High gravity extract brews

[adamhimself]

Hey guys,

I am interested in brewing an Imperial Stout, but I really only have the equipment for a extract brew. I did some research and there seems to be minimal amounts of solid high ABV/gravity extract recipes out there. Is there a reason? I can imagine it maybe not coming out tasting the best, but I wanted to see what maybe some of you had to say...

I did do some research and the stout I am trying to "copy cat" has a real interesting lineup of grains. So, I made a quick recipe of it, but I don't know much about the grains they are using.

This is the beer I am after: Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout

If you scroll down it has the ingredients and such.

They use Saphir hops, which I need to add into Beer Smith.

Black Magic
Brew Type: Extract Date: 1/21/2011 
Style: Russian Imperial Stout Brewer: Adam  
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Volume: 2.50 gal Boil Time: 60 min 

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 
8.00 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 80.0 % 
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 % 
0.50 lb Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 % 
0.25 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.5 % 
0.25 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2.5 % 
3.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (60 min) Hops 58.0 IBU 
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale  

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.072 SG (1.075-1.100 SG) 
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.017 SG (1.018-1.034 SG)

Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 7.2 % (8.0-13.0 %)

Like I said, this is a shot in the dark, and something I threw together in about an hour.

 

[bknifefight]

I have made many high ABV beers with extract and had no issues you wouldn't have with an AG high ABV beer. (I was about to say I had no problems but I've had stalled fermentations which are annoying!) I even have an extract barley wine that is aging in the carboy and chimes in just over 14%, ~90IBUs and is fantastic! I agree that there are few extract recipes on here for high ABV beers, but what I will generally do is find a recipe that sounds good containing nothing but 2Row and steepable grains and swap out the 2row for enough light DME to get the same OG. It's that easy.

AS Far as your recipe, it may just be me but using dark or amber DME when you are steeping grains seems redundant. You will get all the flavor you are wanting with the dark DME with some roasted barley (already got that) and some black patent malt. I may be wrong (as an extract brewer) but I think the brown malt and wheat will need to be mashed. The wheat can be just steeped to give better head retention but you won't get any sugars from it. Other than that, it looks great!

 

[ayoungrad]

In my limited experience, the problem is that many of the grains used (including most flaked grains) need to be mashed for conversion. I have done a partial mash stout that turned out well (and could have been an imperial with more DME - btw, I have always used light or extra light DME) but have never tried to make a stout with only steeping. Check out brew in a bag (BIAB) or deathbrewer's stovetop techniques. I live in a tiny apartment and this works for me.