i'm brewing brewpastor's Russian Unorthodox Imperial Stout tomorrow afternoon, and i'd like some help with the mash schedule. i've decided to replace his single infusion with a protein rest infusion at .8 qt/lb at 131F. then an infusion up to the sacc rest temp at 146F. mash thickness at this point will be about 1.15 qt/lb. my problem now is that with just over 23lbs of grain (i scaled the recipe to 6gal), taking my 10gal cooler MLT to near capacity with boiling water gets me to about 156F, great for a dextrin rest, but now i'm out of room for mashout. so, having done my first decoction last weekend on a maibock, i'm thinking i might pull a thin decoction of just liquor and boil that to bring my mash up to mashout. i know this sounds a little crazy, and you're asking why in hell i'm doing a protein rest for a RIS. i want to make a very fermentable wort, and i'm planning on doing a lot of protein rests in the furture as an attempt to improve clarity. so i said why not. comments and criticisms appreciated.
