OFFICIAL Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout Clone

Just dumped my 5 gal batch of Kate the Great after 6 months of aging, beer sucumbed to an acetobacter infection. Got lazy and didnt properly seal the corny keg I was secondarying in. Sad day, will brew again in a few months though.

 

KTG will be tapped on March 5th 2012. Here is the link to the Portsmouth Beer Week.

http://portsmouthbeerweek.com/

 

So if I read that right:

Port bottles (750ml?) x 3 = ~80oz (or 2.5quarts)
Kate for "concoction" (37.5 quarts)
1. Use ratio of 1:15 for your port/kate concoction

11G batch would require .25G of "concoction" ((11x10)/440y= .25G, or 1 quart (32oz) concoction)


Concoction mix
1x + 15x = 32oz (.25G), therefore x = 2oz
So based on that
2oz Tawny Port + 30oz Kate

Now to determine spirals:
((6x.25)/10=.15 spiral per 11G

Two issues being:
1. What sized bottles of port are used
2. How big are the spirals (.15 spirals is tiny). They might be using spirals that are 2 feet long

Final result is to make 1 quart concoction with the following for an 11G batch:
a. 2oz Tawny Port
b. 30oz Kate
c. .15 oak spiral (not sure what length they use; probably best to use the recc dosage for 11G or to taste)
(they sell oak in up to 48'' x 4'' thick)

For me I think next time I will just toss in 2oz of port into each keg with the recc dosage of oak spirals for 11G. Which fortunately is pretty much what I did this time around.

 

Nice work on the number crunching; it was on my "to-do (eventually)" list, so I'm quite grateful that someone beat me to the punch. Next time around I may try the recipe as-instructed, now that we seem to have the comprehensive version. Although I must admit, the bourbon vanilla version has proven quite popular; I can hardly wait to put it on tap.

 

Actually, I think he is only adding half that amount of Port. In your concoction you have 17.5 qts of Kate, but he says he is using 10 gallon kegs, so wouldn't you need 37.5 qts of Kate?

 

oop you are right - not sure why I used a 5 gallon keg in my math. So to correct:

2oz port:30oz kate for concoction + oaking for 11G batch

I updated the above post to be correct

That is why I am not an accountant

 

I have 1.25 oz of American medium toast cubes sitting on some port. I am thinking of letting it soak for 1 month in the port and then let my 5 gallon batch sit on the cubes for 2 months. Does this sound about right (and enough)? then i plan to let it all age in bottles for 6 more months at least (some for a year). When I put the cubes in, should I also dump the 1/2 pint of port in with the cubes? or decant off the port first?

 

Here's what I did- I did a two month primary and racked it to a corny. When I racked it, I bought a small bottle of port(not sure what size, but I'd say the bottle was about the size of a pint), threw my wood (he he) right in the bottle and let it sit for two months, then dumped the whole thing in the corny and let it sit for another month. All times are approximate, as this is a hobby after all. I just pulled a sample and the port is prevalent, a little more than I'd like. I'm getting ready to bottle it today and am hoping the port flavor will subside a bit, and I'm sure it will. I'll let you know in a few months.

 

Mine is going into the NHC in the San Diego region so I can't wait to see what the judges think.

 

What are you going to enter it under out of curiosity?

 

Any tasting notes from people that have let this condition & age?

AG/PM?
How much oak and how long on oak?
How long in total for aging?

 

Imperial Stout. 13F If I can remember off the top of my head.

 

Will they take it as a RIS with the wood and port? I thought it would be either wood aged or specialty

 

I entered mine as wood aged category.

 

They will take any beer in any category. Just because you used something doesn't disqualify it, unless it a detectable part of the beer. On mine the wood is now an afterthought, not pronounced at all. Most of it gone and turned into vanilla and maple flavors. I could always change it before dropping off the sample if needed.

 

i just did my second 5 gallon batch of this. This time I used 12 lbs of grain and 6lbs of DME to boost my efficiency and well...it was a lot of grain the first time (which is still in the secondary). I hit 1.120 and did 3 packets of us05. We'll see how this one goes compared to the other. I am using 1.25 oz of oak that has been sitting in port for 1 month in each batch. I plan to age it 2 months on the oak and then keg to bottle and let it sit for another 6 before I crack one open.

 

Wow - having a glass of this right now. My batch is about 11 months old (bulk aged 5, bottle conditioned 6) and it is amazing. Malt and dark fruit notes up front and a loooooong finish with roasty and subtle chocolate/burned flavors.

 

Made this on January 8th and took a bottle to my May club meeting for tasting notes. Altho young still wanted to open one and also get feed back befor a whole year well awesome was the comment used most that and bury this deep for another 6 months to bring out full potential. Lots of legs on this one with a thick mouthfeel that coats the whole way down. Now to leave alone until new years! I will need to do this again soon. I also partigyled a black IPA from second runnings that was a most do again.

 

CRAP, I made this yesterday and while cleaning up today I found 22oz of flaked barley sitting on the counter that I forgot to add.

Aside from RDWHAHB, what should I expect...less mouthfeel? Anything I can do now? Can I mash this with a bit of water and add it to the fermentor?

EDIT: Just made a mini mash with 1lb 6oz of the flaked barley, 11oz of 2-row, and ~2 quarts of water... holding at 156 for 45 min, a quick boil and then into the fermentor.

 

I brewed this last night as a 3 gallon, full boil, no sparge, BIAB. Had no problems hitting the right volume or final gravity. I did a few things differently though. I doubled the percentages of black patent, roasted barley, and chocolate malt based on another brewers recommendation:

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/04/portsmouth-kate-great-clone-recipe.html

Also, I first wort hopped with the 15 minute flavoring addition, threw the whirlpool addition in at flameout, and then let it sit without chilling for 20 minutes. It's fermenting in my chest freezer at 64 degrees right now and I will most likely leave it on the yeast for 4 weeks before oaking in secondary. Looks to be a mighty brew and hopefully, it'll be ready by Christmas.

 

Brewing this recipe again first batch got a bad acetobacter infection and I had to dump it. Going to use Edinburgh ale yeast and a slightly different hop schedule. Hope to have some ready for Christmas!

 

brewed this in January and March. Aged 2 months on oak cubes. Both batches went fine, but after 6 months...I have to say, the beer is a bit on the sweet side and i'm not pickup up much of anything. Maybe aging will help it, but right now I wish I had upped the IBU's to make it a bit more bitter. Both batches taste very similar.

 

I wonder if this is related to the fact that the hops added at flameout aren't contributing the same as the whirlpool hops that is added in the original.

When I brewed this, I first wort hopped the 15 minute addition and then added the whirlpool hops at flameout, but then let it sit for 20 minutes prior to chilling.

Thoughts?

 

I still have a PM/Extract batch in secondary that I brewed in January.
I'm looking to have this ready to drink for the Christmas/New Years.
It was originally for my wife's birthday in October, but one homebrew led to another and we're expecting another assistant brewer in the beginning of December.

Question is two fold:

Should I re-pitch some yeast or will 3.5 months in the bottle be enough to carb them up?

If I do re-pitch, what's the process?
I've never done that before.

Any tips would be appreciated......

 

Well lemmiwinks, I was listening to a brewing network podcast where they covered this topic. if you think you needed to add yeast they recommended using about 1 gram of yeast rehydrating it and adding it to the bottling bucket when you add your priming sugar.

Using this as a guide:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Rehydrating_dry_yeast
It says: "To rehydrate your dry yeast, simply sprinkle the dry yeast into a cup (1c) of 104°F sterile (pre-boiled) water 30 minutes before pitching. The temperature and time are recommendations"

Since you are only using 1 gram I would perhaps only use 1c or 236g / 11.5 (grams in a packet) = 20g of 104°F sterile (pre-boiled) water for each gram of yeast.

I would think about using something simple such as Safale US-05 Ale Yeast.

If anyone has any better ideas please add them.

 

I dumped in a whole packet of red star champagne yeast in at bottling with the priming sugar and had good results the one and only time that I have had to re-yeast at bottling. You can probably get away with less, but what is the point of keeping some? There is no way I can think of to keep that sterile for use in a future batch, plus it's like a dollar for a whole pack.... Also I think the point is here that the amount of yeast can't really be overdone, it's saccromyces so the only think it can eat is ferment able sugars, thus meaning that since your beer is at terminal gravity prior to priming the only factor that should matter is the amount of priming sugars, so long as there is enough yeast to get them eaten to produce your CO2 you are all set, having extra yeast wouldnt hurt since they can't eat anything more than what you give them, make sense?? Cheers and good luck!!

 

yup - makes sense thanks guys.

So you think re-pitching is a must here even though it'll sit in bottles for about 3.5 months prior to serving?

 

Look at it this way; $3 for a packet of dry yeast is insurance against letting them sit for 3.5 months and cracking open flat bottles of beer at Christmas!

 

Where are you guys getting your yeast at $1 and $3? The last two posts that is. I'm near the source and it still goes for around $6. Give me a link to the magic source.

 

You're paying $6 for a packet of dry yeast?

 

Bottled this about 3-4 months ago and it's starting to blend just right - should've carbonated a bit more, as it's probably around 1.7 vols and maybe added a bit more port. I think a bit less than half a bottle went in. Still, probably my best beer to date.

 

I just bought ingredients to make 2 more batches. The second runnings will be used to make a schwarzbier using 2308 and a Farmhouse stout using 3726. I'm making the starters today or Sunday and brewing this upcoming week! Woohoo!

 

Well I will not actually buy them when liquid is relatively cheaper. Just wondering where people are getting it so cheap. If it is that cheap when I get back to the states, I may stock up. But since I harvest and plate, I still doubt it.

 

I have been getting it from eBay for quite a while, Nottingham that is. They advertised 1.99 with 2.50 shipping which seems like a lot, but if you order 20 of them the shipping stays the same. It looks like they've changed the policy to make it 1.00 extra ship per unit though which makes it still expensive. I see AHB is selling a 50 count for a little under a hundred bucks. That's a lot of Notti for a single brewer, but highly doable for a club.

 

I brewed up another batch on Sunday and got an OG of 1.100 and got a Partigyle second runnings of 1.055 (after mixing in a little less than a gallon of extra first runnings I lautered). I pitched 1056 in a gallon starter for Kate and pitched the 3726 farmhouse yeast from wyeast for an interesting Belgian saison stout. Time will tell...

 

Boiling yet another Kate. Second runnings tonight will be a schwarzbier with 2308.

 

Got an OG of 1.104 for Kate and 1.042 for the Schwarzbier.

 

That sounds like a stellar idea. I will steal this from you and try it next time I brew Kate. Hope you don't mind.

 

Yeah its really good. The last time I made the beers this way it was a huge hit. Have fun and pitch a ton of yeast!

 

How is everyone getting a second running beer? Whats the OG of that beer? Just adding 6gal of water to the mash and running it off?

Im in for a second Black IPA beer!