Imperial Stout Russian Imperial Stout (2011 HBT Competition Category Winner)

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Update…. There was 1 bottle that had firmed up and carbonated. I thought it would be an infection and maybe it was but…. I chilled it for a couple of days and it’s…. Delicious! I need to save this batch!

So, 2 weeks ago I put a sprinkle of CBC-1 yeast in each bottle and made sure they were kept at 19 to 20c. There was a little bit of vegemite smell but this has dropped right away and been replaced by cocoa and roast flavours.

Still no carbonation.

When I originally bottled them I added 1 coopers carb drop per 740ml bottle. This is usually perfect for stout. I assumed that as there had been no previous carbonation the sugar would still be there and the CBC-1 would kick off.

should I try again with some more CBC-1 and add a new carb drop?

The single carbed bottle was so good I don’t want to send the rest down the drain!

Any advice would be great fully received. Thank you.

So what did you do and did it work?

I'm still debating if I should use WLP002 or Voss.
Easier for me to keep something at 32oC with a fermiwrap and jacket than find a month free in my Kegerator to keep the WLP002 under control.
 
Well it’s just over a year in the bottle.
After the initial addition of cbc1 the bottle (PET) firmed up a bit but not enough. I left them for a few months.
Then I added a bit more cbc1 and popped in a carb drop. This seemed to work and in 2 weeks the squeezability of the bottles was just right for a stout.
Finally tired one last week after 3 or 4 days in the fridge…..
It’s a winner!!!! Rich, smooth, syrupy, tight lasting head, toasty, coffee and powerful. Gets better the further down the glass you go. First few mouthfuls are a bit overpowering but the journey down the glass is well worth it.

Will I brew this again? Yes! Will I go through the same protracted birth as this batch? I hope not!

A good lesson to me in patience perseverance and to not be afraid to try to save a batch especially when your gut (and nose) tell you it could be worth saving.
 
Hey, I'm gonna brew a variant of this one in the coming days. Using pilsner malt instead of pale ale malt, another hop for the 60 min addition and two 11g bags of rehydrated s-04 yeast instead of wlp002. The rest is identical.

The yeast in the beer recipe has an attentuation of 63-70%, the yeast I intend to use has attenuation of 74-82%, OG will be 1.105 and intended FG is 1.028, mash temperature is 66°c. if I want the same FG with the yeast I intend to use can I increase the mash temp to generate more non fermentable sugar to make up for the stronger attentuation in the s-04? Anyone with a clue of how much?

I have lutra kveik also which I could use, would it fit the recipe better?
 
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Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about adjusting the mash temp unless you absolutely don't want to risk going under 1.028. According to the specs I have seen, 1.024 is the lowest S-04 or Lutra will go anyway with that grain bill and OG. You'd be looking at a difference between about 10.5% and 11% ABV.

I personally am not a fan of any Kveik yeast that I have tried, but this recipe tasted pretty good with S-04 from what I recall.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about adjusting the mash temp unless you absolutely don't want to risk going under 1.028. According to the specs I have seen, 1.024 is the lowest S-04 or Lutra will go anyway with that grain bill and OG. You'd be looking at a difference between about 10.5% and 11% ABV.

I personally am not a fan of any Kveik yeast that I have tried, but this recipe tasted pretty good with S-04 from what I recall.
Thanks! I saw in the pitch rate/yeast starter tool in brewfather it recommended me to pitch about 750 billion cells or 5 bags so now I'm making a 3.4 liter yeast starter for the two yeast packages to hopefully hit that amount. I think I will maybe increase temp 1°c or such.
 
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Hello, gonna brew my tweaked version of this one tomorrow or the day after. yeast from my yeast starter is ready.

I have two questions:

I found a way to increase my batch size a little but i alteady bought the special grains for the smaller batch, would it make a bad enough impact on the recipe to increase grain bill with 1 kilo of vienna malt (about 17% increase) to increase the batch size or do you think its ok? I could increase with base malt instead also, have both at hand. But if it would ruin the RIS too much i'd rather make a smaller batch to which i have the correct grain bill.

I'm reading many recommendations on using a blow-off tube, i have a small tube 1/4" internal diameter which fit my hole in my fermentation bucket (the same size as for my air lock). I will use my fridge to ferment in the lower range of what the s-04 yeast like (65°f). Would this temp be ambient temp or wort temp? My guess is the latter. If I brew at this temp I'm thinking fermentation might be a little tamed and I can get away with the small blow-off tube, at the same time have more neutral taste from the yeast. I could lower temp even further if s-04 would accept/like it, I'm in no hurry. Seems like the older recommended temps for the yeast had a larger swing, down to 59°f as opposed to 65.

Thanks for any insight.
 
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