Imperial Stout critique needed

[Rys06Tbss]

So Im looking to make my first stout and I want it to be a big one. This is what I have come up with. I dont know if my hop choice is a good one or if my grain choice is right either. Any advice will be good. I also plan on pitching 2 packets of US 05 or 1056. Thanks in advance. I also want this to be black as black as black.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 10.28 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.28 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.109 SG
Estimated Color: 63.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 91.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 84.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type #
20 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain

2 lbs Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain

1 lbs Caramunich III (Weyermann) (71.0 SRM) Grain

1 lbs Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain

1 lbs Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain

1 lbs Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain

2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop

1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop

1.20 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining

1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop

1.20 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 2.0 mins) Other

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Are you wanting a cross between a Black IPA and a stout?

 

[joshbhs04]

I would use marris otter instead of pale, but thats just my opinion. I would cut back and change the hops as well. No need for aroma additions unless thats what you are going for.

 

[ddrrseio]

i think this recipe will be great. i would do a few small things if i were making it, though:

1) sub out the carapils and 1-2lb of base malt for an equivalent amount (no weight change to the grain bill) flaked barley or oats.
2) reduce the special B to between eight and twelve ounces. you won't go wrong with 1lb, but it will dominate the crystal contribution.
3) simplify your bittering charge unless you're using what you have available. ditch the aroma addition.

this is a pretty big mash. is this going in a 10gal cooler?

if you use liquid yeast, you will probably need 3-4 vials if you do not make a starter. this isn't a beer you want to underpitch.

last i'd probably save my whirlfloc for a beer in which i could actually see whether it's clear or not. you won't hurt anything using it, though.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

Ok. I added 3 lbs of flaked barely to the mash. Dropped 2 lbs of base. Got rid of the carapils. .75 lbs of Special B. Im getting rid of the Willamette at 10 min. Thinking about just using Chinook. I do have a little bit of warrior left, but its been in the freezer for over a year. Maybe Ill just start fresh again. Ill drop the Irish moss. As for mash tun, Im using a keggle hooked up to a RIMS system. I more then likely use US-05. Im brewing this upcoming weekend. I was going to make a Saison with Brett and another with a Saison blend, but Maybe Ill just make a pale with US05 and ECY29 and use the Cake of 05 to get this stout started. I have made one beer that was 27 lbs and thats the most I ever put in my mash tun to date.

 

[ddrrseio]

sounds great. i'd love to hear how this turns out.

be careful about using the whole cake, even for a beer like this. overpitching comes with its own issues! i capture all my slurry in a sanitized mason jar and use mr. malty to calculate the pitching rate for the following beer.

if you let it settle and use the densest stuff, you'll want about 125mL of fresh slurry. this is for 6gal at 1.109, which is what you have above.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I think im going to make this this weekend. Debating on making a session Porter with second runnings. I have a 10 percent cider on tap and a 8 percent sour. I need something a little more tame. I'm also debating on adding some molasses

 

[Rys06Tbss]

So I made this on sunday. I wasnt planning on making a second running beer due to my late start but I ended up adding about 3.5 gallons to much of sparge water. Set my RIMS to 148 and held it for an hour. Like I said I over sparged and had a crap load of extra wort so Baby beer it was. I ended up doing a 90 min boil to get about 5.5 gallons. I also added a lb of rye to it as well as 4 oz of molasses. During boil I was cleaning my mash tun of the grain and realized my false bottom has once again collapsed. I had over 28 lbs in it so thats really no surprise, Guess its time for a better bottom instead of a domed one. I added a 1 liter starter to the main beer and I had activity about 3 hours later which is fairly crazy. I aerated it for about 30 which Im guessing helped a bit. I has finally stopped bubbling like crazy. I took a sample today and it dropped from 1.086 to 1.020 as of right now. Im fairly excited to see how this will turn out. The little beer had krausen rise and fall between 6am and 6pm on monday. The little beer was at 1.025 and its down to 1.020. Im wondering if there isnt enough sugar for the yeast to eat. Im a little discouraged with that one. Oh well Its not a week old yet. Well see what comes of it. Oh and the sample I pulled form the imperial stout is very good. Its hot as can be expected and has a great coffee chocolate flavor. Im very proud of this beer in its young age.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

So I kegged this beer last night. Still at 1020. It's has a hot alcohol taste but as the glass warmed up it faded. It's good though. This thing hit about 85 degrees during ferment so I'm sure that's where the fussel alcohol came from. The second runnings I ended up adding a lb of DME in. 75 gallons of water to bump it a bit more. I pitched a ECY20 stater I made a while back along with some Jolly Pumpkin dregs and half a quart of goose Island sophie dregs. See ya in a year. This should be interesting.