Imperial Brown Suggestions

[permo]

I had the chance to purchase about 12 bombers of Redhook Expedition 8-4-1 Oak Aged Imperial Brown with Smoked Malt, Honey and Brown Sugar. I got these bombers for $2.99 a piece...I figured that was worth the price of the bottle itself darn near.

I wasn't expecting much, but I love this beer. I get a hint of oak, nuttiness, roastiness and caramel.....and an alcohol warmth in the finish. I am guessing 1.016 to 1.018 on the FG of this brew, and with %9.5ABV we are talking 1.095 OG or so..... The hops are not evident in aroma and flavor, but the beer is bittered firmly. I am guessing 50-70 IBU.

I have never done an imperial brown and I am going to scale down to a 6 gallon batch for this special beer I am hoping to have ready for Xmas this season.

Here is a preliminary recipe, but if anybody has any experience with imperial browns or comments that would be great.


6 gallons
mash temp = 153
WLP001

15 pounds two row
3 pounds munich
1 pound C40
1/2 pound special B
1/2 pound chocolate
1 pound honey
1 pound brown sugar
aged on oak chips
50 IBU Columbus at 90
10 IBU willamete at 10
OG = 1.095
FG = 1.018

 

[PantherCity]

looks good. I do and Big Brown aged on oak as well. I usually put 1 oz of medium toast oak chips with 4 oz Maker's Mark in a glass jar or tupperware on brew day. Then when I'm ready to keg in ~6-8 weeks I add the chips in a bag hanging from the lid and pour in all the whiskey. Leave the oak on for ~10-14 days. Then its all good, of course it gets better with age and my OG is ~1.077, You might want to give yours a bit more time to mellow.

 

[permo]

looks good. I do and Big Brown aged on oak as well. I usually put 1 oz of medium toast oak chips with 4 oz Maker's Mark in a glass jar or tupperware on brew day. Then when I'm ready to keg in ~6-8 weeks I add the chips in a bag hanging from the lid and pour in all the whiskey. Leave the oak on for ~10-14 days. Then its all good, of course it gets better with age and my OG is ~1.077, You might want to give yours a bit more time to mellow.

Since I am foregoing smoked malts, I wonder if aging oak with some peat smoked scotch would be nice?

 

[adam62cb]

What about making it an Imperial Honey Brown, and then adding the new Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey With the oak chips...Does anyone think that would be a decent idea? I too was looking for a big brown beer. I am not a stout or porter fan, but wanted to try the oak and bourbon along with something big...

 

[permo]

What about making it an Imperial Honey Brown, and then adding the new Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey With the oak chips...Does anyone think that would be a decent idea? I too was looking for a big brown beer. I am not a stout or porter fan, but wanted to try the oak and bourbon along with something big...

That sounds nice as well, very nice. I am also thinking maybe mashing even higher than 153 to try and maintain some mouthfeel to account for the fermentability of the sugars.

I have had the wild turkey honey, and that is some nice stuff too. All that I know is, that when adding bourbon to beer, a little goes a LONG way.

 

[adam62cb]

Thanks for the advice! I will be going to the distributor to look for the red hook you mentioned. I like to try the commercial stuff and then try to come up with my own recipes from there. Do you know how to make the the recipe you listed work for extract or partial mash. I do not have all the equipment for an all grain batch (yet)...it looks like a great starting point for something that I have been thinking about since I closed the lid on my last batch in the primary...please keep us posted on how your brew day goes and what you ultimately decide...

 

[permo]

I think I am going to proceed with my original recipe, although I may double it so I get 10 gallons and split the mash up between two mash tuns.

I highly reccomend trying the commercial version that inspired this, it is a great beer.