imperial stout?!?!

i purchased a northern brewer imperial stout kit. i know that its short time but im plan on making this tomorrow morning..... according to the website i can do it in my 6 gal bucket...but my lhbs said that i should split it into two 2 1/2 gal fermentors for the fear of explosion..... my kit includes specialty grains 12 lbs of extract and hops. what do you all think?!? i also have a 11.5g packet of safale s-04, will that be enough yeast? and i also have a packet of safbrew s-33 that i have layin around if i need to double pitch it... im not familiar with yeast ..would this screw up flavor?

I would just use a blow off hose instead of splitting it. Not sure what the OG is supposed to be but I am guessing one pack of dry yeast isn't going to be enough for an imperial stout. Use a site like Mrmalty.com to figure out how much yeast you need based on the OG.

Eh, explosions are an indicator that you're *really* going to enjoy the final beer. I would definitely also suggest using a blowoff tube and your 6 gallon fermenter, it will reduce the risk of explosion significantly and will help you avoid issues with having to split your yeast. The above advice on quantity of yeast will help you understand pitching rates better, but I would estimate (without checking) that at least two packs of yeast would be closer to optimal in an imperial.

Both RIS's I have made.. Huge OG's, never had either blow off anything. A crazy fermentation, but there was enough room in my bucket. I forget what size it is, it may be 6.5 gallons?
I would make a huge starter, or double pitch the yeast. Age that sucker until next fall if you can wait. Of course I can't, lol.

Blow off tube and temp control. Don't stick it next to a heater. Or in a room that is 75*. Get it going around 60* and you'll be able to avoid a explosion and any hot fusel alcohol flavors that ruin plenty of big homebrews.

I don't have a blow off tube available... Just my airlock.

For sure do a yeast calc so you dont ruin or have a low OG beer that should be higher, been there done that.

I would say close to 300 billion yeast cells will be needed, just using round numbers.

By another yeast pack and pitch half as I believe most dry packs house around 200 billion.

also,,, hook up a blow off tube or pay the piper....DOH

Also most imperial stouts take months to get good so be prepared to go awhile before drinking any.

Mines currently 3 months and not there yet.

Jrbetz said:

I don't have a blow off tube available... Just my airlock.

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Don't you have a tube to rack beers or bottle? Just sick that in the grommet where the air lock goes and the other end in a jug filled with a sanitized solution. That's what I do, no problems.

sweed said:

Don't you have a tube to rack beers or bottle? Just sick that in the grommet where the air lock goes and the other end in a jug filled with a sanitized solution. That's what I do, no problems.

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I will try this and let you know! Thank you for the tip!

I pretty much use the same exact setup and it works like a champ.

Agreed with the pitching rates & blow off tube suggestions. I made mine out of a tube I had lying around that fit perfectly on the inner stem of the 3 piece airlock.

sweed said:

Don't you have a tube to rack beers or bottle? Just sick that in the grommet where the air lock goes and the other end in a jug filled with a sanitized solution. That's what I do, no problems.

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It worked like a charm. I will definitely use again in the future

I brewed a Batch of HG Strong Belgian Strong Ale yesterday and woke up this morning with a clogged airlock but no explosion ! Installed a blowoff tube. My question is did the pressure overnight harm the yeast ? It's running out of the blowoff tubes like gangbusters now.

yellowrv said:

I brewed a Batch of HG Strong Belgian Strong Ale yesterday and woke up this morning with a clogged airlock but no explosion ! Installed a blowoff tube. My question is did the pressure overnight harm the yeast ? It's running out of the blowoff tubes like gangbusters now.

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You answered your own question. Your yeast are quite happy and munching away on sugars so much they're churning enough to blow out the tube.