OFFICIAL Kate the Great Russian Imperial Stout Clone

[Biscostew]

Brewing this recipe again first batch got a bad acetobacter infection and I had to dump it. Going to use Edinburgh ale yeast and a slightly different hop schedule. Hope to have some ready for Christmas!

 

[bguzz]

brewed this in January and March. Aged 2 months on oak cubes. Both batches went fine, but after 6 months...I have to say, the beer is a bit on the sweet side and i'm not pickup up much of anything. Maybe aging will help it, but right now I wish I had upped the IBU's to make it a bit more bitter. Both batches taste very similar.

 

[gmcastil]

brewed this in January and March. Aged 2 months on oak cubes. Both batches went fine, but after 6 months...I have to say, the beer is a bit on the sweet side and i'm not pickup up much of anything. Maybe aging will help it, but right now I wish I had upped the IBU's to make it a bit more bitter. Both batches taste very similar.

I wonder if this is related to the fact that the hops added at flameout aren't contributing the same as the whirlpool hops that is added in the original.

When I brewed this, I first wort hopped the 15 minute addition and then added the whirlpool hops at flameout, but then let it sit for 20 minutes prior to chilling.

Thoughts?

 

[lemmiwinks]

I still have a PM/Extract batch in secondary that I brewed in January.
I'm looking to have this ready to drink for the Christmas/New Years.
It was originally for my wife's birthday in October, but one homebrew led to another and we're expecting another assistant brewer in the beginning of December.

Question is two fold:

Should I re-pitch some yeast or will 3.5 months in the bottle be enough to carb them up?

If I do re-pitch, what's the process?
I've never done that before.

Any tips would be appreciated......

 

[fermenter]

Well lemmiwinks, I was listening to a brewing network podcast where they covered this topic. if you think you needed to add yeast they recommended using about 1 gram of yeast rehydrating it and adding it to the bottling bucket when you add your priming sugar.

Using this as a guide:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Rehydrating_dry_yeast
It says: "To rehydrate your dry yeast, simply sprinkle the dry yeast into a cup (1c) of 104°F sterile (pre-boiled) water 30 minutes before pitching. The temperature and time are recommendations"

Since you are only using 1 gram I would perhaps only use 1c or 236g / 11.5 (grams in a packet) = 20g of 104°F sterile (pre-boiled) water for each gram of yeast.

I would think about using something simple such as Safale US-05 Ale Yeast.

If anyone has any better ideas please add them.

 

[drawdy10]

I dumped in a whole packet of red star champagne yeast in at bottling with the priming sugar and had good results the one and only time that I have had to re-yeast at bottling. You can probably get away with less, but what is the point of keeping some? There is no way I can think of to keep that sterile for use in a future batch, plus it's like a dollar for a whole pack.... Also I think the point is here that the amount of yeast can't really be overdone, it's saccromyces so the only think it can eat is ferment able sugars, thus meaning that since your beer is at terminal gravity prior to priming the only factor that should matter is the amount of priming sugars, so long as there is enough yeast to get them eaten to produce your CO2 you are all set, having extra yeast wouldnt hurt since they can't eat anything more than what you give them, make sense?? Cheers and good luck!!

 

[lemmiwinks]

yup - makes sense thanks guys.

So you think re-pitching is a must here even though it'll sit in bottles for about 3.5 months prior to serving?

 

[MorningGloryBrew]

Look at it this way; $3 for a packet of dry yeast is insurance against letting them sit for 3.5 months and cracking open flat bottles of beer at Christmas!

 

[suprchunk]

Where are you guys getting your yeast at $1 and $3? The last two posts that is. I'm near the source and it still goes for around $6. Give me a link to the magic source.

 

[bottlebomber]

Where are you guys getting your yeast at $1 and $3? The last two posts that is. I'm near the source and it still goes for around $6. Give me a link to the magic source.

You're paying $6 for a packet of dry yeast?

 

[blacksquid]

Bottled this about 3-4 months ago and it's starting to blend just right - should've carbonated a bit more, as it's probably around 1.7 vols and maybe added a bit more port. I think a bit less than half a bottle went in. Still, probably my best beer to date.

 

[1Mainebrew]

I just bought ingredients to make 2 more batches. The second runnings will be used to make a schwarzbier using 2308 and a Farmhouse stout using 3726. I'm making the starters today or Sunday and brewing this upcoming week! Woohoo!

 

[suprchunk]

You're paying $6 for a packet of dry yeast?

Well I will not actually buy them when liquid is relatively cheaper. Just wondering where people are getting it so cheap. If it is that cheap when I get back to the states, I may stock up. But since I harvest and plate, I still doubt it.

 

[bottlebomber]

Well I will not actually buy them when liquid is relatively cheaper. Just wondering where people are getting it so cheap. If it is that cheap when I get back to the states, I may stock up. But since I harvest and plate, I still doubt it.

I have been getting it from eBay for quite a while, Nottingham that is. They advertised 1.99 with 2.50 shipping which seems like a lot, but if you order 20 of them the shipping stays the same. It looks like they've changed the policy to make it 1.00 extra ship per unit though which makes it still expensive. I see AHB is selling a 50 count for a little under a hundred bucks. That's a lot of Notti for a single brewer, but highly doable for a club.

 

[1Mainebrew]

I brewed up another batch on Sunday and got an OG of 1.100 and got a Partigyle second runnings of 1.055 (after mixing in a little less than a gallon of extra first runnings I lautered). I pitched 1056 in a gallon starter for Kate and pitched the 3726 farmhouse yeast from wyeast for an interesting Belgian saison stout. Time will tell...

 

[1Mainebrew]

Boiling yet another Kate. Second runnings tonight will be a schwarzbier with 2308.

 

[1Mainebrew]

Got an OG of 1.104 for Kate and 1.042 for the Schwarzbier.

 

[suprchunk]

Boiling yet another Kate. Second runnings tonight will be a schwarzbier with 2308.

That sounds like a stellar idea. I will steal this from you and try it next time I brew Kate. Hope you don't mind.

 

[1Mainebrew]

Yeah its really good. The last time I made the beers this way it was a huge hit. Have fun and pitch a ton of yeast!

 

[RC0032]

How is everyone getting a second running beer? Whats the OG of that beer? Just adding 6gal of water to the mash and running it off?

Im in for a second Black IPA beer!

 

[1Mainebrew]

So when I make Kate, I use 25.15 lb of grain, and mash 1:1 ratio thus 25.15 (approximately) quarts of water. I dough in and stir like crazy. Half way through the mash I stir again, only going to the point of half crazy. I lauter/vorleuf, then batch sparge with 15 quarts of 180 degree water and stir like crazy again. I wait 10 minutes and then lauter/vorleuf again. This has landed me about a gallon extra first runnings that I put into a spare growler and set it aside. I boil, chill and transfer the first beer. Meantime, I had been heating my second sparge of 4 gallons. I rinse the BK, add the gallon of first runnings then lsparge, lauter/vorleuf again. This has led to 4.5 gallons of 1.100 Kate, and 4.5 gallons 1.055 belgian stout. Then the next time I brewed it I got 4.5 gallons of 1.104 Kate and 4.5 gallons of 1.042 Schwarzbier. I hope that helps.

 

[bottlebomber]

So when I make Kate, I use 25.15 lb of grain, and mash 1:1 ratio thus 25.15 (approximately) quarts of water. I dough in and stir like crazy. Half way through the mash I stir again, only going to the point of half crazy. I lauter/vorleuf, then batch sparge with 15 quarts of 180 degree water and stir like crazy again. I wait 10 minutes and then lauter/vorleuf again. This has landed me about a gallon extra first runnings that I put into a spare growler and set it aside. I boil, chill and transfer the first beer. Meantime, I had been heating my second sparge of 4 gallons. I rinse the BK, add the gallon of first runnings then lsparge, lauter/vorleuf again. This has led to 4.5 gallons of 1.100 Kate, and 4.5 gallons 1.055 belgian stout. Then the next time I brewed it I got 4.5 gallons of 1.104 Kate and 4.5 gallons of 1.042 Schwarzbier. I hope that helps.

That's a really good idea, because when I've Parti'ed in the past the second beer has always tasted extremely boring. The gravity is there, but all the tasty flavors have washed away with the first runnings. I like it.

 

[1Mainebrew]

Thanks BB

 

[hbr2547]

Thanks BB

Looks amazing - need to brew!!!

 

[1Mainebrew]

Looks amazing - need to brew!!!

You won't regret brewing it at all!

 

[hbr2547]

You won't regret brewing it at all!

Brewed today - boy - what a day. Issue with extremely slow sparge . Never had stuck but would assume close. Ran out of propane with primary and backup. Almost five gallons OG 1.104 exactly...lets hope the rest is smother!!!

 

[bottlebomber]

Brewed today - boy - what a day. Issue with extremely slow sparge . Never had stuck but would assume close. Ran out of propane with primary and backup. Almost five gallons OG 1.104 exactly...lets hope the rest is smother!!!

Bummer! I brewed a Barleywine yesterday and had similar times, my mash got stuck pretty bad. I heated my sparge water hotter than the blazes of hell and soared heavy and luckily the sparge didn't stick. I think my SS braid is shot. 6 hour brew day, and not a fun one. The wife was ticked, I got nothing else done

 

[hbr2547]

Bummer! I brewed a Barleywine yesterday and had similar times, my mash got stuck pretty bad. I heated my sparge water hotter than the blazes of hell and soared heavy and luckily the sparge didn't stick. I think my SS braid is shot. 6 hour brew day, and not a fun one. The wife was ticked, I got nothing else done

My wife was mad too. I'm really curious as to what caused the issue with sparging - never happened before

 

[1Mainebrew]

Brewed today - boy - what a day. Issue with extremely slow sparge . Never had stuck but would assume close. Ran out of propane with primary and backup. Almost five gallons OG 1.104 exactly...lets hope the rest is smother!!!

Uh oh, at least for the short term it sounds like you might have regretted it, sorry. Hopefully she loves the beer and forgets about the nightmare brew day!

 

[hbr2547]

Uh oh, at least for the short term it sounds like you might have regretted it, sorry. Hopefully she loves the beer and forgets about the nightmare brew day!

No regrets!!! Just hope it turns out good. I had to dump igloo and pour grains through strainer to collect last 1.5 gallons or so. Hopefully didn't ruin