Imperial Stout Double-W Imperial Stout

[r2eng]

only one way to find out, gotta taste it.

i pitched 2 packs of us05 and it was at 1.032 within 10 days.

He's correct... a big beer like this could be great at 1.040 - what was the starting OG?

 

[nootay]

my efficiency was pretty bad. og was 1.094

 

[kbuzz]

Do you think this would taste okay with a couple sliced peppers added to the secondary to give it just a slight amount of heat to go along with the bittersweet chocolate notes?

I want to make an Imperial Pepper Stout and this looks like a great candidate for adding a couple peppers...

Thoughts?

 

[r2eng]

It would stand up fine with the chili, but I will wait for others to chime in. I am not a fan of chili beer!

Chili's are for tacos!

 

[hummyjohnson]

I brewed this without any modification to the receipe on 8-13-2011. My OG was 1.10, and I pitched two packs of us-05, bloomed. Fermentation started quickly, and seemed ok. Ambient temp during fermentation was around 65F. It sat in primary until today, when I racked to a keg. I checked the FG and was surprised to see 1.050... not sure what to think. I'll give a couple months of keg conditioning and see what happens.

 

[motobrewer]

did you use any yeast nutrient? did you aerate really well? mine fell to 1.031 (from 1.107) in 8 days.

 

[r2eng]

Hmmm...

I have "restarted" a beer that was stuck by making a small starter, letting it cook for a day, then adding-in a bit of wort to feed it. After that cooks for a day or two I dumped it in the beer and it lowered the gravity. It wasn't a huge, frothy fermentation but it did bring it down.

 

[grundig5]

Do you think this would taste okay with a couple sliced peppers added to the secondary to give it just a slight amount of heat to go along with the bittersweet chocolate notes?

I want to make an Imperial Pepper Stout and this looks like a great candidate for adding a couple peppers...

Thoughts?

I thought about this last night as I was sipping some of this beer and it isn't a great idea. The flavor is already very complex and full and I cant imagine a peppery spice adding anything positive to this particular stout. On the other hand, I added a very small amount (mL's) of bourbon to my glass and liked it quite a bit. Bourbon/oaking this would do wonders.

Regarding the FG, mine went from 1.10 to 1.040 with 2 packets of S05 in about 2 weeks.

 

[r2eng]

I added a very small amount (mL's) of bourbon to my glass and liked it quite a bit. Bourbon/oaking this would do wonders.

I may have to split my current batch and try this out. I bourbon-oaked an oatmeal stout, and it was really nice.

 

[r2eng]

Just measured my gravity: Used half of the US-05 from my IPA primary, and it took the beer from 1.110 to 1.034 in 5 days!

I love US-05!

I forgot how complex this beer is. I am sipping the hydro tube now.

 

[kbuzz]

tried brewing a variation of this recipe this afternoon and got a wicked stuck sparge that I couldn't overcome...ended up with $50 of wasted grains...dumped into the compost...unless you count the couple of jars I kept to use as yeast starters, this was a total loss for me today...VERY upset with my brew day...

 

[tmains]

I've been eyeballing this recipe and I think I may do it with a little tweaking.

Follow procedure as stated on pg. 1, but add 2 oz of coffee grounds and 6 oz cocoa powder at flameout. Perhaps 10 oz of lactose at 15 minutes left in the boil too.

Then when its time to age in the secondary- add a few oz of oak chips (previously soaked in bourbon).

Comments?

 

[r2eng]

It would be good to try coffee and cocoa, though you'd be amazed at how those flavors are already there.

The oak would be excellent, the bourbon good, but why the lactose? This beer really does not need body or sweetness. I'd really suggest you leave that out, IMO.

 

[tmains]

I just like the idea of it being milky. But if you think it wouldn't be needed, I'll leave it out. I'm going to round up all the ingredients tonight and brew it sometime this next week.

I want to do a parti gyle too. Think I need to add any other grains once I get the first wort through?

 

[sfrisby]

Do you have a couple of 3 gallon carboys? Maybe split it in half in the secondary and add dissolved lactose in 1? Then you can see the actual effect side by side.

 

[tmains]

tried brewing a variation of this recipe this afternoon and got a wicked stuck sparge that I couldn't overcome...ended up with $50 of wasted grains...dumped into the compost...unless you count the couple of jars I kept to use as yeast starters, this was a total loss for me today...VERY upset with my brew day...

What gave you a stuck sparge? I planned on doing this BIAB but considered using my new 15 gallon kettle with a bazooka screen in the bottom.

Do you have a couple of 3 gallon carboys? Maybe split it in half in the secondary and add dissolved lactose in 1? Then you can see the actual effect side by side.

That's an idea. I'm ordering the grain bill now.

 

[tmains]

Regarding BIAB.... this is what BeerSmith tells me.

16.38 qts of water at 179.8 degrees F. To achieve 156 F mash temp for 60 mins. Mash out over 7 minutes to 168 F.

That can't be right because 16.38 qts is only about 4 gallons. How do I calculate how much water I need to do a BIAB method?

 

[tmains]

I'm gonna brew this today. I'm reading that 100 IBUs makes this a little more balanced. So from plugging in BeerSmith I chose the following:

4 oz Warrior @ 60 min
2 oz Galena @ 60 min
3 oz Willamette @ 30 min
3 oz WIllamette @ 10 min

 

[r2eng]

Sorry, Elk season started and I was there!

No idea on the BIAB...

The hops sound like a bit much... what's the AA of the Warrior and Galena? My Galena is 11% and Warrior is 15%. Maybe the BIAB needs more hops?

My 3rd batch (couldn't find Warrior) all-grain has 3.25 oz Galena at 11% and 2 oz Willamette at 30, 2 oz at 10.

 

[tmains]

I didn't do BIAB after all, lemme dig up my notes and I'll post my hop schedule.

 

[tmains]

I didn't quite get up to the OG. Mine was around 1.095. Checked the gravity yesterday and I'm down to 1.025ish. I gave it a taste and was wow'd. Gonna be amazing. 2 oz of American oak sitting in a pint of Maker's Mark with 2 vanilla beans now, gonna age it on that for a little bit.

Should I consider repitching yeast for bottling time?

 

[motobrewer]

I didn't quite get up to the OG. Mine was around 1.095. Checked the gravity yesterday and I'm down to 1.25ish. I gave it a taste and was wow'd. Gonna be amazing. 2 oz of American oak sitting in a pint of Maker's Mark with 2 vanilla beans now, gonna age it on that for a little bit.

Should I consider repitching yeast for bottling time?

I did. I had mine in secondary for about 6 months. I used about 5g us05 at bottling.

that was a month ago and haven't opened any so i really don't know if its carbed or not

 

[grundig5]

Here is mine a bit more than 5 months. Think I'll rebrew this soon to have it ready for next year. The 5 month one I had was quite good - the hops have faded and the alcohol is well hidden, its really getting quite delicious.

 

[tmains]

I should add that I used 1056 instead of us-05. Perhaps I'll repitch shortly before bottling time.

 

[nicegut]

Just kegged this beast after bulk aging for 6 months. It is a beautiful dark brown with a golden Carmel hue when in the light. Poured myself a nice snifter to sip throughout the afternoon. Nice chocolate flavor with a hint off coffee rounded off with some sherry bourbon notes as well. I strayed a bit and put 8 oz caraaroma in with the other darks and subbed roasted barley (300l) for the black barley. Ended up around 10% abv on the nose. This can only get better with age....

 

[r2eng]

Looks good!

My batch hit the 6-month mark last Saturday, so it's been carbed-up and is now on tap for a limited time! This time I dry-hopped and oaked it.

I'll post a photo.

 

[sfrisby]

Has anyone given thought to some lactose? I like a slightly sweet stout and 1.5lb of black patent sounds like it is setting up for a more bitter stout. My favorite non-limited supply stout is Weyenbacher Tiny. It has a slight sweetness that sounds like it could match up with the velvety smoothness that is described here. Any thoughts from those that have already drank this one?

 

[nicegut]

This tends to be on the sweeter side of stouts with the large amount of unfermentables and high OG. Mine ended around 1.026-1.028. A sipper for sure, and blends well if you fancy.

 

[r2eng]

Keep in mind, it's Black Barley that's called for - not the same as Black Patent!

If you keep the bittering hops down per the original recipe, about 88 IBU's you will have a big stout that is a bit on the sweet side - albeit balanced, IMO. I have since upped the bittering hops to 110 IBU's and actually prefer it that way.

 

[sfrisby]

You know, I read black barley and processed black patent. Thanks.