Cascadian Imperial Chocolate Stout

[vegas20s]

I have been making cider for the last few batches and that has me craving something a whee heavy. I have done stouts but no imperials before. So let me know what you think of my attempt. FYI- I am using cocoa powder and vanilla extract because that is what I have on hand.

I am pretty confident in the grains/LME & hops I have planned out. The main thing I am wondering about is timing and quantities of the adjuncts.

Fermentables
9 lbs Amber LME-(4 lbs @60 min 5 lbs @15 min)
.75 lbs brown sugar @15 min
4 oz molasses @15 min
Mini mash 60 min @ 155F
.5 lb 6 row
.5 lb quick oats
.33 lb light roast barley
.33 lb chocolate
.33 lb dark chocolate (coffee)
.25 lb carapils
.25 lb carmel 60L

Adjuncts
6 oz cocoa powder added to the mash grains
3 TBS of vanilla extract added @ flame out
.5 lbs lactose added to boil @ 15 minutes

The hops are what makes it Cascadian
1 oz simcoe @ 60
.75 oz Amarillo @60
.5 oz Liberty @20
.5 oz Amarillo @20

Yeast
Going to used washed s-04 trub from a cider batch

Estimated Stats
OG-1.088 FG-1.026 IBU-50 SRM-31 ABV 8-9%
(I think this is off a bit. Brewtoad does not add PPGs for lactose)

 

[mooshimanx]

I have been making cider for the last few batches and that has me craving something a whee heavy. I have done stouts but no imperials before. So let me know what you think of my attempt. FYI- I am using cocoa powder and vanilla extract because that is what I have on hand.

I am pretty confident in the grains/LME & hops I have planned out. The main thing I am wondering about is timing and quantities of the adjuncts.

Fermentables
9 lbs Amber LME-(4 lbs @60 min 5 lbs @15 min)
.75 lbs brown sugar @15 min
4 oz molasses @15 min
Mini mash 60 min @ 155F
.5 lb 6 row
.5 lb quick oats
.33 lb light roast barley
.33 lb chocolate
.33 lb dark chocolate (coffee)
.25 lb carapils
.25 lb carmel 60L

Adjuncts
6 oz cocoa powder added to the mash grains
3 TBS of vanilla extract added @ flame out
.5 lbs lactose added to boil @ 15 minutes

The hops are what makes it Cascadian
1 oz simcoe @ 60
.75 oz Amarillo @60
.5 oz Liberty @20
.5 oz Amarillo @20

Yeast
Going to used washed s-04 trub from a cider batch

Estimated Stats
OG-1.088 FG-1.026 IBU-50 SRM-31 ABV 8-9%
(I think this is off a bit. Brewtoad does not add PPGs for lactose)

I wouldn't add the vanilla extract at flameout. Its already in a solution of 30-40% alcohol and can be safely added to the finished beer. Take some samples of the fermented beer and dose it until you determine how much vanilla you like and then scale it up to the whole batch. Adding it to hot wort is going to make it somewhat uncertain what the overall effect is on the beer and while some people like overpowering vanilla flavor, you cannot take it out of the beer if you don't want it.

As for the cocoa, the thing I'd be concerned about is the chocolate turning to sludge, sinking to the bottom and then scorching as you raise the wort to a boil. You might consider adding it at flameout (this is what Jamil Zainasheff does on his Chocolate Hazenut Porter) and getting most of it into the fermenter and then racking off of it when you think you have enough chocolate flavor, but there's a many ways to skin a cat there.

The grain selection looks fine, but I'm not sure you have the roasted malts in sufficient amounts to give you the kind of flavor and thickness you expect in an Imperial Stout. If I were formulating this recipe, I would probably double the amount of all of the steeping grains. I'm sure it will come out fine as is, but I might expect it to be perhaps a little more imperial porter like.

 

[vegas20s]

good suggestion thanks!

 

[vegas20s]

So, it sounds like I will try the cocoa @ flame out
then add the vanilla to taste when I bottle mixing it in with the priming solution.

I like the idea of doubling the roasted grains as well.

 

[RonPopeil]

i would do this as a black IPA. 50 IBU would be a good place to be. use like amarillo and citra or maybe some cascade somewhere just to pin down some citrus notes. orange zest would be cool too.

 

[vegas20s]

I thought about the orange flavor, I like orange chocolate. And the simcoe and Amarillo would lend themselves to it, but I am trying to pin down a proper "Russian Imperial Stout" before I go into doing anything to crazy. If this was going to be a "Cascadian Ale" I would try to crank the IBU's way up. Right now with the 50 it is more on the balanced side considering the the OG.