extract russian imperial?

I've tried making a brown ale and a porter from extract and they just dont seem to have the richness that i want from a darker beer. My ipas and belgians come out great, but id love a big, silky smooth, roasty russian imperial stout.

is it possible to make a great RIS from all extract? (something similar to bell's expedition or Oskar Blues' Ten Fidy) if so, i'd love to get recipe ideas. i was considering a partial mash if i absolutely have to.

sure, i have never done it but i would recommend using the lightest extract you can and getting the dark color and flavor you look for from specialty grains.

moparx12 said:

sure, i have never done it but i would recommend using the lightest extract you can and getting the dark color and flavor you look for from specialty grains.

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This is, generally speaking, the method I would use as well. That being said; Bell's, when I brewed there, used to use Mountmellick Stout extract in all of their stouts... I cannot speak to whether or not they still do... These beers were what homebrewers would call "partial mash" in that they were about 50/50 mash to extract ... although for logistical purposes the mashes and extract portions were done separately and blended in the fermenter. Third Coast Old Ale also used extract in this way, with different extracts of course. You might try a single can of Mountmellick, a bunch of light DME, some crystal 60, roast and possibly chocolate if you want get close to the original 80's recipe.

Here is Coopers RIS recipe

Just an FYI the brewers best RIS is awesome.

gunner65 said:

Just an FYI the brewers best RIS is awesome.

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I agree. I have some in the bottle right now that was put in secondary on oak chips for 6 or 8 weeks(don't remember exactly how long) it is very smooth.

I highly recommend Northern Brewer's RIS. Increcibly easy to brew with good bitterness and dark chocolate and coffee notes. I normally brew partial mash and this extract kit impressed me. I'd add a little more hops to the end of the boil or dry hop but the recipe is good as it stands.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/imperial-stout-extract-kit.html

Here's my recipe. Real roasty and smooth.
I might might make it again soon, but I'll have to convert it to AG.

12 lbs Pale LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L
1/2 lb. Chocolate Malt
1/2 lb. Black Patent
1/2 lb. Roasted

Hops

1 oz. Cascade hops (60 min boil)

1 oz. Cascade (30 min boil)

1 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 Min Boil)

1 oz. Willamette hops (5 min late boil)

1 oz. Willamette hops (end of boil)

White Labs WLP001
or WLP005

I just bought NB's Imperial Stout kit...also picked up 2 oz of Simcoe pellets, 4 oz cocoa nibs and 1 lb of dark Belgian candi sugar. I'm not entirely sure what my new schedule is going to look like.

It calls for 1.75oz summit at 60 and 2oz of cascade at 0 minutes

I was thinking 1.75oz summit at 60
1oz Simcoe at 10
1oz Cascade at 10
1oz Simcoe at 0
1oz Cascade at 0

I've read a bunch of threads saying that boiling the candi sugar a few days after primary fermentation begins and adding then will help lighten the strain on the yeast. So, I'm going to give it a shot.
Then I'll add the cocoa nibs to the secondary for 4 to 6 weeks and bottle it up.

Any thoughts on adding yeast at bottling? I've never brewed a beer this big...I figured 2 or 3 months in the secondary might need another shot of yeast.

I'm using white labs 007 dry English yeast