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Joetuo

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I am thinking of making 6 gallons of a big imperial stout like 10-11% ABV, only problem is that it looks like it is going to have to boil for about 3 hours to get back down to 6 Gallons after the mash. Am I just stuck with an very long boil or is there something I can do to speed things up.
 
First of all, you shouldn't need to boil for that long. I've made beers pushing 10 percent with a 90 minute boil and a 60 minute boil. Just use more grain to mash with.

You can also add extract to boost your gravity.

You also need to make sure you have a way to carefully control the temperature of the fermentation if you're planning to get 10-11 percent out of it.
 
The Grain bill already has my 10 gallon mash tun at max capacity so I can't increase my grain anymore. Using some extract isn't a bad idea and I should be able to hold temperatures for the fermentation.
 
I have a similar limitation except I have a 5 gallon MLT.
Using extract to supplement has worked fine for me.
 
Bobby_M said:
You can also use a pound or two of table sugar to boost OG without a problem.
Click to expand...

Yup, I agree here. On that big of a beer you won't notice.

But for whatever reason, I like long boils. You get more of the smell throughout your house (if you're inside) and its just kind of fun to watch. I haven't had any issues with lower attenuation due to caramelization but I have read it could be a problem. But on that big of a big I'll doubt it'll matter. Maybe it'll just add some complexity as well.
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I will just scale back my grain bill to get to a more manageable boiling time and just make up the rest in Extract.
 

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