First Russian Imperial Stout - Feedback Requested

I'm looking for feedback on a RIS recipe I've been tweaking in beersmith the last couple of days. This will be my first, with the closest to a beer this big being a doppelbock I made last winter. The plan would be to brew this the week after next, keg in December, "sample" for a month, and then probably bottle the remainder.

Batch Size: 5.25 gallons
Yeast: Yeast Bay Vermont Ale (aka Conan)
Original Gravity: 1.101
Est. Final Gravity: 1.020-1.030?
IBU's: 82.9
Boil Time: 105 minutes
Color: 67.3 SRM
Brewhouse Efficiency: 60%
Mash Efficiency: 64%
Total Grains: 24.25

16.5# / 68.0% Maris Otter 3.0L
4.0# / 16.5% Munich 8.3L
1.5# / 6.2% Roasted Barley 600L
1.25# / 5.2% Flaked Barley 1.7L
0.75# / 3.1% Chocolate Malt 400L
0.25# / 1.0% Black Malt 600L

0.75oz Columbus 60 min 29.0 IBU
0.50oz Simcoe 60 min 17.9 IBU
0.75oz Columbus 30 min 22.3 IBU
0.50oz Simcoe 30 min 13.8 IBU

Mash: 152F for 60 minutes, no mash out, batch sparge.

Really looking for any feedback on the recipe, but also a couple of specific areas:

I couldn't find info on the internet of a successful Conan+RIS combo. The general recommendation seems to be to use an English yeast and English hops, or an American yeast and American hops. I've been keeping a stock of Conan yeast and thought that the combo of a (rumored) English yeast and American hops works well in IPA, so why not RIS?

With this grain bill, yeast, and mash schedule, what might I expect for final gravity? I'm wondering if I should consider mashing lower. Ideally I'd like to keep final gravity in the mid 20's, I think. My doppelbock from last year finished at 1.023 and that is borderline cloying. I think I might be better off with a lower mash temp, maybe 152?

Thanks!

I brewed a chocolate stout (1.056) and used west coast pale ale dry yeast I think bry-97 (I believe it is similar to conan maybe some one can object). Anyway mashed at 156-158 to induce some lesser fermentables. The damn thing finished 1012 a little dryer than I expected.

Maybe do some more research on the attenuation of the yeast strain I haven't yet.

Looks like a really good start. Couple things I would suggest:
Swap out some of your base for Munich. Also, unless you're really set on using Golden Promise, I would consider Maris Otter--MO and Munich are my go to for RIS
I would cut (or completely drop) the crystal--you'll have plenty of residual sweetness as is without it.
Consider ditching the 30 minute hop additions...I'm not sure they're going to do much for you.
Make sure you pitch plenty of healthy yeast

Thanks for the feedback. I took your suggestion and swapped the 19# golden promise and 1.5# carastan for 16.5# MO and 4# munich. Since I have concerns about final gravity being too high I also lowered mash to 152F. I've used this yeast before at that temp, and if it attenuates the same I'll be at 1.028 which is still towards the high end of the style.

I wouldn't worry too much about a high FG - with all the roasted and bitter flavors it'll just feel chewy, unlike your dobbelbock that is pure malt sweetness with very low IBUs.

Hujo said:

I wouldn't worry too much about a high FG - with all the roasted and bitter flavors it'll just feel chewy, unlike your dobbelbock that is pure malt sweetness with very low IBUs.

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Thanks, what would you mash at with that grain bill?

mash low to avoid having it under-attenuate and end up cloying. I would stay around 150

I ended up brewing this about a week and a half ago. I added a few ounces of special B but otherwise brewed the recipe exactly as above. I also found an extra half ounce of Apollo in the freezer and swapped some of the simcoe for it.

Beer smith temp calculations are usually spot on for me, but for some reason mash temp stabilized at about 156 after mashing in and stirring for a couple of minutes. I was targeting 152. I stirred for another few minutes but at that volume temp just wasn't lowering, so I added another roughly half gallon of water. Temps stabilized at about 151, lower than initially planned but better considering that it spent about 10 minutes higher than planned.

After first runnings were collected I figured I needed about 3.5 gallons more to get my boil volume, so I added 3.5 gallons, batch sparged, and ended up with another 4.25 gallons in the kettle. Can't explain that one.

Now with a much higher volume than expected, I redid some numbers in beer smith and determined that a 140 minute boil was in order. The rest of the brew night was uneventful. OG was 1.100.

As primary fermentation was winding down I took a gravity sample and found it at 1.032. The yeast were still a little active so I'm hoping to coax another 4-5 points or more out of them. The gravity sample was obviously hot but should mellow with time into a nice beer.

D-Train said:

I ended up brewing this about a week and a half ago. I added a few ounces of special B but otherwise brewed the recipe exactly as above. I also found an extra half ounce of Apollo in the freezer and swapped some of the simcoe for it.

Beer smith temp calculations are usually spot on for me, but for some reason mash temp stabilized at about 156 after mashing in and stirring for a couple of minutes. I was targeting 152. I stirred for another few minutes but at that volume temp just wasn't lowering, so I added another roughly half gallon of water. Temps stabilized at about 151, lower than initially planned but better considering that it spent about 10 minutes higher than planned.

After first runnings were collected I figured I needed about 3.5 gallons more to get my boil volume, so I added 3.5 gallons, batch sparged, and ended up with another 4.25 gallons in the kettle. Can't explain that one.

Now with a much higher volume than expected, I redid some numbers in beer smith and determined that a 140 minute boil was in order. The rest of the brew night was uneventful. OG was 1.100.

As primary fermentation was winding down I took a gravity sample and found it at 1.032. The yeast were still a little active so I'm hoping to coax another 4-5 points or more out of them. The gravity sample was obviously hot but should mellow with time into a nice beer.

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sounds like you hand't collected all of your first runnings before sparging--no problem.

Making a good RIS is an exercise in patience...so, don't be afraid to leave that bad boy in primary for 3 or 4 weeks. After that, if you're confident you've hit terminal gravity, you can bottle, and then...wait some more.

Did you go ahead with the Conan yeast? I brew my annual batch of RIS on Black Friday. I've been splitting the batch and using 2 or 3 different yeasts then blending back for complexity with a couple straight sample bottles of each for comparison. Cal ale accentuates the roast and English strains bring out the dark fruit. Just ordered a vial of WLP006 Bedford Ale to test this year. My recurring other strains are US05 and Notty for ease of a big pitch. It never would have crossed my mind to use Conan, so interested in the result if that's what you did.

I did use the conan yeast (vermont ale from yeast bay). Too soon to know whether that was a good decision and I could find very little on the internet about using this yeast outside of IPA's. I'll keep updating this thread on how that turns out.

Thanks for the bottling tip fantomlord. My plan was to bulk age in secondary and then keg and force carb, bottling some off the keg. I'm intrigued by the idea of bottling after primary and then aging in the bottles instead. I have an empty 5 gallon carboy and that would let me fill it up with another sour instead.

Thanks to all who provided feedback. My first RIS was a success! Final gravity was 1.028. I ended up kegging after only 12 days in secondary. That wasn't the intent but I accidentally picked up a lot of the yeast cake and didn't want to have it sit on yeast any longer. This was so black I couldn't figure out where the end of the racking cane was and buried it a little. I also had a saw an opportunity to free up a keg. Force carbonated and then bottled. Bottles are now sitting at room temp to get a little more aging to mellow.

looks nice...how's the taste?

The taste is great. The head you see in the picture is from a fairly aggressive pour. It sticks around for a minute and dissipates but never completely goes away. Nose is roasty, coffee, slight chocolate, and a touch of soy sauce as it warms. That's my only complaint. Taste is nice and thick, chocolate, boozy but not solventy. Color is super black with a nice tan head.

Next time I'd like to see if I can get my target OG without the longer boil. I suspect that the soy sauce I pick up might be the roast malts and their maillard reactions from a long boil.

It goes without saying but this will slowly be consumed over the coming months. looking forward to how this develops over time.

It's a big beer. How are you conditioning the bottles? I keep stouts in the 1.050-1080 range in a warm room for 3-4 weeks before putting them in either a cool room or a fridge. You wouldn't necessarily do the same with all styles, but the warmth will help leftover yeast and stuff finish their job quicker.

I force carbed cold for a couple of weeks but after bottling they're now in a closet that stays about 65F this time of year.

D-Train said:

I force carbed cold for a couple of weeks but after bottling they're now in a closet that stays about 65F this time of year.

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That will do nicely