Check out this Imp Stout I made

Sorry in advance for the long post but...
My very first AG solo was a 1.06 brown ale that was only for making a yeast cake starter. That done, (tastes pretty good too actually) I pitches the following wort directly on that previous Brown's 1.5" thick yeast/trub sludge of WL001 Cal Ale. I had racked it over only an hour before.
Followed the Expedition Stout published in Zymurgy a couple years back.

#23 2-Row
#1 Flaked Barley
#1.5 Roasted Barley
#1 Black Patent
#1 80L Crystal
#.5 Chocolate
#2.5 DME

Drew nearly 10 Gallons of wort. boiled for a couple hours o get down to about
6.5Gal then started hops

2.5Ox Centenial 45min
1.5Oz Centenial 25Min
OG was 1.146

A week in primary then about a month in secondary.
Stalled out at 1.048 and even after pitching in a 1Qt starter at peak activity it wouldn't go any lower.
Just bottled today and will let it set for a couple-few months before I decide how it is turning out.
Crazy.

sounds crazy, even with huge starter it weon't ferment all the way. next time try a high gravity yeast, or champagne yeast.

That's not a beer, it's a meal!

drengel said:

sounds crazy, even with huge starter it weon't ferment all the way. next time try a high gravity yeast, or champagne yeast.

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Your'e right, it didn't and I didn't expect much more than it did. Dropping a full .1 thats about 65-70% attenuation. It tastes quite swet as you'd expect but at about %13 ABV, im kind of glad it's not too much drier anyway.
But, flavors are good, and about what I had hoped. Next time I will go with about %75 of the grain bill and get something abit more reasonable.

alemonkey said:

That's not a beer, it's a meal!

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That's pretty much what I was thinking. 17# for a 5 gal batch is as high as I've tried so far.

Looks great! I made an extract Imp. Stout about this time last year that turned out great. I will brew it again as an AG soon in a couple of weeks. I'm hanging onto this recipe you've posted, though!

I used White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast and got it from 1.094 down to 1.024. But I'd definitely advise using some champagne yeast at bottling time, assuming you're bottling.

Looks awesome! I'd still work on getting your gravity down, though. Rouse the yeast, repitch, maybe even a little sugar to revive them.

Indiana Red said:

Next time I will go with about %75 of the grain bill and get something abit more reasonable.

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Why???

IMHO; a good Impy Stout should be served with a fork, standing upright in the glass!!
Sounds like an outstanding brew!!
Congrats!!

well, I threw in a 1.5 qt starter of active WLP001 (same as before) and bottled while I was still getting 1 bbl/15 sec in the airlock.
Hopefully this remaining activity is enough to cary over to carbonate a little.
It's been about a week, I think Ill check one tonight and see how its coming along.

Rhoobarb said:

.. I'm hanging onto this recipe you've posted, though!
.

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yeah, the gravity of the very first runnings was 1.095. ! !