Can anyone judge my imperial stout recipe

[Huntmang11]

I am new to brewing I've only brewed 3 beers. I'm doing 1 gallon batches since I have limited space in my apartment so that's as big a batch as I can do. I recently downloaded beersmith and made a recipe for an imperial stout and I'd like someone to give the recipe a look and tell me if I'm on the right track. If anyone is interested in will post the recipe.

 

[MVKTR2]

Post away and you'll get feedback...

An imperial stout needs to be a minimum of 10% roasted malt and as much as 20. I've even made one with 22% roasted malt. Chocolate & Roasted Barley are the most important malts. Just offering some rough guidelines for imparting roast character in an I.S.

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

Also being an RIS it needs to have a higher OG, over 1.070 at least in my opinion. Throw your recipe up.

 

[Huntmang11]

1 Lb amber DME
1 Lb Dark DME
10 oz carmel/ crystal 120
4 oz flaked barley
1.6 oz Chocolate malt
1.6 oz black barley
4 oz dark brown sugar
0.25 oz Zeus 60 minute boil
0.25 oz Challenger 10 minute boil
Half a pack of SafAle S-04
Like I said this is a 1 gallon batch according to beersmith the estimated og is 1.104, 73.6 IBU, 57.1 srm, and estimated abv is 10.9

 

[Amadeo38]

I would sub in a little bit of flaked oats for balance and mouthfeel, and knock the OG down just a smidgen by dropping the brown sugar. That's quite the OG - be sure to really aerate it well before pitching and be prepared to take a gravity measurement several days after what will likely be a very vigorous early fermentation. It may stall around 1.020-1.030 and require the addition of a high alcohol yeast like WLP099 to finish it off.

 

[jmitchell3]

I'd also pitch the entire pack of dry yeast.

 

[Huntmang11]

I wasn't really sure what the best yeast would be so I just picked one I may do a different one. I like my beer pretty strong so the 10% abv is what I'm looking for. Does flaked barley not do the same for mouth feel as flaked oats?

 

[Amadeo38]

It may, but I use both in my stouts. You can try the S04, and consider Nottingham as well. I thought about saying pitch the whole packet, but at a half packet you're already looking at 2.5 packets equivalent for what would he a 5 gallon batch, which should be plenty. No sense in overpitching. Consider rehydrating the yeast in this case.

 

[Huntmang11]

I recently brewed a Belgian Dubbel I used
2 Lb Briess CBW Pilsen
0.5 Lb Vienna
0.5 Lb Munich
0.25 Lb C-120
4 oz dark belgian candy sugar
0.25 oz German Spalt 60 minute
0.25 oz Apollo 5 minute
And I pitched half a pack of belle saison
I didn't make this recipe the guy at the brew shop did my og was 1.110 I brewed this past Friday so about a week ago and fermentation is going great.

 

[Huntmang11]

I really appreciate the feedback I will look into adding the flaked oats it will be a few weeks before I get a chance to brew this beer. I will also talk to the guys at the brew shop about yeast and what their ideas are. So I'm going to guess I am on the right track with everything else in the recipe. I have been looking over everything in order to try to put it together the best recipe I can.

 

[Amadeo38]

Also see if your HBS carries dry (or is it double?) roasted crystal, which is like c-120 (in your recipe) but supposedly better for stouts.

 

[Huntmang11]

I will definitely check that out thank you.

 

[Huntmang11]

Once I brew this beer I will post the results I get from it.

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

I personally would strongly recommend against the 04 I am trying to save a stout, rum runner from nb, that stalled at 1.040. Use us05 or use a liquid one and make a starter. Also I would do both dark dme. You're going for a stout and it should be dark style wise. Lastly for ferment chamber make sure to use a blowoff tube! I just fermented a 1.104 DIPA 1 gal in a 1 gal carboy and it's doing awesome but blew off through my tube into the bucket.

 

[MVKTR2]

A few things. With that much extract you need a lower OG to keep from having to high of a FG.

I'd make the OG 1.090-1.095 by using less extract. Oats will be fine but I'd suggest wheat or rye for mouthfeel as they will ferment out just a bit better than the oats. I'd leave the brown sugar in because it will help dry out the beer, again reduce the gravity by taking away malt extract. Finally I 2nd BarrelAgedForrest's advice against s-04, US05 if probably your best bet here followed by Notty.

No matter what it'll be beer and you'll learn from the experience. Cheers and good luck!

 

[Huntmang11]

So I finally brewed this stout I kept the ingredients listed pretty much the same. I did change the yeast and one hop. My home brew store didn't have Zeus so we subbed in Columbus. Also I already know I'm going to catch some heat for this but I used Belle saison yeast. I had half the pack left from my Belgian and I have seen a lot of people including big breweries experimenting withe different yeast strains in beers they typically don't get used in. I also just didn't want to buyour more yeast. My original gravity was lower than what I wanted I don't think I boiled enough water off. My OG was 1.080 my FG was 1.010 so it still came in at 9.1 abv. I have a couple more days before it is finished bottle conditioning. I did try it the night I bottled it. The flavor was good I did get the yeast characteristic but it went well with the other flavors of the beer. I wouldn't say it's a perfect beer and it is definitely a different beer but not in a bad way. I actually liked the flavors.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Man I can't wait to brew an RIS! Gonna parti-gyle it up and get a nice lawn mower beer out of the 3rd and 4th runnings hopefully.