imperial stout

i love stout. i would drink it in the morning warm, but my employer would not think too kindly of it....

so i found this recipe, tell me what you think? i am gung ho on this one, and will buck up for the 6.5 gal fermentor carboy and an additional 5 gal carboy, i wanna ditch the plastic pail asap

its about sixty bucks all said and done.

Similar to IPAs, this traditional Imperial Stout was brewed with a high alcohol content and high hop rate to endure long sea voyages. Drink with caution or with good friends. (6-12 months fermentation recommended) Our ingredients for this recipe include 6 pounds of Dark Malt extract, 6 pounds of Amber malt extract, 1/2 lb. Roasted Barley malt, 1/4 lb. Crystal 120L malt, 1/2 lb. Chocolate malt, 3 oz. Galena bittering hops, 1 oz. Williamette aroma hops, yeast, priming sugar and a muslin bag. Brewing Instructions

That's a lot of malt! For 5 gallons? It will be high in alcohol, I would guess, especially after so long a ferment.

ya! that's part of the allure, plus the history of the brew, put in storage on ocean going vessels back in the day the high alcohol/hops helped preserve it for long periods

That's what I like about IPA's...shipped to colonial India from England...extra hops to preserve it. And I love hops!

i was thinking of putting a mast and sail on the garage and preteding it's s a ship and the barrels of ale are in steerage...

On the fourth of july, 1806
We set sail from the sweet cove of cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the grand city hall in new york
’twas a wonderful craft
She was rigged fore and aft
And oh, how the wild wind drove her
She stood several blasts
She had twenty seven masts
And they called her the irish rover

We had one million bags of the best sligo rags
We had two million barrels of stone
We had three million sides of old blind horses hides
We had four million barrels of bones
We had five million hogs
And six million dogs
Seven million barrels of porter
We had eight million bails of old nanny-goats’ tails
In the hold of the irish rover

Definitely spring for the glass fermentor. A beer that big will want to sit for a good long time in the secondary to smooth out the edges.

Janx

Janx said:

Definitely spring for the glass fermentor. A beer that big will want to sit for a good long time in the secondary to smooth out the edges.

Janx

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Isn't the Imperial Stout supposed to be "lagered" even though it's an ale? Kinda like an Alt or Kolsch Bier....... MMMMMM........stout.......MMMMMM.........

Makes sense. A good long cool lagering will certainly help. All big, malty beers I have ever made benefitted from as much time as you could stand to give it

Janx

I just started my first batch of homebrew about a week ago, and just transfered it into a glass carboy from the bucket. It was a muntons gold imperial stout kit, and I was just wondering if I can keep in the carboy for about a month or so without any ill affect.

any advice is appreciated.

OSUmoney83 said:

I just started my first batch of homebrew about a week ago, and just transfered it into a glass carboy from the bucket. It was a muntons gold imperial stout kit, and I was just wondering if I can keep in the carboy for about a month or so without any ill affect.

any advice is appreciated.

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Any beer can sit in a glass secondary for a month with no ill effects, provided everything was sanitary in the first place. Longer secondary times are a great way to let your beer get better.

For an Imperial Stout, I'd say it's a minimum. That's a big beer and the more time the better for big beers. Just keep everything clean and keep the airlock full and you're set.

Janx

Thanks for the help, I must've read or heard something about yeast not being able to carbonate come bottling time if it sat in the carboy for too long. Since that isn't the case, I'm gonna try and hold out as long as possible, at least 3 weeks to a month before bottling. I was pretty obsessive about keeping everything sanitary, and I tasted the brew during the transfer. It had kind of a fruity taste at first then a strong coffee flavor at the end, could be pretty promising. Not really sure what to expect though because all though I've had many a stout, I've yet to taste a commercial offering of the Imperial variety.

Thanks again


"drink with good friends, or good-looking strangers"

If you want to make sure the beer gets carbonated quickly, you can always add some more yeast when you add your priming sugar. It generally isn't necessary, but it can accelerate the conditioning if the beer has been in the secondary a long time.

Just dissolve some dry yeast and mix it in when you add priming sugar. Make sure everything is boiled/sanitized first

I found another recipe online for an Imperial, so I went to my local HBS last night to get ready. Unfortunately, he was out of grains, so I'll be picking those up tonight. I got all of my hops..."That's a lot of hops" was the comment it was met with. "Well, it's an Imperial, so...." Then I bought my malt....close to 10 lbs. "Woah...that's a lot of malt...." "I ain't scared...hehehe..." If this thing works right, it's gonna rock.

Hey t1master

I think I recently made just the recipe you have. It was WILD while brewing. I had to use a blowoff hose .. the fermentation lock couldn't hack it. And the time for fermenting, from primary fermentation to secondary were both about doubled. I had it in the primary for about 2 weeks, and the secondary for about three. But let me tell you, this is a wonderful brew. I'm enjoying it now and I'm told it gets even better with age. With mine, I dry hopped also (added hops to the secondary for aroma). I think you are going to love your batch. Enjoy!! I'm now brewing an IPA ... but next .... it's going to be a Barleywine. Only I loved the roasted barley flavor so much, I'm gonna just have to add some to the barleywine. Hey ... I don't care if barleywines aren't supposed to have roast in it. Just tasted so fantastic to me in the stout. Good luck on your brew t1master. Let us know how it come out.

kerryhughes1 said:

Hey ... I don't care if barleywines aren't supposed to have roast in it.

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That's the beauty of homebrewing...no rules!!