First RIS recipe -- How's it look??

Hey all, here's another shameless 'is this gonna taste like beer?' post.
This will be my first attempt at an RIS. The recipe is loosely-based around Dark Truth Stout. I'm hoping for that glorious plum flavor that hides in my favorite stouts. Here goes:

15# Pale 2-Row
1# Roasted Barley
1# Special B
1# Flaked Oats
1# Golden Naked Oats
.5# Crystal 120L
.5# Rye
.25# Chocolate Malt

(Percentages - 70, 5, 5, 5, 5, 2.5, 2.5, 1)


@60 1oz Magnum
@15 1oz Zeus
@0 1oz Citra
@0 1oz Perle

White Labs Belgian Ale Yeast - 2L starter


OG 1.091
FG 1.015
SRM 35
IBU 60

Mash at 150F for 60mins - Sparge with 170F - collect 8gals of wort over 60mins


60min boil - cool to 65F - pitch - hold at 65F for two weeks then into secondary **I would love to have this one ready for Christmas but I bet I'm too late at this point. Has anyone experienced a big stout like this being ready serve in 8 or 9 weeks???

Cheers to all!!

I think it looks pretty good. May want to cut back the special B a bit since IME it can be very assertive. I think you will have it ready in time. It will just improve over months but itll be ready to drink before then

Looks OK to me, albeit busy.

Not sure I understand the 1% chocolate malt, tiny bit of rye, two kinds of oats. Personally I try to go more simple. I'd either cut or increase the rye (if youre wanting that spiceyness youll need a lot more), cut the chocolate. Personally I like my stouts a little roasty so I'd maybe up it more there as well. Flameout citra and perle in an RIS sounds a bit interesting albeit odd as well.

And entirely personal preference, but belgian yeasts are nasty

m00ps said:

I think it looks pretty good. May want to cut back the special B a bit since IME it can be very assertive. I think you will have it ready in time. It will just improve over months but itll be ready to drink before then

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Thanks m00ps, I hope I can share with the fam (beer freaks) over the holidays.
My intention with the Special B is that, combined with C120L, I'll get a great dose of that dark-fruit/plum/raisin flavor - I've read that that combination will achieve that flavor and have recently confirmed it from my brother's most recent RIS.

you could also use some d180 candi syrup. I use that along with 6oz of special B in my dark belgians to get a good flavor. Choosing the right yeast strain and fermentation temp can help too

iijakii said:

Looks OK to me, albeit busy.

Not sure I understand the 1% chocolate malt, tiny bit of rye, two kinds of oats. Personally I try to go more simple. I'd either cut or increase the rye (if youre wanting that spiceyness youll need a lot more), cut the chocolate. Personally I like my stouts a little roasty so I'd maybe up it more there as well. Flameout citra and perle in an RIS sounds a bit interesting albeit odd as well.

And entirely personal preference, but belgian yeasts are nasty

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I agree pretty much entirely with your thoughts! Boulevard actually uses a few more grain varieties which I dropped. I played with the percentages until the SRM and gravity met the style guidlines. I def wanted to incorporate Special B, which they don't use.

As for the hops, haha, yes, interesting to say the least. Those are the 4 hops they use but they don't list a schedule. I figured I'd shoot for 60 IBUs with the Magnum and Zeus and then sneak the Citra and Perle in at the end.

And the yeast, well, yup, it seems unorthodox as well but that's what they use lol. I've only used two strains in my 1yr homebrewing career - US-05 and Conan. So, I'm actually pretty excited to step into another yeast territory.

I plan to brew this weekend. I'll keep this thread alive throughout

m00ps said:

you could also use some d180 candi syrup. I use that along with 6oz of special B in my dark belgians to get a good flavor. Choosing the right yeast strain and fermentation temp can help too

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I forgot to mention adjuncts - Brown Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar. Those are listed on Boulevard's website but, as with everything else, they didn't list quantities. I'll have to do some more homework as far as those additions because I've never used them before.

i wouldnt go too far past 1lb for an RIS since sugar will thin it out. Ive used dark brown sugar in a stout before and mashed a bit higher than normal to combat it

Second adding a lb of D180 to get more dark fruit flavor. Will help dry it out a bit also. Then you could trim your special B back to 10-12 oz. I don't think brown sugar will contribute much for this other than to help dry it out some (you can barely distinguish it from table sugar in ciders).

Otherwise looks pretty good and interesting.

Fudge!! My LHBS only has Safbrew T-58 as for Belgian yeast. Does anyone have experience with this strain? I have read that it's more on the peppery side and lacks the fruity flavor that I was hoping for. Yikes

I have not, but a phenolic RIS (pepper) does not sound the best to me. Do they have WY1214? T58 is hardly a good selection for Belgian yeast, yikes.

What about WLP023? That one throws some fruity esters. Cultured up Bells yeast is fruity above 68-69F, but that takes 6-7 days to step up.

Also as with any big brew, you could drink it in 8-9 weeks. But it will be far better by months 5 or 6. Likely peak in 9 months.

After doing some reading, and based on the availability at the LHBS, I am going with WLP007 Dry English Ale. I must admit though, I entertained the idea of using my second generation Conan but quickly declined since the attenuation is very questionable still.

I've got to remember going forward that I should procure yeast a bit more in advance of brewday!

Now we're talking. That's a good stout yeast.

Good choice. BIG starter to make sure it finishes. Cheers!

So, I held off on brewing this batch this weekend. I did, however, brew a 10gal APA with my brother - great brewday, hit all of our numbers with no sweat.

My reason for holding back on the RIS is, I'm still kinda bent on using the Belgian yeast as does Boulevard. I can remember sharing Dark Truth Stout with my oldest brother and he was taken-back by the description of ingredients on the label; and the resulting flavor of the beer. The stuff is excellent if you haven't already tried it.

I asked my LHBS to put WLP500 (Monastery Ale) on his order to arrive this week. I'm hoping it shows up in time to make a starter before this Sunday (which is when I will definitely brew this beer). Also, he didn't have Golden Naked Oats, so I asked for that in addition to the yeast.

My concern now is bulk aging the RIS until Christmas. My fermentation chamber only holds one 6.5gal carboy. I can commit maybe 3 weeks for the RIS but then I need to make room for a DIPA (also for holiday sharing).

Is a corny keg a good idea for secondary to avoid as much oxidation (through multiple transfers) as possible? Can I age in the keg Sealed? Or will I need to fashion some type of airlock/blowoff?

Any insight on keg secondary would be greatly appreciated!!
Cheers

Aging in the keg under pressure is good.

iijakii said:

Aging in the keg under pressure is good.

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So, do I purge with CO2, rack, and seal? Or actually hit it with some CO2 after sealing?

Sweetwort-Hopkins said:

So, do I purge with CO2, rack, and seal? Or actually hit it with some CO2 after sealing?

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Either, really. BOP would be purge, rack, seat the lid. Maybe purge again and hit it with another blast. Then you can leave it on or off the gas, no difference besides needing to carb when you finally want to drink it.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1445880666.129088.jpg
Hoping this thing will go bonkers!! 1.094 OG

This beer is coming up on one month of age. It tastes pretty wild already. I have it kegged and sitting at about 60F. There is a slight banana thing going on but it is very slight and I'm hoping it will fully disappear with time. It actually has somewhat of a 'barrel character' to it - very warming and the booze (10.5%) is detectable in the nose but not fusel at all. Keg was set at 11psi and then taken off the gas immediately. After pulling a sample yesterday, it did have a very slight carbonation - almost a desirable level for the style but can use a bit more.

I'll try to keep this thread updated as the beer ages and evolves.