TO simple?

I am trying to come up with a recipe for an imperial stout. Trying to keep it simple but am not sure how it will turn out. Look around at other Imperial stout recipes, they have crystal malts etc...

So what do you think?

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OG 1.104
FG 1.026

38.7 IBU

10.4 % ABV
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16 lbs. Golden Promise
5 lbs. 5 oz. Roasted barley


3.00 oz. Cluster @ 60 minutes
1.00 oz. Centennial @ 15 minutes
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer @ 15 minutes
1.00 oz. Liberty @ flameout
0.50 oz. Liberty DRY HOP

You should probably keep roasted barley to 10-12% of your recipe or it can be too astringent and sharp. Replace some of the roast with flaked barley and you've got the classic dry stout recipe scaled up to 10% abv. You could toss in some crystal or chocolate if you want, but I think it'd be damn tasty without it, especially with Golden Promise as the base.

Another thing you might consider is replacing some of the base malt with sugar to help it dry out some unless you're using a very good attenuator like WLP007.

Cool, Thanks indigi!

Does look better?

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OG 1.100
FG 1.025

40.8 IBU

10.0 % ABV
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16 lbs. Golden Promise
1 lbs. 11 oz. Roasted barley
3 lbs. 5 oz. Flaked Barley


3.00 oz. Cluster @ 60 minutes
1.00 oz. Centennial @ 15 minutes
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer @ 15 minutes
1.00 oz. Liberty @ flameout
0.50 oz. Liberty DRY HOP
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I'd either up the roasted barley to 2lbs or drop some of the base malt - you want it to be nice and roasty.

Sounds good indigi. I can't wait to try this. I wonder if adding a vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, or bourbon soaked chips would enhance or ruin this beer? Thanks again for all your help.

I would try brewing without any of the "novelty" ingredients. I'm not much of a fan of adding stuff to beer, but even if I was, I would still make sure I had a solid beer before throwing unconventional ingredients in it.

I've not had a lot of RIS, but a lot of the bigger stouts have some form of crystal added in to balance the increased roastiness/bitterness that the lower gravity offerings simply do not have. Not that it's necessary, mind you, but RIS are more complex than other stouts. You could try boiling for longer to induce some caramelization instead of using speciality malts. It would insure against over-attenuation and would produce some sweetness to keep the drinker wanting more.

Keeping it simple is NEVER a bad thing.

Thanks jfr1111. I'll keep your tips in mind. I think I'll definitely go with a longer boiling time.

Ok, so I have done some research and I'm tossing the simple idea out the window!

Here is what I have come up with. Not sure about what hop variety or schedule to use yet.

(81%) 16 lbs. Golden Promise
(8%) 1 lbs. 8 oz. Roasted Barley
(6%) 1 lbs. 4 oz. Crystal 150L or (Hugh Baird Extra Dark Crystal Malt)
(2%) 5 oz. Crystal 80L
(2%) 5 oz. Belgian Special B
(2%) 5 oz. Chocolate malt

I was also thinking about toasting some of the Golden Promise in my oven. How much should I toast?

I think it looks good, but personnally, I would switch the crystal 150 for cristal 40l since you already have special B and crystal 80. That's just me, it will probably be also very good if you keep it.

As for the toasted GP, id consider toasting flaked oat instead... but again its just my 2cents. If you do so, let it sits for 2 weeks before using it.

Updated Recipe:

OG 1.101
FG 1.025

55* SRM

79.9 IBU

10.1% ABV

2.5 Gallon Batch
3.0 Gallon Boil
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(81%) 8 lbs. 8 oz. Golden Promise
(8%) 12 oz. Roasted Barley
(2%) 3 oz. Caramunich II
(6%) 8 oz. Crystal 150L or (Hugh Baird Extra Dark Crystal Malt)
(2%) 3 oz. Pale Chocolate malt
(2%) 3 oz. Belgian Special B
(2%) 3 oz. Chocolate malt

1.00 oz. Cluster @ 60 minutes
1.00 oz. Centennial @ 15 minutes
0.50 oz. Northern Brewer @ 15 minutes
1.00 oz. Liberty @ flame out