Imperial Stout Russian Imperial Stout (2011 HBT Competition Category Winner)
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roger_tucker
Well-Known Member
I'm looking for an Imperial Stout to Brew Up and leave sit for next winter. This might a good candidate. I might try and brew this up in February or March and just leave it sit. What do you think about add some chocolate to this? What would you add? How much?
Dixon
Well-Known Member
A little update in regards to needing to add yeast at bottling: I bottled this 3 weeks ago I think. I ran out of 750 ml bottles and ended up bottling a dozen 12 oz bottles. Got ansy and open one this weekend. No head yet but a go ptsssss when I cracked the bottle. I did not add any new yeast and was concerned when people talked about the necessity of adding yeast. No longer worried. Oh, and it tastes awesome!
Jupapabear
Well-Known Member
I added no new yeast, and mine are amazing right now.
orangemen5
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I think it matters on how long you secondary whether you should re-yeast or not. I secondary for 4 months at basement temps of 55-60. I did re-yeast. It still took 3 months to carbonate. If you just secondary shorter before bottling. Re-yeasting shouldn't be necessary.
Jupapabear
Well-Known Member
My secondary was 3 months long, my bottles took 3 months to to carb. I can't imagine wanting this any sooner anyway
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Jupapabear
Well-Known Member
Also there is very little sediment in the bottles. Barely noticeable
Dixon
Well-Known Member
I had this in secondary for 5 months also at basement temps.
So I'm bottling mine off of the bourbon oak cubes after 6 weeks due to the fact I have way more headspace than is desired, I'm new to brewing so I didn't know until last week that the amount of headspace I have is undesirable in a secondary. I was planning on ageing for 4-6 months but I'm going to bottle condition the rest of the way rather than risk the batch to oxidization or infection, I'll add bourbon at bottling if it needs the extra. So after 6 weeks at 63deg is consensus that I DON'T need to add yeast when bottling? I pitched a HUGE 5.5 L stater for this beer just as an FYI and I plan on bottle conditioning the rest of the way prob 6-9 months and then saving one for long term cellaring.
Dixon
Well-Known Member
How much head space are you talking?
If your conditioning that long I would say absolutely let it ride without adding yeast. My 2 pennies.
If your conditioning that long I would say absolutely let it ride without adding yeast. My 2 pennies.
I'd say its prob atleast 1 gal shy in a 5 gal carboy. I showed my lhbs guy a pic and he said its def to much headspace for that long term of secondary ageing.
So u say bottle now with no added yeast.
Dixon
Well-Known Member
Did you have an airlock on it? If it showed any CO2 pressure I'd leave it in bulk until it didn't anymore. The worry for headspace is oxidation but if there's still CO2 present there will be no oxidation.
But yes, I would say you don't absolutely need more yeast.
But yes, I would say you don't absolutely need more yeast.
There is an s type airlock on it now and its cork tight in there but I just don't want to risk the beer. Next batch now I know to increase my batch size to include blowoff and grub loss and hopefully I can put 5 gal in and let it age on the cubes longer for more complexity. I'm gonna brew This every year so it'll b interesting to compare the changes.
You guys weren't kidding about this thing kicking up some krausen. It's the most intense fermentation I've ever experienced. My only modifications from the recipe were subbing 1# wheat malt for 1# 2 row (probably totally unnecessary) and using 4 packets of rehydrated S-04 instead of liquid. It had 2 inches of krausen within 3 hours of pitching and now it's exploding into the blowoff jug.
I made a black IPA from the 2nd runnings with some additional chocolate, C77, and biscuit. I got 5 gallons of pre boil 1.030 wort, to which I added 2# raw sugar and got it up to 1.057. I hopped the crap out of it. A pinch of challenger and apollo for bittering, citra, simcoe, cascade and a ton of mosaic at 20 and 2 mins from flamout. These are both easily the best tasting worts I've ever sampled. Can't wait to drink them! Thank you OP for this recipe!
Edit: This picture is 20 hours after pitching S-04 in the stout and US-05 in the black IPA.
I made a black IPA from the 2nd runnings with some additional chocolate, C77, and biscuit. I got 5 gallons of pre boil 1.030 wort, to which I added 2# raw sugar and got it up to 1.057. I hopped the crap out of it. A pinch of challenger and apollo for bittering, citra, simcoe, cascade and a ton of mosaic at 20 and 2 mins from flamout. These are both easily the best tasting worts I've ever sampled. Can't wait to drink them! Thank you OP for this recipe!
Edit: This picture is 20 hours after pitching S-04 in the stout and US-05 in the black IPA.
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I finally tried my first bottle, after a little more than a month. I know it needs to age more, but I wanted to try one to make sure it's on the right track. Besides, I had just poured 45 bottles of an infected rye beer down the drain last night and I needed to have one in the win column.
It tastes fantastic! It poured with 1/4" cream-colored head and has a nice roasty aroma. Taste was spot-on, with plenty of coffee and chocolate notes, and I could detect the bourbon oak from the cubes I used. Could've used just a bit more of the bourbon oak. Maybe those flavors will pop more after more aging. The FG was only down to about 1.028, but the hops balance it well, and it certainly isn't cloying.
At bottling I added 3g of CBC-1 yeast. No doubt that helped, as the fermentation yeast was probably toast after 5 months aging. I had used Denny's Favorite 50.
I'm going to serve a few to family at Thanksgiving, but I think it will really taste awesome in a few more months. I'm definitely brewing this one again!
It tastes fantastic! It poured with 1/4" cream-colored head and has a nice roasty aroma. Taste was spot-on, with plenty of coffee and chocolate notes, and I could detect the bourbon oak from the cubes I used. Could've used just a bit more of the bourbon oak. Maybe those flavors will pop more after more aging. The FG was only down to about 1.028, but the hops balance it well, and it certainly isn't cloying.
At bottling I added 3g of CBC-1 yeast. No doubt that helped, as the fermentation yeast was probably toast after 5 months aging. I had used Denny's Favorite 50.
I'm going to serve a few to family at Thanksgiving, but I think it will really taste awesome in a few more months. I'm definitely brewing this one again!
Hi all guys,
I would like to ask only three questions.
Can I use Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast for this beer?
Can plastic bucket fermentor hold fermentation of 17 liters of this beer?
I am not sure about the water, so If i add 1 tbsp of CaCO3 how is possible to be in the mash pH ballpark?
Thanx and cheers
I would like to ask only three questions.
Can I use Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast for this beer?
Can plastic bucket fermentor hold fermentation of 17 liters of this beer?
I am not sure about the water, so If i add 1 tbsp of CaCO3 how is possible to be in the mash pH ballpark?
Thanx and cheers
You guys.
I started with about 4.5gal of 26 brix wort post boil (about 1.11 SG). I pitched 4 packets of rehydrated s04 at 7pm on Saturday. It's now 4:30pm Tuesday and it's down to 14 brix. Ignoring wort correction, this means it's in the area of 1.022. It tastes almost dry, and super boozy. This is crazy.
I started with about 4.5gal of 26 brix wort post boil (about 1.11 SG). I pitched 4 packets of rehydrated s04 at 7pm on Saturday. It's now 4:30pm Tuesday and it's down to 14 brix. Ignoring wort correction, this means it's in the area of 1.022. It tastes almost dry, and super boozy. This is crazy.
Entered this into a local competition and out of 9 entries in imperial stout, it took second. I added a bit of bourbon soaked oak chips to secondary (for about 5 days) for a bit more flavor. Great beer!
CSI - CandiSyrup
Well-Known Member
Just completed a carbonation review and taste test after 10 months in bottle conditioning. Noticed a pillowy chocolate head finishing with Belgian lace on the glass. A very nice RIS.
te-wa
Well-Known Member
i need to brew this again. it won't be ready until march, but nights in phoenix will still be in the mid 40's... i would not change much, maybe go with 2 vanilla beans over one next time. got a lot of oozin' ahhs for it. this next batch will be all MINE! i'm not sharing, you can't make me! 
TheZymurgist
Well-Known Member
i need to brew this again. it won't be ready until march, but nights in phoenix will still be in the mid 40's... i would not change much, maybe go with 2 vanilla beans over one next time. got a lot of oozin' ahhs for it. this next batch will be all MINE! i'm not sharing, you can't make me!
"Oozin' ahhs?" Sounds like you might want to have a doctor check that out...
No, but after 4 months in secondary, I didn't have any problem with trub--it was firm on the bottom.
I did re-pitch some yeast at bottling.
I'm bottling after 6 weeks in secondary. Don't intend to add yeast and figured if I cold crash it would drop ant extra yeast I may need for bottle conditioning.
Made this again back in February and forgot about it in the secondary for months. Now 9 months later, it's kegged and delicious as hell. Well worth the wait!!!
I was going to brew this up today with my dad. I meant to make the starter a few days ago and just realized I didn't do that. I guess I'm not brewing anything today except a starter. Grrrr!
I guess there is a bright side to the delay. I've never heard of this partigying thing before. The delay will give me time to devise a plan for that. Seems like a perfect time to use up some open bags of leftover hops from previous batches.
Also, I've never made anything bigger than a 1L starter before. Going to have to get creative with a container, my flask is only 1L.
I guess there is a bright side to the delay. I've never heard of this partigying thing before. The delay will give me time to devise a plan for that. Seems like a perfect time to use up some open bags of leftover hops from previous batches.
Also, I've never made anything bigger than a 1L starter before. Going to have to get creative with a container, my flask is only 1L.
Brewed this today. It is the biggest beer I've brewed so far and it didn't come easy. I learned the hard way about the importance of glueing together a CPVC manifold. The manifold came apart while doughing in and I ended up clogging my pump that feeds RIMS tube. Luckily I noticed there was no flow and didn't scorch anything.
I ended up dumping the entire mash into my brew kettle, replaced the manifold with my old trusty braided hose and got everything back on track.
Somehow I ended up with around 6 gallons and an OG of 1.080.
A little lower that expected of course but considering the problem I had with the mash I'll take it.
Going to let it ferment in primary for a month then keg it. I'm planning on letting it sit in the keg until next Halloween if I can wait that long. The wort was delicious! I can't wait to taste it next fall!
Thanks for the recipe.
I ended up dumping the entire mash into my brew kettle, replaced the manifold with my old trusty braided hose and got everything back on track.
Somehow I ended up with around 6 gallons and an OG of 1.080.
A little lower that expected of course but considering the problem I had with the mash I'll take it.
Going to let it ferment in primary for a month then keg it. I'm planning on letting it sit in the keg until next Halloween if I can wait that long. The wort was delicious! I can't wait to taste it next fall!
Thanks for the recipe.
Do a stepped starter. You can build up a nice population of yeast in 2 or 3 steps with just a 1L flask. Do you have a stir plate?
Okay, so, this has been sitting in 16-oz EZ Cap bottles in the crawlspace since about mid-August. The Christmas party, where I'll be doling these out, is next weekend. Should I throw them bottles in the fridge for a bit to help them settle out, or should they be more or less settled at this point?
I suspect probably the latter, but figured I'd ask before I repurposed the minifridge.
So I plan on bottling mine next weekend. Brewed this on 9/9 and it's been in secondary for two months on bourbon oak cubes by the time I plan to bottle. Do I need to add yeast when bottling?? I bought a packet of cdc yeast just in case. Has anyone used this and if so how much do I use?? I'll prob bottle 4 gal and then bottle condition for 6 months. I made a huge starter for this beer so there was a ton of yeast but I just don't want it to b flat but not do I want any bottle bombs. Thanks for advice.
