Russian imperial stout

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Dixon

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Looking to brew a Russian imperial stout to bulk age for 4-5 months then bottle in 750s for Xmas gifts. Looking for it to be fairly traditional British style however want it BIG. 1.100 or close. And want to age it on some Bourbon oak chips.

Anyone willing to share their recipes?

You all rock!
 
I just tasted this the other day. I thought it turned out real nice.


Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
16.67 lb 2-Row
2.00 lb Amber Malt
1.25 lb Roasted Barley
0.50 lb Midnight Wheat
2.00 oz Warrior (90 min)
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent (90 min)
London Ale Yeast

2.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 28.0 days)
16.00 oz Wild Turkey 101 (Secondary 28.0 days)

Mashed @ 150
 
Here is a recipe I came up with a while back, but haven't been able to try out yet. It's not what you would call traditional, as it mixes British and Continental malts in nearly equal amounts, but it certainly should be interesting.

Dr Zhivago's Miracle Tonic
6 lbs Maris Otter pale malt
6 lbs Munich Malt (20L)
2 lbs. Brown Malt
1 lb. flaked barley
1 lb. Biscuit malt
1 lb. CaraMunich malt
1 lb. Special B malt
0.5 lb Honey malt
0.5 lb roasted barley
2 oz Kent Goldings (5.5%AA), FWH
1 oz Bravo (15.5%), 60 minutes
1 oz Kent Goldings (5.5%AA), 5 minutes
Wyeast 1450 (Denny's Favorite 50)

Mashed at 152 deg. F for 60 minutes
estimated OG: 1.095; est. FG: 1.021; est. ABV 10%
 
Brewed this in April of 2012. It was kinda harsh, woody, and a little meh after one month in the bottle. But it has gotten really great about 10 months after brewing. Should peak next winter I imagine, and age for another few years beyond. It was partial mash as my BIAB kettle can only handle so much grain.

9 lb lb Marris Otter
1lb Munich
1 lb Roasted Barley
0.5 lb Special B
0.375 lb Chocolate
0.375 Crystal 80L
0.5 lb Flaked Oats
6 lb Gold LME - late addition
1.5 oz Med American Oak Cubes (7 weeks in secondary)
3 oz scotch whiskey (decanted off cubes 2x over 2 weeks)

Bells Yeast, entire cake from previous Porter

Warrior 1 oz FWH, 1 oz 60 min
UK Fuggle 1 oz 20 min, 1 oz 5 min

Mash 80 minutes at 148F

1.102 OG, 1.011 FG, 12.2% ABV est, 92 IBU est
Primary 5 weeks, Secondary 4 months

It got stuck initially at around 1.030. I pitched a strong, active fermenting starter with Bells yeast again into secondary and it dropped another 19 points. I was amazed! The oak was a little stronger than I was initially shooting for, but it has mellowed to more of a vanilla note and is well into the background now.
 
I would primary anything that big for a month, if gravity good, transfer to secondary with oak and bourbon for another month and then bottle and age the bottles, do not leave it on oak for a long period of time. I would definitely use marris otter as the base, 10% British crystal 80-90, 5-6% roasted barley and 4-5% British chocolate malt. Bitter with target, then do fuggles at 20 minutes, shoot for 60 ibu's. Do not use aroma or dry hops, you want the oak, bourbon, roast, coffee and chocolate to come out on top.
 
Even a month may be too long on 2 oz of oak chips. 1-2 weeks may be all that is neccesary and can be added near the end of secondary. Sample and taste every 3-4 days. I like long secondaries for big beers like the one you are targeting.

Oak cubes are more forgiving because there is more surface area so it takes longer to impart the taste.

If you plan on aging most of these beers for 2+ years, then more oak flavor can be imparted since it will fade somewhat over time.
 
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