OFFICIAL Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout Clone

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Agreed with a low mash temp because of all the high kilned malts in the recipe.


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I've read through most of the post on this thread over the last few days. I am extremely interested and excited about making a batch or two of KtG.

My question to the group is, having not had KtG before (as a lot of people have stated before) is there a RIS on the market that you could somewhat compare it to?

Without the oak and port, it probably compares most closely to the Stone RIS and Foothills Breakfast Stout. A little more complex in flavor than both though. Adding the oak and port takes it to a whole new level though.
 
I've had this on my "to brew" list for a while now too, and have been wondering the same regarding other comparable beers. Last weekend I was lucky enough to find that a local grill was serving Clown Shoes The Good The Bad and The Unidragon. It was thick, chewy and scrumptious! It does have a higher ABV (14%) but wondering if anyone has tried both and could provide a comparison?

Haven't had the clown shoes RIS, but they have a chocolate stout and a Pecan porter that are both very good. Some people buy beers with goofy names because it grabs their eye. Others avoid the goofy names because they assume the name is there because the beer sucks. Clown Shoes definitely should not be overlooked because of their name/bottles. They have a never nice lineup.
 
Haven't had the clown shoes RIS, but they have a chocolate stout and a Pecan porter that are both very good. Some people buy beers with goofy names because it grabs their eye. Others avoid the goofy names because they assume the name is there because the beer sucks. Clown Shoes definitely should not be overlooked because of their name/bottles. They have a never nice lineup.

Yes, good point about cute names and labels. They can grab your attention though the result can be positive or negative. My first Clown Shoes beer was Space Cake DIPA, and it was shared by a friend just a day or two after it was released. So amazing that I immediately went out and bought some. In fact, the very first review of this beer on RateBeer is mine! This RIS was the second I've tried, so I will certainly not ever hesitate to try anything from this brewer. No matter how silly the label might be. It's the beer inside that counts.
 
Haven't had the clown shoes RIS, but they have a chocolate stout and a Pecan porter that are both very good. Some people buy beers with goofy names because it grabs their eye. Others avoid the goofy names because they assume the name is there because the beer sucks. Clown Shoes definitely should not be overlooked because of their name/bottles. They have a never nice lineup.

I just tried the Pecan Porter last week. Not a huge amount of Pecan, what bit there is makes me think about the bitter part of it.

However, it was a great porter underneath. Going to try a porter (maybe this weekend?) For a winter warmer, I'd love to have that flavor profile incorporated.
 
My brother, Catdaddy (on this forum) just brewed his attempt at this recipe yesterday. i'll tell you how it turned out... in 8 months or so!
 
1st bottle of this at 4 months.

Starting to smooth out some. Got a bit of a carbonation issue but I think it's from only 16hrs in the fridge....fingers crossed.

This is a really solid recipe and il excited for the next years on this

Edit: horrible glassware but it's the best I've got at grandmas


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ImageUploadedByHome Brew1414357133.378716.jpg
 
how many vol co2 is that atimmerman88? or how much dextrose for how many gal beer did you prime? I'm nervous to bottle mine. Bottled the left hand milk stout and it came out too little carbonation, no head if it's chilled, a finger if at room temp. Then bottled a bourbon porter with way too mcuh carbonation, came out like at a wheat beer level so it has way too much head/bite. I've been told 2.2 is perfect for this, but I'm still not sure.
 
I bottled it to 1.9v per tasty brew. 2.5 oz sugar for 5 gal

The beer itself wasn't overly crabed. I pulled it from the cellar and drank it 16hrs later so I don't think the co2 was fully dissolved back into the bottle. It's beer in bottles 7 weeks


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Well, I brewed this last Saturday so last night, I started soaking the oak spirals. I started by weighing oak spiral to have 2 oz of oak and it slid nicely into my hydrometer tube. Added the tawny port (the only one the liquor store had) and the spirals started floating, so I sanitized an extra stainless steel threaded insert and dropped that on top, to weigh down the spirals.

The port tasted awesome so I cant wait to add it to the beer. I had considered adding another spiral soaked in bourbon but decided to rock the original recipe the first time.

img_20141101_161247_461-64142.jpg
 
That is a great port. I can't wait to make this recipe. This is the one I want to put in Belgian 750 bottles and cork and save for a long time.



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
 
Thoroughly aggravated

KtG sat in primary for 6 weeks. Secondary for 6. Bottles 6 weeks

Primed them to 1.75v and I've got this on the bourbon version




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ImageUploadedByHome Brew1414883598.716350.jpg
 
Gusher. Sorry didn't add that. I was pretty excited to try this, let it sit
Out for an hour or so to warm. Opened it and bam! Tried to get it to the sink before she threw up all over.


Guess it was lesson learned. 1450 kicked back in after a couple months and 1.025 wasn't low enough


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Well, I brewed this last Saturday so last night, I started soaking the oak spirals. I started by weighing oak spiral to have 2 oz of oak and it slid nicely into my hydrometer tube. Added the tawny port (the only one the liquor store had) and the spirals started floating, so I sanitized an extra stainless steel threaded insert and dropped that on top, to weigh down the spirals.

The port tasted awesome so I cant wait to add it to the beer. I had considered adding another spiral soaked in bourbon but decided to rock the original recipe the first time.

img_20141101_161247_461-64142.jpg


FWIW - I put my oak spirals in a zip-lock bag with port and sucked the air out. I had specific bags and a vacuum suction tool but it could be done any number of ways. It covered the spirals with minimal port and avoided the issue of the wood floating. Hope that helps since I've seen a few people having the same issue.


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My medium toast French Oak spiral soaking in Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny Port. Going to make a 2.5 gallon batch of this, age on this spiral for about 6 weeks, then bottle. Will start drinking NEXT winter... if I can wait... Exited about this batch...

IMG_0229.jpg
 
the extract version says add 18 to 20 pounds but does not mention what kind of extract light dark amber anything
 
Forgive me but I missed the extract recipe. What page/post number is it?

Generally I go as light as possible on extracts so I don't have to change the specialty malts much because it will have a big effect on some beers.


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I've done 4 batches of this so far. Each batch was bottle carbed with 1 tsp table sugar per 22 bottle. It was added directly to the bottle because I didn't want to introduce any more oxygen than necessary. I fully intend for some of these to be shelved for a long time. Here's my accounts of each run:

Batch #1: 5 gallons. WLP001 yeast. I assumed a 5% drop in efficiency (down from 75%). All that grain caused my mash tun to overflow (even using minimal water - 1.3 qt per pound). Missed my SG horribly. Only hit 1.088. Skipped any secondary treatments and just called this one a standard RIS. Glad I did. I cracked one a couple of weeks ago, and the hops were a bit much after missing the gravity by so much.

Batch #2: Scaled down to 3.5 gallon batches after the last fiasco. WLP001 in the fermentation chamber just below room temp (about 66 degrees). Not trying to control the esters, just the fusels. Overshot the SG on this one. 1.110. Put 2 tbls of cocoa powder into the boil on this one. Transferred to secondary at 3 weeks. 2 oz of cocoa nibs scalded in boiling water went into secondary with it. Aged on the nibs for 2 weeks then bottled. Cracked on a couple weeks ago. This beer is honestly a bit two complex for cocoa. The cocoa confuses it. Too many things going on. Also, have some carb issues with some of the bottles. No bottle bombs, no over carb, but some just have no carb at all. ABV is very high and I think I may have euthanized my yeast.

Batch #3: WLP001 again. SG 1.106 (nailed it!). Another 3.5 gallon batch. Three week ferment at 66 degrees. 2 weeks in secondary on 1 oz of heavy toasted French oak cubes soaked in tawny port. Only the cubes went into the carboy. We cracked open two last weekend. There was a soft hiss as the caps released and you could immediately hear angels singing. After the first taste, my friends and I just stared at each other with mouths agape. This is by far the best RIS I've ever had -and I've tried a good number. The Hungarian gives some very pronounced caramel notes that go deliciously with this beer. The port gives a hint of fruit and you feel almost like you're drinking a beer liquer or schnapps. Carb turned out a tad weak on this batch as well.

Batch #4: Just put it in the fermenter last weekend. Changed the yeast up to San Diego super. SG 1.104. This will be a redo of batch #3. Hoping for more consistent yeast action in the bottle. This should be the truth teller on whether it's my bottling or the yeast.

I can't seem to track down the edit button so here's a repost with correction. I reported my oak improperly. Original post was double (wrong recipe notes)
 
For those that have brewed this and pulled a parti-gyle batch.
Since the Kate Stout is so large I’m considering doing a parti-gyle batch. According to Randy Mosher’s Brewing Techniques the second running should be approx. 1.050 and the color will drop from a 56 to 23 SRM.
Here’s my thoughts:
Add 1lb of flaked oats and 4 ounces of the Black Prinz to get the Stout color back. Change styles to Oatmeal Stout and let it mash in the fly sparge water for an additional hour or 75 minutes while the first boil is going. Add the same chemicals to the second running sparge as I did to the original sparge. Fly sparge to get equivalent amount of pre-boil volume as the first batch. Hop with same types of hops to 39 IBU’s and ferment at same time with same yeast.
What do you think?
 
For those that have brewed this and pulled a parti-gyle batch.

Since the Kate Stout is so large I’m considering doing a parti-gyle batch. According to Randy Mosher’s Brewing Techniques the second running should be approx. 1.050 and the color will drop from a 56 to 23 SRM.

Here’s my thoughts:

Add 1lb of flaked oats and 4 ounces of the Black Prinz to get the Stout color back. Change styles to Oatmeal Stout and let it mash in the fly sparge water for an additional hour or 75 minutes while the first boil is going. Add the same chemicals to the second running sparge as I did to the original sparge. Fly sparge to get equivalent amount of pre-boil volume as the first batch. Hop with same types of hops to 39 IBU’s and ferment at same time with same yeast.

What do you think?


I'm very interested in making a Kate the Great parti-gyle brew. Please let me know how this brew works out.


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What does your FG project on the second beer? I would think it would be a bit lower than desired because of the need to mash low on the full size beer.


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What does your FG project on the second beer? I would think it would be a bit lower than desired because of the need to mash low on the full size beer.


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That is a concern. I'm not sure what the projected FG would be. I would think it would be quite dry. On edit: I went into Beersmith and reduced each grain to a 30% yield to come up with a lower OG than Mosher's technique provides of only 1.030.
If I add:
8 ounces Black Prinz
2lb Flaked Oats
1lb Flaked Wheat
3lbs 2-row
The original gravity comes up to 1.055. and maybe this will put the oatmeal flavor along with some additional body and color back into the wort.

Thoughts?
 
I partigyled this recipe and my numbers were 1.049-1.010 with wlp090. It was less SRM for sure, but flavor was awesome at bottling on Sunday!

I added nothing to the grain bill. Came to 5.2% abv and ibu's in the mid 30's.

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I partigyled this recipe and my numbers were 1.049-1.010 with wlp090. It was less SRM for sure, but flavor was awesome at bottling on Sunday!

I added nothing to the grain bill. Came to 5.2% abv and ibu's in the mid 30's.

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What are thoughts regarding my plan above? I'm mainly after getting the oat flavor and color back and if my pre-boil gravity is too high I could run additional sparge for a larger volume.
 
how many vol co2 is that atimmerman88? or how much dextrose for how many gal beer did you prime? I'm nervous to bottle mine. Bottled the left hand milk stout and it came out too little carbonation, no head if it's chilled, a finger if at room temp. Then bottled a bourbon porter with way too mcuh carbonation, came out like at a wheat beer level so it has way too much head/bite. I've been told 2.2 is perfect for this, but I'm still not sure.

I bottled it to 1.9v per tasty brew. 2.5 oz sugar for 5 gal

The beer itself wasn't overly crabed. I pulled it from the cellar and drank it 16hrs later so I don't think the co2 was fully dissolved back into the bottle. It's beer in bottles 7 weeks


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Thoroughly aggravated

KtG sat in primary for 6 weeks. Secondary for 6. Bottles 6 weeks

Primed them to 1.75v and I've got this on the bourbon version




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Well I went down to the basement tonight to put some labels on an buffalo sweat clone tonight, and heard what I thought was the sound of glass falling softly to the ground....low and behold it was, had 2 bottle bombs in my KtG in the last week or so I guess, the beer and boxes were all dry.

I guess this turd decided to drop a few more points in the bottles after sitting at FG for 2 months in secondary.

Not happy, going to try and sanitize all the bottles, and open in a bottling bucket and rebottle. I'll probably oxidize the hell out of them in the process but short of dumping I don't know what else to do. I don't think that they are infected since they taste great.

Any one ever done this with a batch? I doubt I can crack them without massive spewage of beer/foam
 
Well I went down to the basement tonight to put some labels on an buffalo sweat clone tonight, and heard what I thought was the sound of glass falling softly to the ground....low and behold it was, had 2 bottle bombs in my KtG in the last week or so I guess, the beer and boxes were all dry.

I guess this turd decided to drop a few more points in the bottles after sitting at FG for 2 months in secondary.

Not happy, going to try and sanitize all the bottles, and open in a bottling bucket and rebottle. I'll probably oxidize the hell out of them in the process but short of dumping I don't know what else to do. I don't think that they are infected since they taste great.

Any one ever done this with a batch? I doubt I can crack them without massive spewage of beer/foam

what was FG and what yeast did you use? I've had a double batch aging since august, 5 gal in a secondary, 5 in a big 40L primary bucket. both went aprox 1100->1024ish with a huge US05 starter/slurry repitch. Planning on aging 60 bottles indefinitely and would hate to have bombs occur.

Never done the whole rebottling thing myself but would be super paranoid about oxidizing it all, especially while repouring into a bottling bucket. I guess if you purged it with co2, but even then...
 
What are thoughts regarding my plan above? I'm mainly after getting the oat flavor and color back and if my pre-boil gravity is too high I could run additional sparge for a larger volume.


I like the additions for color and base malt. Personally I'd half the oats and wheat but try it your way first. It will boost the body and head, not to mention upping the OG but .005-007 points minimum (from the 2 row).


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Well I went down to the basement tonight to put some labels on an buffalo sweat clone tonight, and heard what I thought was the sound of glass falling softly to the ground....low and behold it was, had 2 bottle bombs in my KtG in the last week or so I guess, the beer and boxes were all dry.

I guess this turd decided to drop a few more points in the bottles after sitting at FG for 2 months in secondary.

Not happy, going to try and sanitize all the bottles, and open in a bottling bucket and rebottle. I'll probably oxidize the hell out of them in the process but short of dumping I don't know what else to do. I don't think that they are infected since they taste great.

Any one ever done this with a batch? I doubt I can crack them without massive spewage of beer/foam

Save your beer, don't open them. Take a look at the link and pasteurize the bottles.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/
 
I like the additions for color and base malt. Personally I'd half the oats and wheat but try it your way first. It will boost the body and head, not to mention upping the OG but .005-007 points minimum (from the 2 row).


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After looking at some other oatmeal stout recipes I will probably take your advice and cut the quantities in half for the oats and wheat. If I raise the 2 row to 3 lbs. and am able to get conversion from those I should be able to get about .010 - .012 additional points. I would rather have a little more and have to add more water than a little less and have to add DME.
More beer is always better. :ban:
I must say after a little over two years of brewing, this brew is making me nervous. I'm a perfectionist by nature and I have spent months planning this brew. I'm mostly concerned about KTG but now adding the partigyle has added another level of excitement to the day. Oh well, barring any emergencies this will be taking place this Saturday morning.
 
what was FG and what yeast did you use? I've had a double batch aging since august, 5 gal in a secondary, 5 in a big 40L primary bucket. both went aprox 1100->1024ish with a huge US05 starter/slurry repitch. Planning on aging 60 bottles indefinitely and would hate to have bombs occur.

Never done the whole rebottling thing myself but would be super paranoid about oxidizing it all, especially while repouring into a bottling bucket. I guess if you purged it with co2, but even then...


My OG was 1.100. Pitch a pretty solid starter of 1450. 2L, Decant, then stepped up again to 2L.

My FG was 1.025

Brewed it 7/5 or so.

Bottled 9/4
 
I partigyled this recipe and my numbers were 1.049-1.010 with wlp090. It was less SRM for sure, but flavor was awesome at bottling on Sunday!

I added nothing to the grain bill. Came to 5.2% abv and ibu's in the mid 30's.

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I'm interested in doing this also. What was your preboil gravity? I'm not sure how to do all the math, but I figured I should shoot for somewhere around 1.035 to finish at 1.049.


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I don't think I'm going to take the change of pasteurizing.



I've had 2 blow so putting them in 170ish water is only going to increase the pressure and drive more CO2 out of solution further making it worse IMO.



They are gushers when I open them making it almost impossible to drink


I would crack theology to vent the gas and then refasten them. Chill them first to drive more co2 into solution to prevent them from gushing while doing this.


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I would crack theology to vent the gas and then refasten them. Chill them first to drive more co2 into solution to prevent them from gushing while doing this.


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Exactly. Get them almost frozen, crack until they start to foam, then recap. A few options to remidy the crappy situation, but dumping them back into a bottling bucket is a guaranteed way to ruin them.
 
I would crack theology to vent the gas and then refasten them. Chill them first to drive more co2 into solution to prevent them from gushing while doing this.


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Exactly. Get them almost frozen, crack until they start to foam, then recap. A few options to remidy the crappy situation, but dumping them back into a bottling bucket is a guaranteed way to ruin them.



Alright guys I'll try it this weekend my kegerator will do -20 so maybe 20 degrees or so since its 10 abv


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I've seen a great deal of information on ageing with oak cubes ranging from a couple weeks to a year. I'm brewing this on Saturday which gives a little time to get this figured out, but I would like to soak the cubes for the length of time in primary.
I want to bulk age in secondary on medium toast French oak cubes. I will have a split 5.5 gallon batch with 1 ounce of cubes soaked in bourbon and 1 ounce soaked in Tawney Port.
Once the beer has been aged I plan to bottle, wax and condition for 6 months minimum. So how long should this sit on the oak?
 
There are many ways to do it, but if it's fresh toasted oak cubes, just a couple weeks from my experience, but maybe longer if it's only an ounce. Over oaking in will ruin a beer.. trust me it sucks!
 
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