Adding concentrated wort to primary...

[kaj030201]

Trying to do an 18% (or so) Imperial Stout. After getting TONS of ideas from you all on this forum, I have decided on a technique for attaining that 18%. I am looking for any/all feedback on the following recipe and technique.


4# American 2 row
3# American 6 row
1.5# Belgian Special B
1# Golden Naked Oats
.5# Carafa III
.5# Caramel 80L
.5# Debittered Black Roasted Barley

3# Amber DME
1# Dark Candi Sugar

.75oz Nelson Sauvin @90 minutes
.5oz Centennial @ 45 minutes
.25oz Nelson Sauvin @ 2 minutes

WLP099- 2 vials

Aged 4 months on Bourbon Oak Chunks, then aged 4 months on Sauvignon Oak Chunks.


So at first I will mash all grains and boil 9 gallons without DME or candi sugar down to about 3.5 gallons. I will throw this onto a WYeast 1007 cake for a day, then add a 1 gallon starter of WLP099 and aerate the S#!t out of it.
Heres where I am starting to have some questions. I want to start adding concentrated wort to get up to 18%, but am not so sure on how to do this. I was thinking about just boiling 3 gallons of water with the DME and Candi Sugar down to a gallon, then adding it a quart at a time for 4 days, but don't know if this will work. Any thoughts?
As for hop utilization, I'm starting to think I will need much more hops, since it will be so sweet and will be aging for 8 months. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[david_42]

You only have 11 pounds of grain, so I think 9 gallons of runnings will be excessive. Check the gravity as you sparge.

I'd hold off on the 099 for a week and add it with half of the DME/Candi mix. No need to use two vials, since you are making a starter. Add the rest of the mix a week later. Just dissolve the DME & candi in a gallon of water. There is no need to boil it down.

 

[kaj030201]

You only have 11 pounds of grain, so I think 9 gallons of runnings will be excessive. Check the gravity as you sparge.

I'd hold off on the 099 for a week and add it with half of the DME/Candi mix. No need to use two vials, since you are making a starter. Add the rest of the mix a week later. Just dissolve the DME & candi in a gallon of water. There is no need to boil it down.

Do you think I will still be able to achieve the 18% using this method?

 

[avidhomebrewer]

If you're going for a 5 gallon batch, it should get you close. I would be hesitant in aerating after you rack onto the 1007 due to potential oxidation. Maybe only on the yeast for 1 day, it probably won't be fermenting that strong yet, not unless you have active 1007. Either way, I wouldn't aerate after racking the wort on the yeast. For the hops, you will more than likely need to crank them up a bit. I made a huge gravity lager (25# total grains/fermentables for a 5 gal batch) and did it a bit differently. My method was to boil everything down (in 2 pots, split hops evenly) to about 5 gallons, cool, and then rack about 3 gallons into a carboy. For the other 2 gallons, I transfered that to sanitized milk jugs and froze until ready. I aerated the 3 gallons and pitched the lager yeast. After about 2 weeks, I would add 1 gallon after it reached room temp, let that go for a couple weeks, then add the rest. It worked out for me. Just passing it on for another alternative. In order to finish, I had to pitch a high gravity ale yeast.