My current plan

[Babylon]

My plan has been to start with an Irish Stout and then put an imperial stout on the yeastcake for the Irish stout when I put it into secondary. The Irish kit I bought had two cans of LME one light and one amber, flaked barley, and "specialty grains" which seemed to be roasted barley. I also threw in a little DME, I'd say about 1/4 to 1/3 lb, I didn't measure it, partly to see how that stirred in and partly to kick it up a little. The way the kit was put together seemed really simple and I am thinking of building my own kit for the Imperial rather than buying a premade one. Would doubling the malts (four cans, 2 light 2 amber) and increasing the quantities and steeping time on the grains make a tolerable Imperial? I know it will need to ferment a bit longer, both in primary fermentation and secondary. My Irish Stout has only been in the primary for 3 days now and is still bubbling, although not as vigourously as it was at first (watching the blowoff tube let out huge belching bubbles was fun the first day) I figure I have about 12 days or so to let it sit in there and decide what direction I want to go with the Imperial.

 

[JefeTheVol]

I read somewhere that you should always pitch a stronger beer onto a yeast cake. For instance pitch an IPA onto an APA yeast cake. I also read that it was recommended not to pitch on a yeast cake from a beer with a high EtOH content. It makes sense. But you are pitching an Imp Stout onto a stout cake, so that seems ok. Good luck, man. The forum is great for any questions you might have throughout your process.
-Jefe-