Imperial Stout Double-W Imperial Stout

[GelatiKING]

r2eng - I also have to thank you for the recipe.

I did some things to it, and brewed 2.5 gallon batches. I have three batches in secondary fermenters - one with extra warrior hops (reminds me of Night Stalker), one with french oak chips, one with american oak soaked in Jameson. Have ingredients for one more batch, deciding what to do with it.

Biggest beer yet. Latest batch, OG - 1130. First one was 1122, dropped to 1040.

 

[Br3wb1e]

do yall think this will fit in a 10 gallon beverage cooler for my mash?!?!

 

[doublehaul]

do yall think this will fit in a 10 gallon beverage cooler for my mash?!?!

It did for me but its tight! And i might not have got all my water in but it worked. I dumped my grain in and it looked full before i added water but it soaked it up. My biggest grain bill to date, i don't think i could do any more. I have the standard 10 gallon round cooler from home depot.

 

[Br3wb1e]

It did for me but its tight! And i might not have got all my water in but it worked. I dumped my grain in and it looked full before i added water but it soaked it up. My biggest grain bill to date, i don't think i could do any more. I have the standard 10 gallon round cooler from home depot.

Heard. I have the same one but in lowes blue lol. I'm just hoping I don't get a still mash with it so packed in there. You still get a solid OG? I'm worried about efficiency.

 

[doublehaul]

Heard. I have the same one but in lowes blue lol. I'm just hoping I don't get a still mash with it so packed in there. You still get a solid OG? I'm worried about efficiency.

I got 65%, and i usually get 70-75. Seems to be typical to lose efficiency with big grain bills

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Anybody got an estimate of how high you could go on IBUs without this being undrinkable to start?
I've got a bunch of leftover hops from last years harvest and thinking of making a Firesale Stout (every hop has to go) based on this. Maybe up the mash temp a degree to make it sweeter or just plan on giving it a bit longer to mellow out?

 

[inda_bebe]

Heres my results:

Scaled this recipe down to 4.5 gallons

Efficiency at 48%

OG 1.092 (refractometer)

3 hrs later, oped and used a hydrometer to double check my gravity.

Using a blowoff tube 24 hrs later, still no CO2 released.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Okay, I read the entire thread before brewing this but my memory fails. I seem to recall that 3months was the consensus for minimum age.
WHY?
The hydrometer sample after 3 weeks of primary (1.028) was phenomenal and I'm having a hard time justifying waiting another 2 months to enjoy more.
The only saving grace is that I have an IIPA that should be ready to keg next weekend so that might help this stout reach maturity.

 

[looneybomber]

It helps the flavors blend. I brewed up a similar batch and stashed a case away under the stairs. Got it out a year later and was glad I stashed it away.

 

[motobrewer]

if it's good, drink it. if it's not, wait it out.

i've made this beer twice. for whatever reason, out of the primary, it was great - two months later, it was....not great. 9 months after that, it was incredible.

 

[r2eng]

...for whatever reason, out of the primary, it was great - two months later, it was....not great. 9 months after that, it was incredible.

This is what I have found brewing this many times. It's really good at first, then get's odd. At about a year, it becomes really fantastic.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll keg and carb it, get in a few pints now and when it seems to have lost something I'll just give it a timeout for a few months. At least now I'll know that if it seems to lose that something special it's only temporary.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Followup question for those who have brewed this: how well would it take to being dry hopped?

I brewed this to use up the remainder of last years homegrown hops so it should be well over 100 IBU. It tastes great going into secondary, but I'm considering tossing some whole leaf hops into the keg and dry hopping it.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Okay, last question on this: Nitrogen or CO2?
This is my first stout so I've got no reference to judge which would be better. But I've already got a Nitrogen tank and I'm going past the gas supply today so I could get it filled easy.

 

[eulipion2]

Personal preference, CO2. With a little age on it, it'll be plenty smooth and creamy without nitrogen.

 

[looneybomber]

Dry hopping then letting it age 1yr seems somewhat wasteful only because you'll lose quite a bit of beer if you use enough ounces of hops to make a difference. IMO, anything dry hopped should be drank fairly soon and not aged for a while, but I'm sure there's exceptions.

 

[r2eng]

looneybomber is right - the dry hop would be wasted if aged.

 

[moviebrain]

I wanted to chime in here with my batch just shy of its 2 year anniversary. At the 8 month mark it was a bit sharp, around 1 year and the hops dropped off just enough to get in step with the alcohol and malt backbone. About 4 months after this it was out of balance again, the hops dropped off entirely too much and the alcohol bite just didn't keep up with the malts.

Tonight, using a bottle to whip up my Beer Bacon Beef Chocolate Chili, I had another taste. It has once more hit a high note rebounding from the earlier tasting. I almost regretted putting it in, but it's a fantastic chili and now has another fantastic ingredient to match.

I will be brewing this again in about 2 weeks. I can't wait.

 

[inda_bebe]

i did a 4 gal. batch of this recipe and missed my target and got an OG 1.092. Its been 7 weeks and the gravity is 1.032. i was thinking about brewing a 2 gallon batch to add more alcohol and heavier body to blend to the one i currently have aging right now.

any tips or suggestions?

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I had to take 4 22s last night and bottle some, otherwise I'm afraid I'll forgot and the keg will blow before I realize it.
I went to a cellar party Friday and tasted Bourbon County 2007 through 2012 so I'm hoping to actually save some of this for multiple years to compare. It's interesting to hear how it ebbs and flows over time.

Question: anybody ever tried to black and tan this? I tried last night and it just blended (but was still delicious). I'm not sure if it was my (inebriated) technique, or if it's just too dense to float on top.

 

[moviebrain]

i did a 4 gal. batch of this recipe and missed my target and got an OG 1.092. Its been 7 weeks and the gravity is 1.032. i was thinking about brewing a 2 gallon batch to add more alcohol and heavier body to blend to the one i currently have aging right now. any tips or suggestions?

My suggestion would be to ferment your 4 gallon batch as-is. More gravity does not automatically add more body. I'd just let it ride and note what to adjust next time you brew it whether that means sparging slower or checking the gravity before end of boil to add dme as needed. It'll still be a fantastic beer!

 

[moviebrain]

Doing it again!!

 

[r2eng]

As moviebrain said, adding gravity does not necessarily add body. Keep in mind that a big alcohol beer needs sugars (higher FG) to balance. Body comes more from mash temps, but needs yeast attenuation to bring the OG to FG.

moviebrain: Your pic pushed me over the edge - I will be brewing it again next weekend. Friggen' lot of grain to buy, but I miss having the beer in winter.

 

[moviebrain]

I hit 1.106 FG, collected around 6 gallons of wort. My first batch was 1.111, but I feel anything over 10% will keep this in the style range intended.

My day went even a little better when I got a brew day retweet from TV's Wil Wheaton, https://twitter.com/stevenmccaw/status/406910203460718593

And just in case you need a mid-week boost to go get ingredients:

 

[Rys06Tbss]

Any reason I couldn't make this with an oatmeal stout yeast cake? I have some 05 going already and the oatmeal should be ready next weekend.

 

[eulipion2]

Any reason I couldn't make this with an oatmeal stout yeast cake? I have some 05 going already and the oatmeal should be ready next weekend.

I say go for it. A few years ago I did Brew Pastor's "Dark Night of the Soul" on top of the yeast cake for Rhoobarb's "Damned Kids Oatmeal Stout." Turned out great!

 

[r2eng]

mmmm... looks good.

ok, going to get MO Wednesday, US-05 starter going now.

 

[moviebrain]

Just a reminder that this monster requires a little extra TLC. I held it at 58 for the first 48 hours of activity (which started almost an hour after yeast pitch), and 6 hours after i started the 1 degree F per day temp rise this happened.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

What size bucket is that

 

[r2eng]

I should edit the original recipe - I use a blow-off tube.