Imperial Stout

[AntzBrewz]

Tomorrow I am doing an imperial stout and I am way too excited. I am so excited that I feel like I'm going to mess it up. Let me start with how this idea of brewing an imperial stout came along.

My friends and I talk all the time about brewing massive beers: we want to do this imperial ipa, we want to try an imperial red, or we want to age a barley wine for 2 years. I always try to stay on the subject of lets just make beer and make beer great. As a group we've never made a good heff or even a truly drinkable IPA but as a group we've come to the conclusion we want to drink super strong beers. Next thing I know my friend is telling me he's making an imperial stout with an OG of 1.108. He is also telling me that he only made a 2L starter of White Labs 002 english ale yeast. I fear for his product and it getting stuck in fermentation.

Last year I made a foreign extra stout that was the biggest beer I have made OG 1.072 and it was excellent. So I say challenge accepted and started designing a plan and a recipe for my Imperial Stout. To start I made a super light scottish ale 60 shilling OG 1.028 that fermented to FG 1.004. I'm going to use the WLP028 Edinburgh yeast cake that will be left over as my yeast for my Imperial stout. Heres my recipe...

5 Gallon Batch
6LBs Dark DME
3LBs Golden Light DME
2LBs Brown Sugar

Steeping Grains
1LBs Flaked Barley
.5LBs Roasted Barley
.5Lbs Chocolate Malt
1lbs Caramel 60
1lbs CaraMunichII

Hops
2oz Warrior 60 min

Brewers friend says that if I do this in a 4 gallon boil I'll get OG 1.096
I was gonna let it ferment a week and rouse the yeast then wait another week and move it to my secondary with bourbon soaked oak cubes and Willamette hops. Then maybe into a third with more bourbon soaked oak to remove the hop sediment.

Flavors I am looking for: sharp alcohol, sweet caramel, dark chocolate, burnt vanilla, tang of coffee, earthy hop note
With a heavy mouth feel and pronounced head with low carbonation.

What does everyone think?
Any changes to my bill?

 

[jkeys]

I recently made a RIS that's currently in the primary. I had an og of 1.110 and I'm sitting two weeks in at 1.028. I used 2 packs of safale s-04 yeast, rehydrated and I didn't have any such fermentation issues.

As for the aging I have been told patience is key. This is a beer that take awhile, not your 4 week hefeweizen. I also think a secondary is a good idea but maybe add some whirlfloc to the boil to drop sediment. Also yeast nutrient wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't know about flipping to a third fermenter.... Might be overkill IMO.

Enjoy the brew though and good luck with the strong beer brewing!

 

[AntzBrewz]

Yeah I forgot to mention my whirlfloc and my nutrient. I'm just excited about doing it i cant wait xD

 

[Calder]

Have you checked what is in the dark extract? You may be adding way too many speciality grains. If it is Briess extract, all the info is on their site. I think you are adding too much and it will be sweet and maybe too roasty/dry/acrid.

Their special dark is made up of 24% base, 25% wheat, 29% crystal 60, 19% chocolate, and 3% roast barley.

 

[AntzBrewz]

Have you checked what is in the dark extract? You may be adding way too many speciality grains. If it is Briess extract, all the info is on their site. I think you are adding too much and it will be sweet and maybe too roasty/dry/acrid.

Their special dark is made up of 24% base, 25% wheat, 29% crystal 60, 19% chocolate, and 3% roast barley.

Well I made it the way I said I was gonna. I hope it doesn't come out too burnt in flavor, and if it does maybe a bit of aging will help. Thanks though

 

[JLeuck64]

I used to make a similar RIS using LME that went like this:

Malt Extract
9.0 lbs Gold LME

Steeping Grains
1.50 lbs Brown Malt
1.25 lbs Chocolate Malt (350L)
1.25 lbs Crystal 120L
0.75 lbs Crystal 60L
0.50 lbs Munich Malt (light)
0.15 lbs Black Malt

Hop Additions
1.0 oz Centennial at 60 min
0.5 oz Willamette at 10 min

I would steep the grains at 150 for 30 to 60 min in 3 Gal then add in the extract, hops etc...

Yeast I used was always a Wyeast 1056 made with a starter.

OG = 1.092 and FG = 1.020

I would always do this as a bourbon barrel version by soaking 2 oz of oak chips in half a bottle of bourbon while the primary fermentation was happening. I could always count on this one being ready to transfer to the secondary after 2 weeks. At that time I would pitch in the bourbon and oak chips and let it sit another week before I bottled. Always turned out great!

I have recently switched to all grain and this recipe is teaching me a LOT! It has been chugging away in the primary for over 5 weeks now! My OG was 1.110 and if it finishes down near 1.020 it's gonna be my first 10% beer for sure

Let the activity in the air lock talk to ya! After a couple of weeks in the primary if the air lock activity has dropped to almost nothing take a hydrometer reading and taste it. If it still tastes sweet leave it alone! If it tastes like a good flat beer then move it to the secondary.

 

[AntzBrewz]

I'm soaking the oak right now in some jim beam. It should be all good'n'bourbony when the stout is ready to hit the secondary.
I hit an OG of 1.108 this **** will be fire if it doesn't get stuck.

 

[Calder]

I'm soaking the oak right now in some jim beam. It should be all good'n'bourbony when the stout is ready to hit the secondary.
I hit an OG of 1.108 this **** will be fire if it doesn't get stuck.

Your brewing ****. It is OK to say beer on this forum!

 

[inhousebrew]

I might be late for this but the biggest thing I can suggest for those big beers is proper aeration and a low starting temp for fermentation. Otherwise you can wind up with something resembling rocket fuel rather than the "sharp alcohol" you seek. For me personally I like a lot of balance in my RIS with the bitterness, alcohol and residual sweetness all in alignment. In other words, high IBUs, high gravity and high final gravity.

 

[phoxxtwo]

Best of luck I am very interested to see how your batch turns out with the bourbon soaked oak cubes. I am very close to kegging a RIS right now and I am really thinking about trying the bourbon soaked cubes in another brew here very soon.

Keep us updated!

 

[Robotcrab]

What do I think... Mmm... It's sounds disgusting, but what ever floats your boat, I also think its going to need plenty of time in the primary with all that extract, if you really want to see all your friends fall over, and avoid getting stuck, I would use an old cake I'd spend a few bucks and throw in two packs of champagne yeast, then once you get it to secondary, all that wood I'd have soaked in a pint of vodka and pitch that in, I wouldn't waste the wirlflock either this bad boy will be black as tar and have plenty of time to clear. Let's us know how it turns out.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[AntzBrewz]

One week into fermentation
SG 1.040
The gravity is a bit too high for my liking but I tasted it and it's wonderful. It reminds me of something I had when I was a kid. The flavor it almost like really sweet berry, apples, and nuts. It does have a bitter finish like cocoa powder.

This makes me excited because usually if it tastes good at this point it will taste even better when it's ready for drinking. I'm really excited to see how this flavor evolves. What hops would be best to dry hop with to create a spiced flavor. Maybe like baking spices? I was considering fuggle and hallertau.

I am concerned that the yeast is tired and it wont be able to carbonate. I was considering that getting a keg might help. I have a few months to save up so money won't be a problem. Or should I look into a yeast with a higher abv tolerance?

 

[wapitiscat]

Did my first RIS before Christmas. It's a Sierra Nevada Narwahl AG clone. OG 1.093, FG 1.020. I'll save you from doing the math ... 9.7% ABV. I just dumped two packets of 05 in and let 'er rip. No oak cubes, no aging. Once the FG stabilized (~2 weeks I think) into the keg to carb up. It's really good but I have to remember to pour half pints.

Todd

 

[AntzBrewz]

Update week 2
SG 1.031
Tastes like dark berries and a finish of creamy dark chocolate.
I added 2oz of Czech Saaz, 2oz Hallertau mittelfrueh, 2oz Willamette to dryhop
I also added some champagne yeast. Next wednesday I'll move it into the secondary and add bourbon soaked oak cubes.

 

[Imperator85]

How did you oxygenate the wort? I'd personally allow this beer to mellow some after it is done fermenting. A period in secondary won't hurt a beer such as this. Not to say it won't be drinkable once fermentation is done, but it should continue to improve over time. It can be interesting to see how things change over long periods of time.

As far as bottle conditioning is concerned, you can add a more tolerant, dry strain to do the conditioning for you. It does not have to be the same strain you used for the main fermentation.

 

[Robotcrab]

This isn't my style, however I'd be concerned that your adding to many different flavours, that a lot of hops, and different hops,my worry would be that you either already have a great beer and your complicating it too much with too much dry hop + wood to come, or your going to have to condition it for so long that a lot of the flavour your adding will be hidden or lost?


She doesn't seem to understand, I really, really, like beer...

 

[AntzBrewz]

Week 3 update
FG 1.026
ABV 10.76%
The dark berry flavors have vanished and the flavor has rounded out into a smooth dark chocolate. The dry hopping did the trick and added an earthy spice note right in the middle of the flavor. It starts out with a hint of malty sweetness then some earth and finished with cocoa powder. I'm so happy with this flavor profile. Im sure someone with a better pallet can tell me the complexities better than I can but I can understand that this beer has some great flavor.

I still plan to age it on bourbon soaked oak to bring out some vanilla and allow some sediment to settle. The alcohol isn't very noticeable until the beer is chilled so I think so age will cut the sharpness as well.

I'm thinking 1-2 months in the secondary and another month in the bottles and it will be done. =D

 

[UCChemE05]

Sounds great! I think you'll be very happy when it's done. Did you do any aeration of your wort? If so, what did you do?

 

[AntzBrewz]

Sounds great! I think you'll be very happy when it's done. Did you do any aeration of your wort? If so, what did you do?

Thanks I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love this beast. I just gave it a really long and high pour. My cousin helped me pour it because it was a 5 gallon batch. Ive never had a problem with this method. I also walked my bucket starting at the end of week 1 till week 2 to help rouse the yeast and get it back into suspension. I really didn't really need the oxygen because I had a full yeast cake already.

 

[AntzBrewz]

best beer I have ever made