AHS Oaked Imperial Whiskey Stout

Hey Guys,

Im prepping to start my second homebrew, and am planning on doing the Austin Homebrew Oaked Imperial Whiskey Stout and I have a couple of questions before I begin. I will be doing this kit as a mini mash and will use DME.

First off, AHS suggests to double pitch the wort because of the high OG (O.G. = 1.087). I ordered two vials of WLP004 Irish ale yeast and can't decided whether I should use them both or make a starter with just one and save the other. I plan on leaving it in the primary for 2-3 weeks and then keeping it in the secondary for 2-3 months, does that sound like a reasonable amount of time... more? less?...

Since the beer will be in the secondary for two to three months I was curious if I will need to add more yeast before I bottle... (not sure if that is a dumb question but I feel like a lot of the yeast will die/go dormant after the long period.)

Once in the secondary I plan on adding 2.5 oz of oak chips that had been soaked in one cup of makers mark for a week. however, I'm not sure of when the best time to add this is. From other threads I was planning on doing it around 1-1.5 weeks prior to bottling, also should I put that cup of makers mark into the secondary or just the chips? Any suggestions (I'm a big fan of bourbon flavor in beers so im not afraid of a strong flavor)? I was also thinking about adding one vanilla bean...

Finally, do you guys have any suggestions for me on this brew? It is only my second hombrew (first was a baltic porter) and I already have high hopes for this one. Im planning on brewing it now so that I can bottle it and let it age over the summer and enjoy it next Thanksgiving!!!

Anyways thanks for all of your input and look forward to hearing back from you!

Cheers!

Definitely make a starter using one vial. 2 vials will not ferment a wort that big. If you dont want to make a starter you can calculate how many vials you will need for that wort. Go to yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com and you can calculate just how big your starter will need to be or how many vials you will need.

You will not need to add more yeast when you bottle. At bottling time just add your bottling sugar and bottle.

Not sure I can help you with the oak and bourbon. I have not done that before.

You have amazing patience for a newbie. I still have yet to be able to wait more than about 8 weeks to drink my beer. I have aged a few six packs and gotten great results but i still find it hard to cellar that big beer for 6 months or more.

Sounds like you should have a great beer. Fermenting a beer that big can be a challenge so definitly do a proper starter.

you can add the whiskey soaked oak any time during secondary, i would just taste it every once in a while to make sure it doesnt get too oakey. if you want to add more makers i would do it when your bottling so you can add just a little bit at a time and tast it until it is to your liking, you can always add more but you cant undo too much.

I was thinking about adding yeast utriwnt to help teach my FG. Do you thing this is necessary?

Nutrient sorry

although i have added nutrient to a couple of my starters i have never found it to be "necessary" but i dont think it could hurt either!

One more question, I'm getting my yeast in the next day or two, how long will it stay good in my fridge? I don't plan on brewing for a couple weeks

beerdyman said:

One more question, I'm getting my yeast in the next day or two, how long will it stay good in my fridge? I don't plan on brewing for a couple weeks

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Yeast is dated. You want to buy as fresh as you can. The yeast calculators I gave you will calculate your starter based on the age of the yeast. You can keep it in the fridge for a long time. It will lose some of its viability over time but you can make that up with your starter. I don't know how long for sure but a few weeks is no problem.