Imperial Stout Ten Fidy Clone

Brewed this yesterday with 100% RO water and built it to the Black/dark balanced profile on Bru'n water. I managed to get 5.5 gallons at 1.102. Got the wort down to 80 degrees and hit it with pure O2 for 60 seconds and then let it cool for a couple hours outside until it was at 70 degrees. I then hit it with 30 seconds more O2 and pitched a 3.5 liter starter (~650 billion cells) of Wyeast 1056. I proceeded to attempt a partigyle and pulled enough with my second runnings to get 3.25 gallons at 1.061 into the fermenter for a porter, I figure I have $5 into this one so if it sucks oh well. I am about to hit the original wort with another round of O2. Fermentation was already going nuts after 8 hours so I am hoping all the oxygen and the big starter helps it ferment out. I mashed about 1/3 of my dark grains for 30 minutes and then added the rest and mashed until I was getting constant refract readings (checked every 5 minutes). Big thanks to @PianoMan for answering questions I had on this one and giving me some guidance as this is the biggest beer I have attempted.

Anytime brother! Hard work is done. Time for a home brew. Let us know the results...in like 4 months. [emoji482]

Good luck, i used the same water profile and got the same OG as you. Mine stopped at 1.030 and around 9.6%, its about 8 months old now and its almost gone, was a fantastic beer tho. I only did a 2l starter of 1056 and shook the carboy, no o2. I wish i would have done a partigyle like you did.

Getting ready to put this recipe into this in a couple days...

PianoMan said:

Getting ready to put this recipe into this in a couple days...View attachment 554857

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I saw your post last night and I was wondering what you were putting in there. That is my goal once I give this batch it's trial run, if I really like it I am going to brew 10 gallons and toss it in a barrel. Is that a woodinville barrel?

Balcones out of Waco, Tx. The smell when I first got it was heaven!

So it ended at 1.023. This gives me a 10.8%. Missed it by that much! "Ten-eighty" it is.

PianoMan said:

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Very fitting! Hopefully the shop in MI gets more of those by the time I'm ready to age. Showing out of stock at $109

SoCo Brewing, lhbs where I got this, has a 55gal. They're trying to get customers to chip in for a fill.

PianoMan said:

View attachment 555006
So it ended at 1.023. This gives me a 10.8%. Missed it by that much! "Ten-eighty" it is.

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One of my all-time favorites!

Can anyone smarter than me convert this to a half decent partial recipe? I’d love to try it; but, I think I’ll be space constrained in my mash tun.

I’m thinking 12lbs of grain would be ideal and then I’ll just add DME to the wort pre-boil to get my OG. Would it work to just cut out the base malt and then top off with light DME until pre-boil OG is reached? Sorry, never tried to convert an AG recipe to partial. Might be the way of my future using this Robobrew...

Boomer said:

Can anyone smarter than me convert this to a half decent partial recipe? I’d love to try it; but, I think I’ll be space constrained in my mash tun.

I’m thinking 12lbs of grain would be ideal and then I’ll just add DME to the wort pre-boil to get my OG. Would it work to just cut out the base malt and then top off with light DME until pre-boil OG is reached? Sorry, never tried to convert an AG recipe to partial. Might be the way of my future using this Robobrew...

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It turns out all the speciality grains plus 2lbs of 2-row is about 12lbs. 6lbs of DME would then reach very close the same gravity.

Kinda what I’m thinking about doing. Just got back into brewing and bought this Robobrew and I can see one of its limitations. Certainly not a big deal, just wanting to make sure my mind is right on this one. Hoping it turns out well so I know I can make whatever the heck I want in the future if I just sub in some DME.

I've found mashing a lot of darks for extended periods can lead to harsh tannins in the final product. I only add about 1/3 dark grains at first then rest after 30min or so. IDK how that works with your machine. Let us know your experience.

Will do, in about 6 months!

My barrel is tied up with a wee heavy for the next couple of months but end of April I think this is going in!! Love ten fidy!

griffi said:

My barrel is tied up with a wee heavy for the next couple of months but end of April I think this is going in!! Love ten fidy!

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Funny, went the other way. 1st true BA was this beer then just bottled a quad aged in the same barrel. I only did 7 and 10days tho.

PianoMan said:

Funny, went the other way. 1st true BA was this beer then just bottled a quad aged in the same barrel. I only did 7 and 10days tho.

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Cool, how did it turn out? I’m thinking 2 months for the Scotch ale bit more like 4-6 for the imperial stout.

It was a 3.5gal barrel. Not enough bourbon for me but rushed things since we we're heading on vacation. I let it dry out after buying it so took a ton of water to rehydrate. Think I might have washed away some flavor. The short aging times were recommended from a Untapped friend who suggested the shorter times due to high surface to liquid ratio. I'm trying the pre bourbon soaked cubes next.

Just checked the gravity on mine 7 weeks after brewing. Down to 1.026 from 1.102 so 10%. Quite happy with that, the sample was tasty but strong. Going to keg tonight, throw it on gas, and let it age until May.

jschm19 said:

Just checked the gravity on mine 7 weeks after brewing. Down to 1.026 from 1.102 so 10%. Quite happy with that, the sample was tasty but strong. Going to keg tonight, throw it on gas, and let it age until May.

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Sounds about right. 4 months seems the minimum for these big beers.

I brewed this recipe about 3 months ago. I ended up soaking some oak cubes in bourbon for a month for the secondary. The beer started at 1.102 and finished at 1.024. I sat the beer on the cubes for 2 weeks. Before I bottled. During bottling, I added another 4 oz of Woodford reserve to the bucket. It's been bottled for 4 weeks and it is boozy but very good. Great call on this recipe.

That time again folks! Brewed an Old Rasputin clone to build up a yeast cake for this guy. Converted to 3.5gal PM brewing this year but will be going 6.5gal AG for this bad boy. PMs just aren't coming out the same. Debating on Barreling half with a new barrel...ah ****, got a quad I'm doing after. Might as well!

I accidentally ordered 500-600L English roasted barley instead of 300L. Can I expect that to cause any significant flavor difference in this recipe?
Cheers

Racked to keg tonight. Finished at 11.5%

Anybody brew this recently?

I just brewed a slightly different ten Fidy clone recipe yesterday. I mashed at 149 for a little over an hour. I used all of the dark grains in the mash this time. Shook FV for O2 just prior to pitching and then again about 16 hrs later. Pitched three packs of US-05. Starting gravity was 1.108. Terrible efficiency but the highest I've ever been able to pull off.

I can hardly wait to see how this one ferments...let alone wait for it to age 6 months! I'll report back on mine as it finishes.

Tyler B said:

Anybody brew this recently?

I just brewed a slightly different ten Fidy clone recipe yesterday. I mashed at 149 for a little over an hour. I used all of the dark grains in the mash this time. Shook FV for O2 just prior to pitching and then again about 16 hrs later. Pitched three packs of US-05. Starting gravity was 1.108. Terrible efficiency but the highest I've ever been able to pull off.

I can hardly wait to see how this one ferments...let alone wait for it to age 6 months! I'll report back on mine as it finishes.

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The issue with mashing all the darks at once is you may end up with tannin bitters in the final product. If you do sense it, no fear. I've learned to only mash about 1/2 darks for 30min then add the rest at 30. End product is superior. Play it out and see what you think. You'll know pretty quick. This beer takes minimum 4 months of aging before any proper assessment can be done. Just keep that in mind.

PianoMan, thanks for all of your contributions to this thread.

I've made a couple similar beers in the past, one of which was way too bitter (too much hops due to overestimating final volume) and the other started off too bitter/harsh but mellowed over time. Unfortunately, I drank most of it before it reached its peak. I'll definitely be more patient with this one and I'll try mashing the dark grains as you described next time.

Do you do mash like that with all beers that use dark grains or just big beers like this that use an unusually high percentage of them?

Tyler B said:

PianoMan, thanks for all of your contributions to this thread.

I've made a couple similar beers in the past, one of which was way too bitter (too much hops due to overestimating final volume) and the other started off too bitter/harsh but mellowed over time. Unfortunately, I drank most of it before it reached its peak. I'll definitely be more patient with this one and I'll try mashing the dark grains as you described next time.

Do you do mash like that with all beers that use dark grains or just big beers like this that use an unusually high percentage of them?

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Thanks but passing on brewing knowledge from the last generation of brewers. Struggled with tannins until a member help me.

Good question. My 10-fidy'ish clone runs about 3lbs darks. Lighter stouts are closer to 2 but I still divided in half or so to be on the safe side. I still add chemicals (starting with RO) to a mash of 5.4pH and don't worry about the stagggered additions.

My keezer build is taking longer than anticipated (I live overseas and entering local public holiday, Tet) so my brew is still sitting in primary. I was thirsty so decided to take a sample a couple night ago and it tastes surprisingly good for as young as it is (brewed 12/18/19). I think I need to transfer to secondary though just to get it off the yeast cake until a keg opens up.

This one is shaping up to be one of my better attempts at ten Fidy. My advice, in addition to what others have already said... Make sure you've brewed a few similar beers in terms of high gravity with lots of dark grains to get your efficiency right. I came close to hitting my expected numbers but only because I knew what to expect from experience. My last couple of attempts were always off and the taste reflected this. I'll continue to share updates.

Tyler B said:

My keezer build is taking longer than anticipated (I live overseas and entering local public holiday, Tet) so my brew is still sitting in primary. I was thirsty so decided to take a sample a couple night ago and it tastes surprisingly good for as young as it is (brewed 12/18/19). I think I need to transfer to secondary though just to get it off the yeast cake until a keg opens up.

This one is shaping up to be one of my better attempts at ten Fidy. My advice, in addition to what others have already said... Make sure you've brewed a few similar beers in terms of high gravity with lots of dark grains to get your efficiency right. I came close to hitting my expected numbers but only because I knew what to expect from experience. My last couple of attempts were always off and the taste reflected this. I'll continue to share updates.

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Good job brother! Feels good to brew those big beers the 1st time. I'm still nervous for weeks. This last 10-fidy was a wreck! Different equipment and technique. WAY low efficiency and finished ultra high. Ended up adding 2lbs Dark DME, re-oxygenated the already half fermented beer. After 2 more weeks, FG dropped like a rock. Ended up at 10.6%...calculated. Added 1 4oz liquid Chocolate Extract at kegging. 2 months later, pretty darn good! Knowing how to save beers is such a key to brewing.

Anyone recommend a target CO2 volume for this beer to shoot for when bottling?

I am in the process of switching to kegs partially because I have trouble getting consistent results when bottling. So, take my advice for what it's worth, but I'd shoot for 2.2 if I was bottling this one.

One of my keg/faucet beer lines will be dedicated to serving big beers like this and that's the number I'm using for balancing that one.

Tyler B said:

I am in the process of switching to kegs partially because I have trouble getting consistent results when bottling. So, take my advice for what it's worth, but I'd shoot for 2.2 if I was bottling this one.

One of my keg/faucet beer lines will be dedicated to serving big beers like this and that's the number I'm using for balancing that one.

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I’d guess your troubles arise when the yeast quits in primary from abv. Pretty hard to carbonate in that environment. Ever try adding CBC-1 or something similar at bottling? Very helpful.

I keg most beers, but don’t have space for this one, so bottling it is!

I've never used that, maybe I'll give it a try.

Sometimes the yeast seems to SLOWLY go to work on the priming sugar and over time (after months) I end up with over carbonated bottles. Other times, the beers seems to go flat after initially being carbed properly. Then, just to give me hope, sometimes it seems to be perfect. Because of the inconsistencies, I usually just shoot for the recommended volumes of CO2 and hope for the best.

Bottled my latest attempt last night, only 9.8%, but finished at 1.028, so hopefully the difference is negligible. Targeted 2.2 vol CO2, so we’ll see how that plays out. Added 5 g of rehydrates CBC-1 as well.

Tried a dosing experiment with 4 Roses Bourbon that had been aging with medium American oak cubes for the last 6-8 months. Added either 2.5, 5 or 10 mL to three bottles each. Will give it 3 weeks before trying all four “variants”.

I like the idea of that experiment. I've been waiting til I really dial in a good RIS that I'm happy with before I start experimenting with barrel/whiskey flavors.

Also, in my experience, the longer I let these big ones go, generally the happier I am. I'd even go so far as to say that I'm usually a little disappointed after the first bottle or so if they're around one month old. By three months they usually start tasting nice and at about six months they really hit their stride. I always wish I saved more when that time comes. I'm trying to have more self control with the last batch I brewed.

When it comes to kegs, I will use the kegs to carb-up then use a beer gun to bottle if the keg is needed later on. I cold crash beers pre kegging so I kinda thought there wouldn't be much yeast in suspension for the added sugar.

PianoMan said:

When it comes to kegs, I will use the kegs to carb-up then use a beer gun to bottle if the keg is needed later on. I cold crash beers pre kegging so I kinda thought there wouldn't be much yeast in suspension for the added sugar.

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I normally keg all my clean beers as well, just didn’t have space for this one. Cold crashing will never remove all the yeast, may take more than a month to carb up with a beer this big, though. That’s what the CBC-1 is for though.

isomerization said:

I normally keg all my clean beers as well, just didn’t have space for this one. Cold crashing will never remove all the yeast, may take more than a month to carb up with a beer this big, though. That’s what the CBC-1 is for though.

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Ah gotcha. Do you mix/stir it in? That was also bothering me to do in the primary