Imperial Stout Russian Imperial Stout (2011 HBT Competition Category Winner)

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pigroaster said:
I would crush two beano tablets (Walmart) and bring the temperature up two degrees to restart your yeast. I had an Imperial Russian Stout stop working and the beano and additional heat restarted mine. Do not toss!
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First off, let me say thank you to everyone!! I really appreciate it.
Beano, huh? I may have to try that. How does that work??:confused:
I am not giving up on this one yet!!
 
Man, there was recently a thread on an additive to help lower a stuck fermentation that had good results. Beano apparently is some pretty potent stuff and will likely over-attenuate like crazy. Wish I could recall what the name of the stuff was called... maybe someone else will remember. It was one of the mods' threads...
 
iijakii said:
Aha -- here we go! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=212926
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Good stuff! So to be clear, the enzyme added was NOT beano, correct? So where do we purchase this enzyme, at a homebrew store? Also, did I understand that it's possible the enzymes will convert some sugars that were originally intended to be not fermentable into fermentable sugars? Thus reducing your FG to a level below where you might have wanted it to finish?
 
TxBigHops said:
Good stuff! So to be clear, the enzyme added was NOT beano, correct? So where do we purchase this enzyme, at a homebrew store? Also, did I understand that it's possible the enzymes will convert some sugars that were originally intended to be not fermentable into fermentable sugars? Thus reducing your FG to a level below where you might have wanted it to finish?
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He added Amylase enzyme, which is different from Beano, yes. Beano is gluctosinase or something or another. I don't pretend to know how it works, just recall seeing the thread and figured I'd share before someone goes and adds Beano -- I've seen a lot of horror stories of 1.000 stouts out there after Beano.

I think the basic premise is the enzyme helps break down long-chain sugars into forms the yeast can ferment. But apart from that incredibly simplistic overview I don't know. Never tried it. So yeah, it might be a guess-shot as to how low or high of a gravity you will end up with. Better to try it out than have syrup-beer though.
 
iijakii said:
He added Amylase enzyme, which is different from Beano, yes. Beano is gluctosinase or something or another. I don't pretend to know how it works, just recall seeing the thread and figured I'd share before someone goes and adds Beano -- I've seen a lot of horror stories of 1.000 stouts out there after Beano.

I think the basic premise is the enzyme helps break down long-chain sugars into forms the yeast can ferment. But apart from that incredibly simplistic overview I don't know. Never tried it. So yeah, it might be a guess-shot as to how low or high of a gravity you will end up with. Better to try it out than have syrup-beer though.
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So... very off-topic for this thread, but I wonder if this could be used to brew a "light" beer? According to the Screwy Brewer calculator, if I could ferment a 1.030 wort down to 0.998 I'd have a 95 calorie beer with 4.3% alcohol. The ladies in my family would be thrilled!
 
TxBigHops said:
So... very off-topic for this thread, but I wonder if this could be used to brew a "light" beer? According to the Screwy Brewer calculator, if I could ferment a 1.030 wort down to 0.998 I'd have a 95 calorie beer with 4.3% alcohol. The ladies in my family would be thrilled!
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Sounds pretty good to me as well. I'd drink about 40 of those while grillin' during the summer. Try it out and let me know!
 
You know, I've seen that thread but never clicked on it lol. I might try that out next summer.

... added to the 30 long list of to-brews.
 
TxBigHops said:
Yup, that's exactly what I would do. I like the sweater idea. I may see if I can get my Granny to whip up a few of those for my RIS that I brewed in June, bottled in August, and will drink sometime next year. Point is, I have plenty of beers in my pipeline that are ready to drink and in their prime right now. Why would I want to drink what might be a really awesome beer well before it's prime? But that's just me. It's HIS BEER. You've said what you would do, and I've said what I would do. He should now do what HE wants to do.
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Great sense of humor. ..now i want one a bronco one! Lol....ok well said i dont have that stash so im drinking since you do yeah sure....i seek fresh beer yum
 
First off, let me say thank you to the OP for putting this out there. I did 12 gallons of this about a year ago and split it half local coffee beans and half cherries and it came out amazing!
Onto my issue, i threw about a gallon into a fermenter to intentionally forget about (unflavored) and just dusted it off. Id like to just toss them into bottles i think (i keg and 1 gallon wouldn't be worth it). Any advice carbing something that's been sitting for a year and that's 1.095 OG, i think it finished 1.015 maybe?
 
dlampen45 said:
First off, let me say thank you to the OP for putting this out there. I did 12 gallons of this about a year ago and split it half local coffee beans and half cherries and it came out amazing!
Onto my issue, i threw about a gallon into a fermenter to intentionally forget about (unflavored) and just dusted it off. Id like to just toss them into bottles i think (i keg and 1 gallon wouldn't be worth it). Any advice carbing something that's been sitting for a year and that's 1.095 OG, i think it finished 1.015 maybe?
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Yum! I dont know answer but you could keg no?

View attachment 1446608258657.jpg
 
abbysdad2006 said:
Thank you everyone for all your advise. I can't remember what the mash temp was, I don't have the stats in front of me right now. I want to say about 154 or so..
So, last night I racked it to secondary with another rehydrated pack of S-05 and some yeast nutrient, per my LHBS. I plan on letting it sit in secondary for at least 3 months and the bottle.
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Ok, so, I moved the carboy to the upstairs kitchen where the temp is a little warmer than downstairs. Temp is about 70 degrees, so I will see how that goes.
 
dlampen45 said:
Yeah i could keg, but since I'm only getting 12ish bottles worth out of it i didn't reallywant to bother, and i would kind of like to give a couple out
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Yeah I struggle to give mine out too after I keg... you can keg it then put it in a sanitized 2 liter bottle or something and blast co2 in there and then seal it real quick and I think it will hold for a short drinkable time anyways.

I'm sure some find this so trashy sorry....

Everything carbonates at some point if you want to bottle it doesn't it am I wrong? Might take a long time though?
 
I always carbonate in my kegs. I'm able to taste and get the right co2 levels and then I bottle from the keg. Easier for me anyway. If you search here for the 'we don't need no stinking beer gun' or something like that, I use that method and haven't had any problems even aging beers.
 
Holy crap! Brewed this back in February, 6 weeks in primary, 7.5 months hidden away from me bulk-aging, and just now kegged to carb and then bottle for winter gifts.

IT TASTES AMAZING!
 
abbysdad2006 said:
First off, let me say thank you to everyone!! I really appreciate it.
Beano, huh? I may have to try that. How does that work??:confused:
I am not giving up on this one yet!!
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I added about 1/2 of a 1/2 tsp of amylase enzyme 11/7/15 and noticed last night bubbles in the carboy. This morning a lot more. So I'd have to say it worked. Thank you all.
 
I brewed this back in July, kept in primary for a month it went from 1.106 to 1.028. Then i transferred to secondary for 3 months and it got down to 1.013.

I kegged it last week and stuck it in my fridge that malfunctioned and froze the whole keg solid. I'm just now thawing it out and it tastes REALLY boozey. I mean it's 12.2% so I expect some alcohol but this is a lot more than it tasted when racking to the keg.

Is this batch ruined? Anything special I should do to bring it back to serving temp?
 
Yeah, don't drink it till it thaws. If it's thawed already and it taste fine your good. If it taste thin when thawed you already drank off to much of the good stuff in which case then freeze it 1/2 way and enjoy your 25 % abv ice beer.
 
abbysdad2006 said:
I added about 1/2 of a 1/2 tsp of amylase enzyme 11/7/15 and noticed last night bubbles in the carboy. This morning a lot more. So I'd have to say it worked. Thank you all.
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Ok, so on 11/9 I added the amylase and on 11/14 I took a gravity reading and it is now at 1.030. From the OG it is about 9%. So the amylase worked.
 
m1356guy said:
I brewed this back in July, kept in primary for a month it went from 1.106 to 1.028. Then i transferred to secondary for 3 months and it got down to 1.013.



I kegged it last week and stuck it in my fridge that malfunctioned and froze the whole keg solid. I'm just now thawing it out and it tastes REALLY boozey. I mean it's 12.2% so I expect some alcohol but this is a lot more than it tasted when racking to the keg.



Is this batch ruined? Anything special I should do to bring it back to serving temp?
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I would be more worried about why it dropped to 1.013. That really low even if you mashed low. If u let the keg thaw completely it won't affect the beer at all.
 
orangemen5 said:
I would be more worried about why it dropped to 1.013. That really low even if you mashed low. If u let the keg thaw completely it won't affect the beer at all.
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Yeah it's pretty bizarre. I thought it would stay around 1.028 in secondary. Mashed at 152 and fell to 149 over the 90 min mash. So low, but not crazy low.

Fermented with 3 vials of wlp002 with a quick starter (used wort from the mash to make ~5 hour starter before I pitched).

Fermented at 65, aged at 60F for two months then moved to closet where the temp fluctuated. Any ideas why it finished so low?
 
m1356guy said:
Any ideas why it finished so low?
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Guessing either the hydrometer is wrong or there's an infection. Taste ok? Probably boozy and a little harsh. Any metallic or buttery flavors?

I really don't think this recipe & og with that yeast is capable of fermenting down that far on its own, even with low mash temps. Or maybe your og was a lot lower than you thought it was?
 
m1356guy said:
Yeah it's pretty bizarre. I thought it would stay around 1.028 in secondary. Mashed at 152 and fell to 149 over the 90 min mash. So low, but not crazy low.

Fermented with 3 vials of wlp002 with a quick starter (used wort from the mash to make ~5 hour starter before I pitched).

Fermented at 65, aged at 60F for two months then moved to closet where the temp fluctuated. Any ideas why it finished so low?
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That's quite a bit of yeast but the mash temp may have had something to do with it.


I brewed this recipe back in May, stepped it up to 1.111 but ended up hitting 1.120 as my OG. FG was 1.020 leaving it at 13.4% (or 15.2% on the atl calculation for high gravity beers). Left it in secondary for 3 months and just opened the first bottle last week. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! You cannot go wrong with this recipe. I expected a lot of alcohol heat and its surprisingly smooth for being this young and that alcoholic. I used a decent sized pitch of 1098. Cheers all!
 
ja09 said:
Guessing either the hydrometer is wrong or there's an infection. Taste ok? Probably boozy and a little harsh. Any metallic or buttery flavors?

I really don't think this recipe & og with that yeast is capable of fermenting down that far on its own, even with low mash temps. Or maybe your og was a lot lower than you thought it was?
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I wouldnt say its impossible or even difficult to get down that low with a normal fermentation. See my above post on my most recent experience. I didnt expect it to drop below 1.030 but it ended at 1.020 and started higher than his did. I believe I mashed at 152 as well. Infection is certainly not the only way to get down that low. IF anything, an infection would drop it lower, it not dry it out completely.
 
finsfan said:
I wouldnt say its impossible or even difficult to get down that low with a normal fermentation. See my above post on my most recent experience. I didnt expect it to drop below 1.030 but it ended at 1.020 and started higher than his did. I believe I mashed at 152 as well. Infection is certainly not the only way to get down that low. IF anything, an infection would drop it lower, it not dry it out completely.
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I totally agree that variances happen, but if you're 15+ points under calculated terminal gravity then something is wrong either with your recipe, ingredients, process or measuring equipment.
 
ja09 said:
I totally agree that variances happen, but if you're 15+ points under calculated terminal gravity then something is wrong either with your recipe, ingredients, process or measuring equipment.
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Imo, calculated fg doesnt mean a lot to me. Even with a yeast that attenuates 70%, a large pitch can easily take it to 80% or more. Recipe builders (at least brewers friend) dont take mash temp into consideration when determining fg. I agree that your ingredients, processes, and other factors can lead to that lower fg, but for you to say something went wrong and his process is bad is not correct. First you said it was infected and the recipe couldnt get that low, now you say it might be his recipe or processes/equipment. Instead of telling someone they are wrong and produced a beer the wrong way, we should be encouraging them to examine their brewday and learn. Maybe mash higher next time if you the same yeast, or use a yeast that doesnt attenuate so much. I can certainly tell you that my beer tastes fantastic and i imagine his will as well. Thats not a fail, just a different than expected outcome.
 
finsfan said:
Imo, calculated fg doesnt mean a lot to me. Even with a yeast that attenuates 70%, a large pitch can easily take it to 80% or more. Recipe builders (at least brewers friend) dont take mash temp into consideration when determining fg. I agree that your ingredients, processes, and other factors can lead to that lower fg, but for you to say something went wrong and his process is bad is not correct. First you said it was infected and the recipe couldnt get that low, now you say it might be his recipe or processes/equipment. Instead of telling someone they are wrong and produced a beer the wrong way, we should be encouraging them to examine their brewday and learn. Maybe mash higher next time if you the same yeast, or use a yeast that doesnt attenuate so much. I can certainly tell you that my beer tastes fantastic and i imagine his will as well. Thats not a fail, just a different than expected outcome.
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Dude what are you rambling about? Really not trying to get in an argument. If you think it's acceptable for fg to finish 15 points below calculations that's your issue. No need to lower the bar for everyone.
 
ja09 said:
Guessing either the hydrometer is wrong or there's an infection. Taste ok? Probably boozy and a little harsh. Any metallic or buttery flavors?

I really don't think this recipe & og with that yeast is capable of fermenting down that far on its own, even with low mash temps. Or maybe your og was a lot lower than you thought it was?
Click to expand...

ja09 said:
I totally agree that variances happen, but if you're 15+ points under calculated terminal gravity then something is wrong either with your recipe, ingredients, process or measuring equipment.
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You are full of contradiction.... Cheers :D
 
finsfan said:
You are full of contradiction.... Cheers :D
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The second post was obviously a general statement, but if you'd like me to talk slower and elaborate for you I can. Plus the posted recipe/profile could be very different from what he actually brewed.

Good try though.
 
finsfan said:
You are full of contradiction.... Cheers :D
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Are you serious dude? People come on here asking for help in analysing their results and processes. Pretty sure the guy with the 1.013 FG beer WANTS us to suggest possible reasons why it finished so low. I would if it were my beer. @ja09 threw out a bunch of possiblities. It pretty much HAS to be at least one of those things he mentioned. And where is the contradiction? Give all the opposing opinion that you want, but what is the point in attacking someone who is trying to help? You can disagree, and even point out flaws in someone's logic without being a d!@% about it.
 
TxBigHops said:
Are you serious dude? People come on here asking for help in analysing their results and processes. Pretty sure the guy with the 1.013 FG beer WANTS us to suggest possible reasons why it finished so low. I would if it were my beer. @ja09 threw out a bunch of possiblities. It pretty much HAS to be at least one of those things he mentioned. And where is the contradiction? Give all the opposing opinion that you want, but what is the point in attacking someone who is trying to help? You can disagree, and even point out flaws in someone's logic without being a d!@% about it.
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I never attacked him but instead provided other experiences and opinions on what could have happened. The entire reason for my post was to encourage them to look into their process and gather information, instead of being told they messed up. Go back and read my responses. I certainly dont see where I attacked ja09 at all until he took my opinions personally and tried to bash me.
 
finsfan said:
for you to say something went wrong and his process is bad is not correct. First you said it was infected
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First of all, I never said any of those things, so thanks for putting words in my mouth. I threw out a couple possibilities for the guy. The only reason I led with infection and hydrometer is because those are the two easiest things to rule out in this situation.

@m1356guy if you can give us any more info, maybe a recipe & profile, that'd be great!
 
ja09 said:
First of all, I never said any of those things, so thanks for putting words in my mouth. I threw out a couple possibilities for the guy. The only reason I led with infection and hydrometer is because those are the two easiest things to rule out in this situation.

@m1356guy if you can give us any more info, maybe a recipe & profile, that'd be great!
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Didn't mean to start a heated debate there guys. I appreciate the feedback and don't take offense to any comments above.

Here's the link to my recipe and notes: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/254002/12-russian-imperial-stout-2
 

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