Imperial Stout Imperial Bastard Stout

[emarsh]

Just started this. A little boilover at the beginning, but otherwise good. It smells and looks delicious. OG 1.098.

 

[emarsh]

Just some advice, having brewed this beer before, but you really ought to let it sit on the yeast for 3-4 weeks. Best thing you can do for it. With this recipe, I let it sit on the yeast for a month and then bottle it. The bottles from my first batch of it are about 8 months old and they taste amazing. It really needs time though, so consider letting it sit.

Do you mean in the primary? What is the benefit of letting it sit on the yeast so long?

 

[sweed]

Do you mean in the primary? What is the benefit of letting it sit on the yeast so long?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say, yes he meant in the primary. I have made 2 imperial stouts and both have sat in the primary for a month. With a gravity so high, it takes a long time for the yeast to eat all that sugar. I've heard some people leaving it there for 2-3 month for higher gravities.

 

[emarsh]

Ok. I was going to move it to secondary, but after doing some extensive searching on this forum, it seems that general consensus is longer primary times anyway, and more so for this because it's so high gravity. That is what I'll do, then.

 

[Romulan42]

any suggestions on boosting the IBUs of this bad boy to about 70+ ?

 

[BassBeer]

any suggestions on boosting the IBUs of this bad boy to about 70+ ?

Just add more bittering hops (beginning of the boil).

 

[j_brew]

Brewed this a week ago brew process went of without a hitch made a 1.5 liter starter pitched at about 75 and it took off within a few hours from all the comments ppl left I had a blow off tube set up so that wasn't an issue. But it's a week in and I took a gravity reading and it's only down to 13 brix and from the looks of things fermentation has almost stopped I looked in my carboy and saw some bubbles coming up which is a good sign but it just seems to of slowed down to much to quick and am a little worried I might of under pitched. But then everyone's been saying this is a pretty strong yeast and had this ferment out without a starter so just wondering what u guys think

 

[arnies]

Any recommendations for dried yeast for this one?

 

[sweed]

Any recommendations for dried yeast for this one?

S-05 would probably work well.

 

[arnies]

S-05 would probably work well.

I'd probably need two packets though right?

 

[sweed]

I'd probably need two packets though right?

Ya, I'd toss 2 in for a high gravity. That's what I did with my ten fidy clone with a 1.110 OG.

 

[emarsh]

I used two packets of S-05 and it worked fine. Started quick and went crazy for days.

 

[emarsh]

I brewed this in early March, pitched two packets of S-05 with OG 1.098. I had some temperature fluctuations on day 1, where it was a really warm March day in Michigan, and my apartment was 80 or so, and then got really cold (like low 50s) in the room I put the fermenter in. It took off quickly, and bubbled furiously for a week or so.

Let it sit in primary for a month before bottling in early April. Conditioned for two months, until my birthday on 6/11, and...it is delicious. Quite sweet, but not too much. Very balanced, especially for a high-gravity beer. I am going to let the rest sit for another several months (if I can bear to wait!) and see how it tastes.

I wonder how this might taste with some chocolate in the fermenter. Maybe I'll try that next time.

 

[emarsh]

Just opened another bottle of this. Still very sweet and flavorful, if a bit bitter. It has a fairly thin mouthfeel. Any idea how to make it thicker next time?

 

[CyberErik]

hey guys- did anyone ever get an answer to the question about doing the whole batch as a 5 gallon boil?

I have a huge brew pot so I usually like to boil my batches altogether then add just a tiny bit of topoff water for the volume lost to boiling.

The recipe seems to call for only ~40% of the final volume in the boil and put into a fermenter with 60% cold water already in there. Don't you want the sugars and stuff to be dispersed evenly? It seems like adding a really concentrated solution to a very dilute one (i.e. empty water) is a recipe for disaster.

If you all did it though and it came out fine, I won't worry. Did you mix well on the last step?

Anyone do the whole 5 gallon boil?

I can't wait to brew this guy tomorrow. It set me back 65 which is in line with others on here.

 

[CyberErik]

Made this yesterday, with a slight modification. I took out the 1/4 pound black patent and added an extra 1/4 pound roasted barley (to save cost- LHBS said should be fairly comparable given the small amount of the grain).

Steeped for 25 min, boil went uneventfully.

Cooling took a little longer than expected- 90-120 minutes to get it down to target of ~80. OG of 1.081, slightly below target but still pretty good.

Pitched at 79 degrees F, fermentation started at 3 hours and has been going furiously into the blowoff tube this morning.

 

[nckgibbons]

Just brewed it yesterday, got a 1.09 OG and needed my first blow off tube!

So excited

 

[christyle]

Made this yesterday, with a slight modification. I took out the 1/4 pound black patent and added an extra 1/4 pound roasted barley (to save cost- LHBS said should be fairly comparable given the small amount of the grain).

Steeped for 25 min, boil went uneventfully.

Cooling took a little longer than expected- 90-120 minutes to get it down to target of ~80. OG of 1.081, slightly below target but still pretty good.

Pitched at 79 degrees F, fermentation started at 3 hours and has been going furiously into the blowoff tube this morning.

Looks like nobody responded, did you do a 5 gallon boil?

 

[emarsh]

I just opened one of these that I brewed in March 2013, so it's been sitting in the bottle for a little over a year. WOW! Age works some wonders on this already delicious beer. Save it if you can.

 

[secondbase]

Brewed this on 9/3. OG 1.08, pitched two packs of S-05, very violent fermentation. It's just starting to slow down now, and I've attached an airlock where the blowoff tube was. Gravity is down to 1.024 and I suspect it'll drop a few more over the next week or so. I plan on leaving it in primary 4 weeks before racking to a secondary to bulk age for a month or two.

 

[secondbase]

Popped open my first bottle of this. It's a little sweet and needs a little more time to develop. OG was 1.07, FG was 1.02.

 

[brewmasterintraining]

I am a newer brewer with grains. Would there be any benefit or maybe negative out come to after you take the grains out and put them in another pot with the 3 gallons you will add later for another for 15 minuets at 150 then bring it down to 60 so it is cold when you add it.

 

[Steve3730]

Brewed this back in November and it came out great. Awesome chocolate flavor with some pb at that backend. Would have liked a little mord mouth feel and body

 

[alexacuna]

Brewed this last night and it was a blast.

 

[alexacuna]

Made this and a variation with coffee in small batches and they're both in bottles now. Drinking a sample of the flat coffee one and it's dark as sin. Looking forward to enjoying them in a few weeks.