Personally I'm not even that into massively high ABV beers, but i do love a nice big stout. I put together a recipe for an Imperial Stout that should come in at around 8.7% if all goes well. I've been using beersmith, and when figuring out a hop schedule that gives me around 55-60 IBUS i need 5 oz of hops. for some reason i feel like that's a ridiculous amount, but maybe not for this style? have any of you brewed (obviously) imperial stouts, and what have you found with balancing the bitterness?
Going For An Imperial Stout
- Thread starter masampson
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BJCP style guidelines are 50-90 IBU so depending on your OG 55 could actually be low, hops are used to balance out the sweetness of the malt and if your OG is on the high end you may actually need more hops
OG should be around 1.082, so i guess i may need some more! i'm just second guessing myself since most of what i've brewed thus far are IPAs and even they don't need that much. but yeah, since i'm just balancing out the sweetness i shouldn't be all that surprised. i've seen some peoples' recipes which often call for much less than that, but those people probably prefer the malty side of things?
Without seeing the entire recipe it's a guess, there are a lot of variables including when you are adding the hops and what varieties you are using. If you are using software you should be able to slide around the numbers to balance everything out properly. If you use high AA hops then you need less and vice versa.
I'm still learning recipe creation but If you post it people can chime in and assist!
I'm still learning recipe creation but If you post it people can chime in and assist!
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale #US-05)
Yeast Starter: Nah
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.089
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 64.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 52.6 SRM
Primary Fermentation: Time Will Tell
Additional Fermentation: Bottle Conditioning
Secondary Fermentation: Time Will Also Tell
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65%
Recipe: Cyrodiil Imperial Stout aka Thunder Thighs aka I Have No Idea
Brewer: Sampson
Style: Imperial Stout
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 78.94 %
1.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7.90 %
1.00 lb Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.0 IBU
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (45 min) Hops 26.6 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (30 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.2 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
2 Pkgs Safale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale
Yeast: Safale #US-05)
Yeast Starter: Nah
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.089
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 64.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 52.6 SRM
Primary Fermentation: Time Will Tell
Additional Fermentation: Bottle Conditioning
Secondary Fermentation: Time Will Also Tell
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65%
Recipe: Cyrodiil Imperial Stout aka Thunder Thighs aka I Have No Idea
Brewer: Sampson
Style: Imperial Stout
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 78.94 %
1.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7.90 %
1.00 lb Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Rye Malt (250.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.0 IBU
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (45 min) Hops 26.6 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (30 min) Hops 6.3 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.2 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
2 Pkgs Safale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
I just brewed an Irish Imperial Stout (1.087) and I used 3oz. of Williamette (60 mins) which put me at somewhere between 46-50 IBU's depending on the actual AA% since I know it varies. I like a slightly sweet and malty stout so I usually under-shoot the IBU's a little..
I would add another 1oz of warrior as a first wort hop and add more hops as late additions in the 10, 5, and 0 marks and up the IBUs . Maris otter is a maltier pale malt than straight 2 row.
I also notice you said nah to a starter, if so you are going to want to pitch more yeast, maybe 2 or 3 packs with that high a gravity or you will be way under pitched. I would check mr malty and plug the numbers for cell count., oops, just saw 2 packs, I'd still check it.
I also notice you said nah to a starter, if so you are going to want to pitch more yeast, maybe 2 or 3 packs with that high a gravity or you will be way under pitched. I would check mr malty and plug the numbers for cell count., oops, just saw 2 packs, I'd still check it.
haha yeah i will for sure! the first couple batches i did with liquid yeast, but i deeeefinitely didn't pitch them right (they still worked pretty quickly) so i'm still kind of figuring out what the best way to do a starter with wort is. i see people suggesting to pitch 2 or 3 packs, but isn't that quite a large difference?
With dry yeast you don't need a starter but it should be rehydrated prior to use. Mr malty will calculate for liquid or dry
Almost everyone makes a starter with liquid yeast, I do, and usually step them up to 300-400 billion cells. The Dunkel I just brewed today is already bubbling.
Almost everyone makes a starter with liquid yeast, I do, and usually step them up to 300-400 billion cells. The Dunkel I just brewed today is already bubbling.
aye, that's what i did with the last batch i brewed, used dry and made the cream or whatever you call it. with the liquid yeast though, how do you make a yeast starter using wort a day or 2 before you even brew the beer you're pitching it into?
I make a starter by boiling 1L water and boiling 1 cup extra light DME as a small starter, cool, pitch yeast, shake it up or use stir plate, is don't , next day, decant and then foo the same thing again, the yeast will then grow and so on. Fridge the night before brewing to crash, decant on brew day, let it warm up and pitch when ready
haha yeah i'm not really patient enough for the long term aged ales, although once i feel like i have a firm grip on things i'll try one out. i'll just have to steal an oak barrel from some poor dude's farm or something. i'm really tempted to use a belgian yeast for this, just because of something i read about stone's imperial using it, but i'm trying to maintain a "baby steps" attitude and not get ahead of myself.
If you're looking to brew an imperial stout, you should really consider using a different yeast strain - the White Labs WLP004 Irish yeast is really well suited to high gravity imperial stouts. Will really bring the level of your brew up.
chickypad
lupulin shift victim
Something's not right with your calculations. There's no way 2oz of warrior at 60 min and another 2 oz at 45 min in a 5 gallon batch will give you those IBU's. That's gotta be well over 100.
EDIT - I just plugged your recipe into beersmith and I get 220 IBU's. Your other numbers look right though so I don't know what you did to get 64 IBU.
EDIT - I just plugged your recipe into beersmith and I get 220 IBU's. Your other numbers look right though so I don't know what you did to get 64 IBU.
No, To begin, you need to be sure your equipment set up is correct with what you use and all of your associated volumes with your process.
Then you enter your recipe and be sure to select the proper style you want to achieve to see the standard ranges in the little color sliders below.
Depending upon where the arrows hit you can then slide them back and forth and as you do so the amount of your ingredients will change accordingly.
The software is a great tool to visually see what you are creating but it does not create or adjust the recipe for you, it just helps handle all the calculations, visit the beer-smith website and walk through the tutorials. They are very detailed and walk you through the set up process and how everything works, you will gain a much better understanding of how everything works and how important your initial set up information is.
In order to be very accurate you may need to brew a couple times and pay attention to all of your volumes like absorption, evaporation, trub loss, dead space, etc to real dial things in. YOu can start with the averages or recommended settings per your set up and then tweak them as you evaluate more. Take lots of detailed notes. The more exact your numbers are, the more accurate your output will be.
whoaaaaaa okay whoa dilly i just double checked the stuff i had put in for my equipment and such and no wonder i was getting such a low reading. hah! okay yeah i'm way over what i need to be, the ibu's are actually around 166 for what i'm working with.
solbes
Well-Known Member
I also thought they were off, but see it's already been corrected.
I'm going to brew a large RIS this coming weekend. 1 oz Warrior (13.4% AAU) FWH, 1 oz 60 min, 1 oz Fuggle 20 min, and 1 oz Fuggle 5 min. Comes out to an estimated 82 IBU. This to go with an estimated OG of 1.096. Can't wait to brew it.
I'm going to brew a large RIS this coming weekend. 1 oz Warrior (13.4% AAU) FWH, 1 oz 60 min, 1 oz Fuggle 20 min, and 1 oz Fuggle 5 min. Comes out to an estimated 82 IBU. This to go with an estimated OG of 1.096. Can't wait to brew it.
Just brewed last night, here were the results!
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale #US-05)
Yeast Starter: Nah
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.088
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 74.5
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 44.8 SRM
Primary Fermentation: Time Will Tell
Additional Fermentation: Bottle Conditioning
Secondary Fermentation: Time Will Also Tell
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65%
Recipe: Cyrodiil Imperial Stout aka Thunder Thighs aka I Have No Idea
Brewer: Sampson
Style: Imperial Stout
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 42.10 %
7 lb Pale Malt, 2-Row US (2.0 SRM) Grain 36.84%
1.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7.90 %
1.00 lb Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.25 lb Black Patent (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.32 %
0.25 lb Flaked Rye (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.32 %
1.50 oz Warrior [16.7 %] (60 min) Hops 64.5 IBU
1.00 oz Perle [7.8 %] (15 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1.00 oz Fuggles [5.2 %] (0 min) Hops 0.0 IBU
0.50 oz Warrior [16.7%] (0 min) Hops 0.0 IBU
2 Pkgs Safale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale
Measured OG was 1.085 so right on the money pretty much, hopefully tastes good!
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale #US-05)
Yeast Starter: Nah
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.088
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 74.5
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 44.8 SRM
Primary Fermentation: Time Will Tell
Additional Fermentation: Bottle Conditioning
Secondary Fermentation: Time Will Also Tell
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65%
Recipe: Cyrodiil Imperial Stout aka Thunder Thighs aka I Have No Idea
Brewer: Sampson
Style: Imperial Stout
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 42.10 %
7 lb Pale Malt, 2-Row US (2.0 SRM) Grain 36.84%
1.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7.90 %
1.00 lb Flaked Barley (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
0.25 lb Black Patent (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.32 %
0.25 lb Flaked Rye (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.32 %
1.50 oz Warrior [16.7 %] (60 min) Hops 64.5 IBU
1.00 oz Perle [7.8 %] (15 min) Hops 10.0 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (10 min)
1.00 oz Fuggles [5.2 %] (0 min) Hops 0.0 IBU
0.50 oz Warrior [16.7%] (0 min) Hops 0.0 IBU
2 Pkgs Safale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale
Measured OG was 1.085 so right on the money pretty much, hopefully tastes good!
