Imperial Stout Double-W Imperial Stout

[moviebrain]

8 gallon wine bucket for a 6 gallon batch.

I'm bound and determined to do this without a blowoff tube!!!

I'm close. Last time I lost about a gallon even with the tube. This time it was mostly stable at 58.

Next time I'll start the ferment at 56 and rise from there.

 

[moviebrain]

Squiddily DOO! /guitar solo

Thanks again r2eng!

 

[moviebrain]

Kegged 5 gallons. Got another gallon out and I plan to add a mix of oak and peppers that I got from a brewmaster at Goose Island during a barrel aged beer fest, and I plan to call the small batch Gigantothermy.

 

[davidgsmit]

Just an fyi here... I'm brewing this tomorrow, but I didn't see a mash temp on the recipe. I found it while reading almost every page of this thread; looks like it's 156 or 158. I'll do 157, but can you please add it in there for the next poor sap?

Thanks!

 

[moviebrain]

I've been mashing at 156 for 90-120 minutes due to the very thick water to grain ratio required to fit in my 10 gallon MT. Beware the stuck sparge too, slow and steady gets you great efficiency.

 

[davidgsmit]

Brewed this without much of a hitch today. My pre-boil gravity was 1.074 instead of my target of 1.087 but I was also able to press out an extra gallon of wort from my mash tun, so I boiled for close to an hour before starting the clock.
Ended up with 5.2 gallons at 1.108, so just a tad shy of the 1.115 I was looking for, but I intend to have it finish at 1.030 which will still be a respectable 10.4% if I hit it.
Also sub'd Columbus for the Warrior and shot for 100 IBU's on this as I want it to be in it's prime next fall (about 10 months from now).
Oh, I also used 1lb 4 oz of stout barley (black barley) and did 4 oz of black patent instead of a straight 1.5lb of the black barley.

I noticed that some kind of hop filter/blocker would have been beneficial as the hops really don't want to settle out of this because of the viscosity. Just another item on the with list!

Thanks for the recipe! Will let you know how it turns out!

 

[r2eng]

Sorry... went back to the original Beersmith recipe - 156F is what I wrote down.

edited

 

[italarican]

The description of flavors here is exactly what I'm going for, but I'm thinking about brewing a RIS with a much dryer, more crisp mouthfeel. I was shocked how much I loved a RIS by a brewery that specializes in making IPAs/saisons/sours that mentioned they went out of their way to make theirs feel dry in order to boost drinkability.

The brewer recommended I do the following to achieve what they did:
--Lower mash temp of 150
--Use a highly attenuating yeast (recommended WL California Ale)
--Add corn sugar and honey to the boil, approximately 6-8% of the grist volume

Any thoughts on how this recipe would work with those changes? Obviously it'll be a very different beer, but I'd really like to try that with a good RIS recipe like this one. Also plan to age on bourbon soaked oak chips.

TLDR: Would this still taste awesome as a much dryer stout?

 

[r2eng]

italarican:

- If you want it drier, simply mash lower - 150-152F. If it's still not dry enough, bump the ferm temp up a little at the end to get the yeast to dry it out.

-The WL Cali Ale will not attenuate any further than US-05 - use what you want.

-This is a very complex beer - why add honey? Skip the honey and sugar, and brew it. You would typically add oak and bourbon in a secondary, so add those if you see fit after it's done.

I think you are trying to change too many things at once!

 

[italarican]

italarican:

- If you want it drier, simply mash lower - 150-152F. If it's still not dry enough, bump the ferm temp up a little at the end to get the yeast to dry it out.

-The WL Cali Ale will not attenuate any further than US-05 - use what you want.

-This is a very complex beer - why add honey? Skip the honey and sugar, and brew it. You would typically add oak and bourbon in a secondary, so add those if you see fit after it's done.

I think you are trying to change too many things at once!

Thanks. I should have been clearer: the brewer recommended those things for a beer like he made; had nothing to do with this recipe. I love US05 and will likely stick to that coupled with a lower mash temp of 150.

Can't wait to try it out!

 

[r2eng]

One other thing - be careful getting this beer too dry - maybe move down to 154F. Drying it out means more alcohol, and a "hot" beer. The alcohol could be VERY harsh. It's at about 12.4%ABV now, and needs the sugars to make it drinkable.

IMHO, if you want a drier stout, drop this beer's OG 20-40 points or rework the recipe.

 

[eujamfh]

Question-brewed this back in aug 2013. OG 1.097, FG 1.02. I carbed it in the keeper two weeks ago to go online after my other stout kicked.

Checking my stout on tap, it will be a bit before it is kicked (3 more weeks) which puts me into the warmer months and not sure I will want to tap this one.

Can I pull it and set it in the basement until fall? Currently at 38 and carbed...basement over summer will be about 65 degrees.

It will be just over a year since brew it I do this....thoughts?




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[TrustyOlJohnson]

55 degrees is near perfect temps for cellaring a beer, and you are real close to that. My guess? Its only gonna get better jus sitting and waiting for you. Should be amazing!!


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."

 

[eujamfh]

65 would be the high-varies from 63-65

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[moviebrain]

Taste it, see how you like it. It lasted almost a year on tap for me because I liked to graze on it, 4-6 oz at a time.

At around 18 months my batch was an incredible malt-forward chocolate-roasty flavor bomb of awesome.

At nearly 2 1/3 years old it started gaining a barleywine character that wasn't unpleasant but not what I expected.


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[inda_bebe]

I didn't like the way this stout came out. A bit roasty for my liking. But I did adjust and came out better for my taste.

 

[tellyho]

Just brewed my second batch of this the other day. Enjoyed the last batch immensely - after a year in the cellar, it was a lot like Rasputin, vinous and syrupy, with a kick.


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[jmark]

I brewed this 6 weeks ago... Had awful trouble with the mash efficiency (~53%) and spent close to two hours on the lauter. Ended up boiling it down to just under 5 gallons to get OG of 1.120+ (didn't realize my refractometer tops out at 1.120). Pitched 3 packets of rehydrated US-05. After two weeks, gravity was down to 1.066. I "walked" the fermenter as best I could to get the yeast back into suspension, and after another two weeks, gravity stalled out at1.055. All attempts to revive have failed... I pitched a 1L starter of WLP-090 Super Yeast... Nothing... A week later tossed in a teaspoon of amylase... Nothing... At this point, I think I only have two options... Keg and age as is, or brew something similar but obviously much weaker gravity wise and blend. Thoughts?


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[doublehaul]

I brewed this 6 weeks ago... Had awful trouble with the mash efficiency (~53%) and spent close to two hours on the lauter. Ended up boiling it down to just under 5 gallons to get OG of 1.120+ (didn't realize my refractometer tops out at 1.120). Pitched 3 packets of rehydrated US-05. After two weeks, gravity was down to 1.066. I "walked" the fermenter as best I could to get the yeast back into suspension, and after another two weeks, gravity stalled out at1.055. All attempts to revive have failed... I pitched a 1L starter of WLP-090 Super Yeast... Nothing... A week later tossed in a teaspoon of amylase... Nothing... At this point, I think I only have two options... Keg and age as is, or brew something similar but obviously much weaker gravity wise and blend. Thoughts?


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What mash temp?

 

[jmark]

156... I use a herms coil though and the HLT usually runs about 2 degrees hotter than the mash, so I'm thinking that might be where the problem lies, but missing FG by almost 20 points seems excessive and most of my other brews usually hit expected FG. I may try this one again with 1) a HUGE liquid starter, 2) a thinner mash (1.5qt/gallon instead of 1.25) and take better into account the poor efficiency. One thing that I may have missed was the pH levels as my meter's battery died on me, but I use RO water and Bru'n Water and that's never missed for me in the past.


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[bolus14]

Few questions as I'm looking to brew this in a couple weeks when I plan to bottle Biermuncher's OkterberFAST.

1. I used WY1450 for the Oktoberfest, had an OG of 1.049, any thoughts on this yeast for this stout? My concern is that Wyeast rates tolerant to 10%.

2. Has anybody used a Belgian yeast, either for the whole batch or for part of it, thoughts?

3. I'll be doing BIAB, likely a 3.5 or 4 gal batch because of my setup, 11 gal kettle, and efficiency, until I get my own mill or get equipment for "full" all grain. I generally get 62% - 65% efficiency I think mostly due to the grain crush from LHBS. I normally do a 60 min mash, raise the temp to 168-170 and "sparge" for 10 min. Should anything change with this process?

 

[eulipion2]

Few questions as I'm looking to brew this in a couple weeks when I plan to bottle Biermuncher's OkterberFAST.

1. I used WY1450 for the Oktoberfest, had an OG of 1.049, any thoughts on this yeast for this stout? My concern is that Wyeast rates tolerant to 10%.

Go for it! I racked a similar stout onto a US-05 cake and it worked out nicely. I'm sure Denny's will work just fine.

2. Has anybody used a Belgian yeast, either for the whole batch or for part of it, thoughts?

Meh. I say the stout will be fine as-is. Then again, I've never been a huge Belgian stout fan.

3. I'll be doing BIAB, likely a 3.5 or 4 gal batch because of my setup, 11 gal kettle, and efficiency, until I get my own mill or get equipment for "full" all grain. I generally get 62% - 65% efficiency I think mostly due to the grain crush from LHBS. I normally do a 60 min mash, raise the temp to 168-170 and "sparge" for 10 min. Should anything change with this process?

BIAB is gonna be heavy! 25.5 lb of grain, plus all the liquid it will absorb. I'm planning to brew a similar recipe via BIAB soon, and am not looking forward to hoisting that bag out of the kettle. I'm actually considering re-converting my cooler back to a mash tun just for this brew. Might try a 90-minute mash. Also, see if the brew store will do a double crush or maybe (if they like you) adjust the mill gap.

 

[bolus14]

Thanks for the input. I figured Denny's would be fine and am pretty sure I'll go with it since the cake will be ready and pitching on a full cake should be able to handle the alcohol.

I like Belgians, especially darker styles, but like a a good tripel and saison too. I had Allagash's Bourbon Barrel Black last year and was probably the best stout I've had, could've used a little more roast to it, but otherwise delicious for a non desert like big stout. Since then I've wanted to do a Belgian stout but there's not much info out there.

I really want to try this as the OP, but may take a gallon and ferment it with a Belgian strain to see how it goes, won't know unless I try it

As for BIAB, doing a 3.5 gallon batch would need 17.15lbs of grain and a 4 gallong batch would take 19.6 lbs. That's not taking my efficiency into account either, but that's why i'm looking into a little smaller batch, I don't think I could get the grain needed for a 5 gal, tkaing my efficiency into account, plus the water into my 11 gal kettle. I also use a straining basket that came with the kettle which takes up some available volume, but helps greatly with removing the grain and I never have to worry about the bag busting open.

 

[bolus14]

2L starter made. Planning to put in the fridge Wednesday morning or night, decant thursday night or friday morning if it looks clear, then build a 4L starter Friday night. I want to brew this weekend but this schedule doesn't give me enough time to chill and decant the 4L starter. So, brew day may have to wait till next weekend unless I take a day off during the week.

Really looking forward to this one

 

[sfrisby]

So are brewing Huna or double W, since the same post is in both threads?

(The correct answer is both to be able to taste side by side down the road!)

 

[bolus14]

I would love to make both, but due to mainly time at this point. I'm making this, Double W, then after a month of fermenting will rack a gallon off and add the spices for Huna. Not really looking to do a side by side as I know they will be different for many reasons. I'm also planning to make Denny's BVIP soon to have them both ready/drinkable for the holidays.

How this started was I wanted to make a good RIS with a some bitter chocolate and noticeable roasty backbone. After looking through many different threads I decided this fit the bill the best, mostly going off Biermuncher's review and taking others throughout the thread into account as well. I also wanted to make something with a little heat in the finish, but not the usual Amber chili beer style, that's when I found Huna.

My reasoning for not just using Huna and only using a gallon of that to add spices to is the grain bill. Mainly the black patent and C120 compared to Black Barley and Special B. I have found I prefer Black Barley over Black Patent. Black Patent finishes more acrid and harsh in my opinion. I also think I'll like what the Special B brings in the way of dark fruits, plum, black currants, instead of the more caramel and burnt sugar like character of the C120.

The only other change I am contemplating is adding vanilla beans to the whole batch instead of just the "spiced" gallon. I'm leaning toward not doing this because I would prefer to taste the original recipe as is, even if I think it would be better after getting a hydro sample. The carbonation and a little bit of age might make it more enjoyable without needing vanilla.

The reason for posting in both threads is just out of respect for those who have made the Huna clone as popular as it is, since I plan to "copy" some of their work.

 

[bobo31]

I brewed this recipe last weekend. I missed my the O.G. only got 1.091. Not too terrible considering this was my only big beer and only my 7th brew. I made the mistake of collecting too much wort. My pre-boil volume was 7.5 which I think was too much and I only boiled 60mins. My efficiency was ~66%, I think that is good for this much grain from what I am reading. If I had only collected 6.5 gallons pre-boil and boiled 60-90mins I think I would have been much better off on the O.G. Oh well I will get it next time

Also took my yeast two days to really get going but I only rehydrated the yeast not bloom on wort. What's the difference between blooming on wort and dumping the packet right in the wort?

 

[bolus14]

Did you just put one packet in? Not sure that's going to be enough for something this big. It'll likely chew through it but you may get some off flavors from stressing the yeast.

I haven't really seen the term blooming on wort, I really only use liquid yeast so if that's a dry yeast term I'm sorry. The main idea is to build a large starter, in this case most would recommend at least a 2L starter, if not a 4L.

The main thing you're looking to do is get the yeast to "reproduce" in low gravity wort then settle out.

 

[bobo31]

I rehydrated two packs of US-05 and dumped them in. In the beginning of the the thread r2eng said he bloomed 2 packages on wort. Most of my previous brews I did starters. I just didn't see the difference of blooming on wort and putting the packets straight in to the wort.?

Also I use swamp boxes to keep my fermentation temps down. I think I may have got a little carried away on the ice because I measured the water temp in the box and it was around 66-68. So that probably contributed to the slower start. I am not worried, I am sure it will still come out tasty.

 

[bolus14]

Brewed this AM, didn't hit OG because of a few mistakes that could easily be fixed. Preboil OG was 1.071 which was on target for what I needed, planned for 4.25 gallons which would've put me at 1.117. Ended up with a touch over 5 gallons which is why i missed the OG.

Now the mistakes. I ended up getting 7 gallons after mashing and "dunk sparging," which is more than I expected so the grains didn't absorb as much as I planned for, I squeezed more than I usually do and let it drip out more than usual too. After that I planned to boiled for 90 minutes instead of 60 to account for the extra wort. Well, kids ended up distracting me more than usual and I forgot about boiling longer. If I had boiled for the extra 30 min I would've boiled off an extra .5 gallons at least putting me right around 4.5 gallons, just .25 gallon over what I planned for.

In the end I should end up with around 12 more bottles than I planned for, clocking in at about 8% ABV. Not horrible and my mistakes can easily be fixed.