My goal was to make a high gravity imperial stout and condition it on bourbon-soaked American oak cubes.
On 1/6/2024 I made the Brewers Best RIS extract kit, and added 275g of Briess Golden DME to up the abv. Using [exactly] 5-gallons of water, it went in the fermenter at 1.081, (a little lower than I had hoped for). I pitched 2 packets of Nottingham instead of the yeast that came with the kit. It took 12 hours for the yeast to wake up and then it took off ferociously for 2 days. After that there was no discernable activity in the airlock.
On 1/13/2024 I took a sample. It was at 1.027. (a little higher than I had hoped for). It smelled a little boozy, the taste was slightly bitter/astrigent, and the mouthfeel was watery.
I just took another sample today, 1/20/2024. It's now 1.024. Still not as low as I had hoped, but better than before That puts my apparent attenuation at 69%, which I can live with. The booziness in the nose is gone. It smells mostly floral, with a hint of fruitiness, (plum). The taste is remarkably smooth, roasted coffee with cream, and it now has that oily/syrupy mouthfeel I love in a stout. Very dark. It's not cloudy, but I can't see thru it.
I think I'm going to skip the oak cubes for this one. I'm afraid the bourbon/oakiness might overpower a 7.5% beer. It's delicious the way it is, so I'm just going to leave it in primary another week, (or two), and bottle it.
On 1/6/2024 I made the Brewers Best RIS extract kit, and added 275g of Briess Golden DME to up the abv. Using [exactly] 5-gallons of water, it went in the fermenter at 1.081, (a little lower than I had hoped for). I pitched 2 packets of Nottingham instead of the yeast that came with the kit. It took 12 hours for the yeast to wake up and then it took off ferociously for 2 days. After that there was no discernable activity in the airlock.
On 1/13/2024 I took a sample. It was at 1.027. (a little higher than I had hoped for). It smelled a little boozy, the taste was slightly bitter/astrigent, and the mouthfeel was watery.
I just took another sample today, 1/20/2024. It's now 1.024. Still not as low as I had hoped, but better than before That puts my apparent attenuation at 69%, which I can live with. The booziness in the nose is gone. It smells mostly floral, with a hint of fruitiness, (plum). The taste is remarkably smooth, roasted coffee with cream, and it now has that oily/syrupy mouthfeel I love in a stout. Very dark. It's not cloudy, but I can't see thru it.
I think I'm going to skip the oak cubes for this one. I'm afraid the bourbon/oakiness might overpower a 7.5% beer. It's delicious the way it is, so I'm just going to leave it in primary another week, (or two), and bottle it.
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