gallon for my HLT. If I do a mash out straight from the kettle to the MLT, I never need more than 5 gallons of sparge water. .

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That's a damn good idea, I'd have to setup some sort of gravity feed system to support it.

Or a pump! If you decide to get one. Northern Brewer often has "buy a pump, get a free such-and-such" sales.

And the last big beer I did with the old 5-gallon had too much grain to fit in there, so I modified the recipe to use the maximum amount of grain I could use and then just added some extract in the kettle. It worked great.

JonM said:

Or a pump! If you decide to get one. Northern Brewer often has "buy a pump, get a free such-and-such" sales.

And the last big beer I did with the old 5-gallon had too much grain to fit in there, so I modified the recipe to use the maximum amount of grain I could use and then just added some extract in the kettle. It worked great.

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What do you do differently for the airlock? The other guy mentioned fermentation would be rather vigorous the first few days-week.

MyCarHasAbs said:

I never do secondary. Taking samples won't effect the CO2 cover will it?
As for head space, I can always extract half a gallon less than usual.

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Good man! I just don't see the point of secondaries, except for that rare batch that needs to bulk age off of the yeast cake.

I would be careful with taking samples, as you do run the risk of getting a little bit of oxygen in there each time, which is obviously more of a risk if when you've got lots of headspace. I'd wait to take a sample until you feel confident you've hit terminal gravity. Then I'd wait another day or two (just to be safe) and then take a sample -- and try to just get in and get out. That way, with any luck, you'll only have to open the fermentor once. Then bottle/keg.

JonM said:

Or a pump! If you decide to get one. Northern Brewer often has "buy a pump, get a free such-and-such" sales.

And the last big beer I did with the old 5-gallon had too much grain to fit in there, so I modified the recipe to use the maximum amount of grain I could use and then just added some extract in the kettle. It worked great.

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What do you do differently for the airlock? The other guy mentioned fermentation would be rather vigorous the first few days-week.

Just a regular blowoff, Fermcap, and temp control. (Big beers can jack the temperature way up!)

The only other thing I did differently was the double dose of pure O2 - one at pitching, the other 12-15 hours later.

O2? You mean shaking the sh*t out of it?

MyCarHasAbs said:

What do you do differently for the airlock? The other guy mentioned that fermentation would be rather vigorous the first few days-week.

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Just sanitizer some tin foil and place it semi loosely over the top. After a few days switch to a standard airlock.

I've never had blowoff or an infection, even with big beers like imperials. If you think it's unsafe, Google videos of open fermentation done at large scale in breweries...