Feedback on my imperial stout recipe

Ok, gang. This is my first attempt at a stout, or really any darker/bigger beer of any sort. I've been pretty much doing pales, bitters, IPAs and hefes but I wanted to get started on a good winter beer next. I'm a big fan of imperial stouts so that's what I was going after. But considering it's my first I may be overlooking something so I just wanted someone else to give it a good once over.

Here's what I come up with:

Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.78 gal
Estimated OG: 1.095 SG
Estimated Color: 52.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 93.6 IBU
Estimated ABV: 8.57%
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item % or IBU
17.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) 81.93 %
1.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 7.23 %
1.00 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 4.82 %
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 3.61 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 2.41 %
4.00 oz Challenger [7.50 %] (60 min) 74.5 IBU
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) 19.1 IBU
1 Pkgs (with large starter) English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

I then planned on mashing at 1.25 qt/lb at 152, fermenting at 64 for 4 weeks and then bulk aging until about Thanksgiving.

The only thing I had to go on for the recipe was more or less using 70-90% pale malt, about 10% roasted malt, and try to keep the IBU:SG ratio close to 1. But any suggestions or advice are welcome. Hoping to get this nailed down so I can brew it next week

i'm working on an RIS recipe as well, and it's quite similar in grist, so i think what you have looks pretty good!

I'm not certain about this because i've not bulk aged for that many months, but you may want to add some fresh yeast at bottling to insure good carbing. someone correct me if i'm wrong on this.

I actually mash my RIS even lower than this (maybe 150?) and add corn sugar (maybe 2 pounds) to get the FG down where I want it to be. I don't have any recipes here with me at work, so I can't give exact information. You may want to also count on a lower efficiency with so much grain unless you want to boil forever.

That's my $0.02.

Thanks. Great suggestions. I did notice a few recipes on here mashing at even 148 I think so maybe I will go a bit lower and add a little extra grain for probable lower efficiency

I think it seems a little heavy on the roasted malt. I usually prefer more crystal to roasted malts, so you have a nice, thick body like a milkshake. You have an OG of 1.095 and it's only 8.6%ABV? Good god, what is your FG? I brewed a 1.091 OG imperial stout and my FG finished up at 1.023. Also, with a big beer, I always try and start the fermentation temperature down low and when it slows, ramp it up to the higher end of the range to give the stressed yeast a little more energy to fully attenuate. After I am convinced fermentation is complete (usually after about 7-8 days), I drop the temperature back down and let it age.

Beersmith has it finishing at 1.030 with WLP002. The recipe is loosely based off of Jamil's recipe and I believe he mentioned it finished at 1.032 or something from what I remember.

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsRussianImperialStout.htm

marubozo said:

Beersmith has it finishing at 1.030 with WLP002. The recipe is loosely based off of Jamil's recipe and I believe he mentioned it finished at 1.032 or something from what I remember.

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsRussianImperialStout.htm

Click to expand...

Wow, that's gonna be thick.