Please Critique My Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

[JCasey1992]

I'm planning on brewing a big whiskey barrel aged imperial stout that I can set aside until next winter. I am hoping to achieve a lot of roast character as well as some toasty/nutty flavors. I want plenty of complexity but I don't want this beer to become too muddled.

I have never dealt with such a complex grain bill so any advice in that area would be appreciated. I plan to pitch A TON of yeast and oxygenate with pure O2 before pitching as well as about 12 hours into fermentation. Due to the large amount of grain, I also plan to make this my first ever reiterated mash. All that being said, this is my first experience with a beer of this size so any tips on managing that would be appreciated.

See the photos below for my recipe. Given the goals mentioned above, is there anything you'd change? Like I said, I want complexity without being muddled.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Cheers!
Casey

 

[stz]

While I've had dark beers which just have a touch of chocolate or roast barley which were very good my favourite dark beers are always quite complex. Roast, black, chocolate, dark crystal, light crystal, oats and extra pale barley are my go to. I use extra pale because it usually has better diastatic power which is required when it might only be 65% of the grist as well as a higher extract. Also little kick up to the pH.

Chocolate malt is probably the biggest colour and flavour contributor in my beers, the rest are supporting characters and that is usually my preference. Too much roast astringency is not something I enjoy though it does age out well if you balance the acidity. Post boil pH can be assertive to say the least in beers with a lot of roast barley if you don't plan for it and 10% or more chocolate gives a similar hard flavour to a smaller amount of roast. Black malt I prefer to roast, but I can't say that a lot of black malt doesn't create the same character of a smaller amount of roast. I usually use it 2:1 with roast for 'complexity' (lovely nebulous word right?). Dark crystal I use sparingly in beers (2-4%) which are going to be drunk young as it adds a hard burnt sugar character, but it ages very well, softening and adding unique flavours 6-8%), but so does chocolate, so they must be balanced. Personally I'd probably leave out biscuit and victory malts. Light crystal get you there, melanoidin as an interesting alternative, these do that pretty well? Special B is quite nice for a change though in small amounts (1-2%) and with a reduction in dark crystal.

I'd brew what you've there quite happily? I've always an urge to try different dark beers, things I'd never try, but am rarely impressed. I brew a stout with 9% roast barley and it dominates the brew. If you don't get the water treatment bang on I find it thin and acidic. If you get the water treatment right and it ages it is much improved. Sodium carbonate is my preference.