Imperial Stout Double-W Imperial Stout

[kbuzz]

tried brewing a variation of this recipe this afternoon and got a wicked stuck sparge that I couldn't overcome...ended up with $50 of wasted grains...dumped into the compost...unless you count the couple of jars I kept to use as yeast starters, this was a total loss for me today...VERY upset with my brew day...

 

[tmains]

I've been eyeballing this recipe and I think I may do it with a little tweaking.

Follow procedure as stated on pg. 1, but add 2 oz of coffee grounds and 6 oz cocoa powder at flameout. Perhaps 10 oz of lactose at 15 minutes left in the boil too.

Then when its time to age in the secondary- add a few oz of oak chips (previously soaked in bourbon).

Comments?

 

[r2eng]

It would be good to try coffee and cocoa, though you'd be amazed at how those flavors are already there.

The oak would be excellent, the bourbon good, but why the lactose? This beer really does not need body or sweetness. I'd really suggest you leave that out, IMO.

 

[tmains]

I just like the idea of it being milky. But if you think it wouldn't be needed, I'll leave it out. I'm going to round up all the ingredients tonight and brew it sometime this next week.

I want to do a parti gyle too. Think I need to add any other grains once I get the first wort through?

 

[sfrisby]

Do you have a couple of 3 gallon carboys? Maybe split it in half in the secondary and add dissolved lactose in 1? Then you can see the actual effect side by side.

 

[tmains]

tried brewing a variation of this recipe this afternoon and got a wicked stuck sparge that I couldn't overcome...ended up with $50 of wasted grains...dumped into the compost...unless you count the couple of jars I kept to use as yeast starters, this was a total loss for me today...VERY upset with my brew day...

What gave you a stuck sparge? I planned on doing this BIAB but considered using my new 15 gallon kettle with a bazooka screen in the bottom.

Do you have a couple of 3 gallon carboys? Maybe split it in half in the secondary and add dissolved lactose in 1? Then you can see the actual effect side by side.

That's an idea. I'm ordering the grain bill now.

 

[tmains]

Regarding BIAB.... this is what BeerSmith tells me.

16.38 qts of water at 179.8 degrees F. To achieve 156 F mash temp for 60 mins. Mash out over 7 minutes to 168 F.

That can't be right because 16.38 qts is only about 4 gallons. How do I calculate how much water I need to do a BIAB method?

 

[tmains]

I'm gonna brew this today. I'm reading that 100 IBUs makes this a little more balanced. So from plugging in BeerSmith I chose the following:

4 oz Warrior @ 60 min
2 oz Galena @ 60 min
3 oz Willamette @ 30 min
3 oz WIllamette @ 10 min

 

[r2eng]

Sorry, Elk season started and I was there!

No idea on the BIAB...

The hops sound like a bit much... what's the AA of the Warrior and Galena? My Galena is 11% and Warrior is 15%. Maybe the BIAB needs more hops?

My 3rd batch (couldn't find Warrior) all-grain has 3.25 oz Galena at 11% and 2 oz Willamette at 30, 2 oz at 10.

 

[tmains]

I didn't do BIAB after all, lemme dig up my notes and I'll post my hop schedule.

 

[tmains]

I didn't quite get up to the OG. Mine was around 1.095. Checked the gravity yesterday and I'm down to 1.025ish. I gave it a taste and was wow'd. Gonna be amazing. 2 oz of American oak sitting in a pint of Maker's Mark with 2 vanilla beans now, gonna age it on that for a little bit.

Should I consider repitching yeast for bottling time?

 

[motobrewer]

I didn't quite get up to the OG. Mine was around 1.095. Checked the gravity yesterday and I'm down to 1.25ish. I gave it a taste and was wow'd. Gonna be amazing. 2 oz of American oak sitting in a pint of Maker's Mark with 2 vanilla beans now, gonna age it on that for a little bit.

Should I consider repitching yeast for bottling time?

I did. I had mine in secondary for about 6 months. I used about 5g us05 at bottling.

that was a month ago and haven't opened any so i really don't know if its carbed or not

 

[grundig5]

Here is mine a bit more than 5 months. Think I'll rebrew this soon to have it ready for next year. The 5 month one I had was quite good - the hops have faded and the alcohol is well hidden, its really getting quite delicious.

 

[tmains]

I should add that I used 1056 instead of us-05. Perhaps I'll repitch shortly before bottling time.

 

[nicegut]

Just kegged this beast after bulk aging for 6 months. It is a beautiful dark brown with a golden Carmel hue when in the light. Poured myself a nice snifter to sip throughout the afternoon. Nice chocolate flavor with a hint off coffee rounded off with some sherry bourbon notes as well. I strayed a bit and put 8 oz caraaroma in with the other darks and subbed roasted barley (300l) for the black barley. Ended up around 10% abv on the nose. This can only get better with age....

 

[r2eng]

Looks good!

My batch hit the 6-month mark last Saturday, so it's been carbed-up and is now on tap for a limited time! This time I dry-hopped and oaked it.

I'll post a photo.

 

[sfrisby]

Has anyone given thought to some lactose? I like a slightly sweet stout and 1.5lb of black patent sounds like it is setting up for a more bitter stout. My favorite non-limited supply stout is Weyenbacher Tiny. It has a slight sweetness that sounds like it could match up with the velvety smoothness that is described here. Any thoughts from those that have already drank this one?

 

[nicegut]

This tends to be on the sweeter side of stouts with the large amount of unfermentables and high OG. Mine ended around 1.026-1.028. A sipper for sure, and blends well if you fancy.

 

[r2eng]

Keep in mind, it's Black Barley that's called for - not the same as Black Patent!

If you keep the bittering hops down per the original recipe, about 88 IBU's you will have a big stout that is a bit on the sweet side - albeit balanced, IMO. I have since upped the bittering hops to 110 IBU's and actually prefer it that way.

 

[sfrisby]

You know, I read black barley and processed black patent. Thanks.

 

[r2eng]

I know it's my recipe, and I am pretty proud of it

However, if you can hit the OG and ferment to about 1.030, you will have a thick stout that is satisfying to the Imperial Stout fan, and there is plenty of sweet balance to the hops.

My additions of upping the IBU's to 110 and dry-hopping has produced a beer I will enter into the NHC next year. I'll keep this thread up to date. I have high hopes for the new version!

 

[motobrewer]

Has anyone given thought to some lactose? I like a slightly sweet stout and 1.5lb of black patent sounds like it is setting up for a more bitter stout. My favorite non-limited supply stout is Weyenbacher Tiny. It has a slight sweetness that sounds like it could match up with the velvety smoothness that is described here. Any thoughts from those that have already drank this one?

ug, I hated Tiny. i donno what it was. just not my thing. i love belgians. i love stouts. apparently, I do not love belgian stouts.

anyway, mine is about two weeks from being a year old. i had one about a week ago and it was fantastic.

 

[sfrisby]

ug, I hated Tiny. i donno what it was. just not my thing.

Ehhh. To each their own. Nothings wrong with that. After realizing my error of black patent vs black barley, I will stick to the original.

 

[KIAKillerXJ]

Brewed this up today.

BIAB in my keggle pretty much filled her up! A lot harder to deal with than even my normal 16-18lbs IIPAs.

By some miracle, I hit right at 70%-- how the recipe was formulated, a bit lower than normal for me, but expected because of the grain bill. Stoked that I didn't have to add any of the DME I bought to hit the 1.124OG.

Did up the IBU to right at 100, using 1.5oz of Zeus 14% at 60 min, then left the other additions the same.

Did about a 100 min boil since I ended up with more pre-boil volume than wanted.

Pitched on a cake from Biermunchers Centennial Blonde of S-05 +1 more pack just because, and this thing is bubbling like mad through its blow off tube in LESS than 3 hrs!

Plan on letting it sit for a month in primary, and I did buy an ounce of oak chips that I'm thinking of oaking/bourbon for another month. Then plan on bottling this one in a combo of 12oz and 750ml Champagne bottles versus my normal kegging to allow easier aging.

My biggest and most challenging yet, so hopefully it will be worth it!

 

[motobrewer]

brewed this again today. did a parti-gyle like I did last year.

1.109ish and 1045ish.

i think I might take a gal of the imperial and put it on a bit of oak. not sure yet.

 

[r2eng]

I oaked my last batch with some toasted white oak... wow!

It takes a bit of time to get the oakiness, but the vanilla from the oak is really nice. It's that complex oak-vanilla that vanilla beans and extracts just CANNOT produce.

 

[KIAKillerXJ]

how much oak did you use? and how long....I was thinking like a month?

 

[r2eng]

I stuck a 1/2" thick, 1.5" wide, 10" long chunk of white oak in the keg for 2 weeks. I can taste the oak, but I do not like too much oakiness.

I took a torch to the oak to brown it - not burn. It lends more of a smooth note than a harsh, acrid woody note that way.

 

[runningweird]

well, I just brewed this gigantor up.

All I can say about this brew day is holy crap.

It broke my mash tun - the 10 gallon cooler had the warping problem and this brew gave it a nice vertical crack. time to switch to keg mash tun.

The wort is so thick it coats my finger like tar - I had to boil for over 3 hours because i added too much sparge water. So my IBU's are around 130.

its aerating right now, i will pitch a huge starter and pray.

 

[runningweird]

I need to post a pic of my hydrometer reading.

 

[r2eng]

nice!

 

[sfrisby]

Right there with you, Weird. Used some back up DME on Thursday due to poor efficiency. Used a little to much and ended at 1.125. Was afraid the two packs of 05 wouldn't be enough and threw in an extra packet of 04. May effect the flavor, but I figured it was better than a FG of 1.04.

Bourbon soaked oak are a'waiting.

 

[runningweird]

I might end up pitching in another pack of yeast - I did make a massive starter though, think it will be enough? it was stepped up three times

 

[runningweird]

So I pitched another packed of 05 that night, it has since stopped sounding like a machine gun. I'll give it its full time to clean up. when should I rack to secondary on this- two weeks?

 

[grundig5]

I gave it 5 weeks on the primary cake, then put it in a keg at room temp for about 3 months although I would suggest much longer. My remaining 12 bottles keep getting better and its a shame I didnt bulk age the whole batch this long.

 

[motobrewer]

i gave it about 5 weeks as well in the primary, then about 8 months in the secondary. been bottled about 2-3 months now.

 

[Waylit]

Looks like a nice imperial stout.

I question the rye, in a beer this big a half pound would go unnoticed.

 

[r2eng]

It's like not this, or any other, recipe MUST include anything. Experiments are what led to this recipe in the first place.

I just am not sure how to answer other than to say that I do think the rye adds complexity. Any ingredient change here does change the taste.. For example, I find it hard to find Warrior all the time, so when I bitter with something else it is a slightly different beer.

As always, to each his own. However to brew THIS beer, you need the rye.

 

[runningweird]

kegging tonight

 

[runningweird]

@11% alcohol.