Imperial Stout Russian Imperial Stout (2011 HBT Competition Category Winner)

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TxBigHops said:
I did a lot of research on this before I bottled mine last August. I think some of it is in this thread if you go back a year. Some said don't worry, there will be enough yeast. Others said go ahead and add more to be safe. I decided to add a 5g package of champagne yeast and carbed to 2.0 volumes. Still took forever, and still is just barely carbed now, over a year later.







Based on my experience, I would be surprised if it carbs up in two weeks, or honestly even two months. My next batch I will carb to about 2.3 vols instead of 2.0, but still won't touch any for several months.







As long as you don't add too much priming sugar, you shouldn't have to worry about bottle bombs. Champagne yeast and CBC-1 will only consume the dextrose you bottle with. They will not consume your residual sugars, even if you leave them for a year or more.







This. Agree completely.



Also, keep in mind that this beer should age VERY well. If you start opening them early, then after 6-8 months, you're going to really wish you had back the early ones. It REALLY gets that much better.
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Just wanted to acknowledge this reply and tell you it's much appreciated.. after some debate I think I will most certainly bottle with the fresh yeast and maybe I'll even go to bottle sooner than later too since it might take a while to achieve a decent carbonation. I generally like a higher carbonation too so I might aim for 2.6 just to give it a little bit more sugar to consume

Also, I wanted to share a video of primary fermentation on the first night or morning, of my batch... pretty insane amount of CO2 being blown off my blow off tube in addition to gunk, trub, yeast and whatever else that gets blown off during primary

https://youtu.be/Il1PR65bcA8

Enjoy the video... the pressure coming out almost make it seem like the blow off water is boiling it's so powerful!
 
armenianbrewer said:
What size was your batch? Do you plan on just rehydrating the entire packet of cbc-1 even though the entire packet probably can more than serve purposes for a 5 gallon batch?

http://www.danstaryeast.com/company/products/cbc-1-cask-bottle-conditioned-beer-yeast "Refermentation (100%) can be completed within 14 days at 15-25°C with an inoculation rate of 10g of yeast per hl of beer (1-2 million cells per ml)."

According to this it says 10g of yeast per hl (or almost the entire 11 g packet for 26ish gallons)
\
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I bottled this last night and just rehydrated the entire package. Extra yeast will not hurt anything or cause any issues as long as fermentation was complete. Better chance at carbonating faster and complete carbonation. There will just be extra yeast sediment at the bottom of each bottle which doesn't matter in a Stout. It tasted phenomenal last night. I cant wait to taste one of these in a month or so.
 
rbach2 said:
Well...opened up my first bottle - gusher. Cracked a second - gusher. First time using CBC-1 and used less than half a package shooting for a target volume of 2.3. Pretty depressing for a 6-month project Get about 8 ounces of beer per 22 oz bottle. Anyone have any tips on fixing these? Left the second one slightly opened (slight hiss) for 5 mins and went to open it and beer volcano.
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There are several reasons for gushers.

What temp was the beer at when you opened them and how did it taste?

Could be from incomplete fermentation/under attenuation.
What yeast did you use and what temp did you ferment at?

What did you use for priming sugar, and how much?

Could also be infected bottles? How did you clean/sanitize them prior to bottling?
 
Saw this thread pop up the other day with Steveg229 reply and thought to myself, "Self, I've always wanted to try an RIS." So I stopped by my LHBS on the way home Tuesday night and got everything. This will be my first big brew, wish me luck. Starter has been going since Tuesday night.
 
rbach2 said:
Well...opened up my first bottle - gusher. Cracked a second - gusher. First time using CBC-1 and used less than half a package shooting for a target volume of 2.3. Pretty depressing for a 6-month project Get about 8 ounces of beer per 22 oz bottle. Anyone have any tips on fixing these? Left the second one slightly opened (slight hiss) for 5 mins and went to open it and beer volcano.
Click to expand...

I had this same thing happen to me with a heffe I brewed for Thanksgiving once. My whole family was getting together and I was worried I botched the entire batch I brewed just for this.

How long have your bottles been carbing? I found that time is on your side here, especially if it hasn't been that long. As mentioned many times, this beer can't be rushed at any stage, but that's to your advantage as it will get better. So my first guess is it need more time, and at the right temp (72 degrees seems to be what I find works best for me, less and the process is even slower).

Also, I have found that enough time to chill also helps a lot. Give the sediment in the beer a chance to settle and there will be less stuff floating around around to help make a gusher. Maybe give the beer at least 24 hours in the fridge undisturbed before you open, more if you can. I have definitely found that throwing a beer in the fridge and drinking it as soon as it hit the temp I want is not as good as giving them a couple days.

Hope this also helps.
 
TorMag said:
Let me know how it goes. I am brewing it on Sunday.
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Quoting myself.... Anyway, my daughter surprised us with a visit this weekend from college so I put brewing this off till later this week. The yeast starter is finished and just chilling in the fridge.

I did discuss this recipe with the guy at my LHBS and he suggested that I let this naturally carb in a keg as I store this for 6 months. Told me to drop 3/4 cups priming sugar in the keg and let it do its thing for 6 months. He said that's what he does with his RIS.
 
I was wondering if anyone has had oxidation issues aging this beer for so long, or if anyone has tips for aging high gravity beers during conditioning/bottle storage? I recently upgraded my system and have capacity to brew high gravity beers and want to take a shot at this, but I've only aged brett beers before and brett is an oxygen scavenger so I haven't really worried about it.
 
I have brewed a couple of RISs so far. I bottled one as normal and let it sit in my basement, I have one bottle left and it was brewed Feb. 2015. I have not had any oxidation problems. And I suspect you wouldn't either if your bottling procedure is solid.

I'm currently bulk aging a batch in a glass carbon that was brewed in January of this year. I kept the airlock full and fresh and have not had any oxygenation problems with that either.

I would just not store these in a real warm place once carbed. My basement is usually right about 68, and they've been great so far.

Hope this helps.
 
Has anyone tried adding flavours to this beer? I'm considering splitting the batch, and ageing 1 gallon with whiskey soaked oak, and 1 gallon with rum soaked oak.
 
I brewed this on 8-1 and just kegged it on 10-09. I can't believe how perfect this beer is!! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
 
VT_jlee said:
I was wondering if anyone has had oxidation issues aging this beer for so long, or if anyone has tips for aging high gravity beers during conditioning/bottle storage? I recently upgraded my system and have capacity to brew high gravity beers and want to take a shot at this, but I've only aged brett beers before and brett is an oxygen scavenger so I haven't really worried about it.
Click to expand...

Personally think the oxygenation worries are overrated. Your bottles will have positive pressure. So unless the capping job was very poor, nothing is getting in. When I do bottle, the key is to keep them away from light.
 
Tand said:
Has anyone tried adding flavours to this beer? I'm considering splitting the batch, and ageing 1 gallon with whiskey soaked oak, and 1 gallon with rum soaked oak.
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Yes! My favorite thing to do with stouts! Have a Coconut and bourbon/coffee/vanilla bean split, 2.5gallons each. Also done peanut butter and coco nibs/chipotle split. Not necessarily this beer, but sky's the limit with stouts.
 
Gonna give this a go.
Been looking at this recipe for months now.
This beer is what made me want to do AG.
Brewed 3 AG batches (a blonde, hef and an amber, all recipes from HBT) just to prepare my self for this beer.
Looking at Nov. 11th as a brew date since i have the day off.
 
TorMag said:
Why bother doing that when you can just build up a big enough starter?
Click to expand...
to jump in on this.
I've only done a yeast starter once, but a MUCH smaller beer.

I was using an online calculator for a starter
it says i need a 9.75L starter for a 10.5 gallon batch
is that accurate and if so how much DME would I need?

heres what i used
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
 
Ariza-Poet said:
Gonna give this a go.
Been looking at this recipe for months now.
This beer is what made me want to do AG.
Brewed 3 AG batches (a blonde, hef and an amber, all recipes from HBT) just to prepare my self for this beer.
Looking at Nov. 11th as a brew date since i have the day off.
Click to expand...

So brewing a high alcohol beer takes bit more work if you've never done one.

After boil, I oxygenate the chit out of the wort by pouring back and forth between 2 sanitized buckets. Next I'll divide the brew between 2 buckets to ensure lots of head space. Next, and found this critical, after 12hrs go back, re-oxygenate again and still keep in 2 buckets. Temp controlling 2 buckets is a pain for me, but others may not be. I'll combine in 14days or so to secondary. Doing this method got me to over 11.5%.
 
PianoMan said:
So brewing a high alcohol beer takes bit more work if you've never done one.

After boil, I oxygenate the chit out of the wort by pouring back and forth between 2 sanitized buckets. Next I'll divide the brew between 2 buckets to ensure lots of head space. Next, and found this critical, after 12hrs go back, re-oxygenate again and still keep in 2 buckets. Temp controlling 2 buckets is a pain for me, but others may not be. I'll combine in 14days or so to secondary. Doing this method got me to over 11.5%.
Click to expand...

great to know thank you. :mug:

is this oxygenating before or after the worts been chilled and yeast pitched?
 
Trying to decide between this recipe and an Old Rasputin clone. Can someone who has tasted this recipe as well as Old Rasputin give me some thoughts? Old Rasputin and Yeti are two of my favorite RIS's. Would this recipe get me in that direction or is it a different style of RIS without much of a roasted grain bill ala w00tstout?
 
Rush said:
Trying to decide between this recipe and an Old Rasputin clone. Can someone who has tasted this recipe as well as Old Rasputin give me some thoughts? Old Rasputin and Yeti are two of my favorite RIS's. Would this recipe get me in that direction or is it a different style of RIS without much of a roasted grain bill ala w00tstout?
Click to expand...

Just did an OR clone but came out at 7.8%. Halved it between bourbon/coffee and coconut/vanilla bean. Mostly gone in 4 weeks. Think I have a bourbon bottle left...let you know in a few weeks. Doing this Thursday.
 
I'm looking to do a RIS and age it on some oak spirals that I aged my whiskey on. Anyone try this in a barrel or anything? Should I add the spirals to the secondary and let it sit on them 6 months?
 
Brewed this on 10/30 still in the primary after almost 3 weeks, still have airlock action and gravity still moving down.
 
Steve3730 said:
I'm looking to do a RIS and age it on some oak spirals that I aged my whiskey on. Anyone try this in a barrel or anything? Should I add the spirals to the secondary and let it sit on them 6 months?
Click to expand...

My technique is to add spiral (about 1/4 of one) in secondary for 10-14 days with bourbon. Then keg. I'm not big on starring at beer. It does take 8 weeks or so to come into it's own. But it's half gone by then. 😉

4 months does seems to be the sweet spot. Just me..
 
Steve3730 said:
What was your boil time? How much head room do you recommend in the fermentors?
Click to expand...

I boiled for 60 minutes like the recipe calls for. I use a FastFerment conical so had plenty of head room. I had made a large 2l starter, got about 3 inches of krasen, no blow off.
 
Cracked the last bottle of my February 2015 batch after dinner last night and it had aged beautifully (the rest were gone by New Year). Wonderful balance of dark stone fruits, walnut, and chocolate, lots of warmth but no heat, fantastic with a slice of pecan pie.
 
btbnl said:
Cracked the last bottle of my February 2015 batch after dinner last night and it had aged beautifully (the rest were gone by New Year). Wonderful balance of dark stone fruits, walnut, and chocolate, lots of warmth but no heat, fantastic with a slice of pecan pie.
Click to expand...

Oh, it's going to be a long 6 months.
 
PianoMan said:
Tap it and tell us how awesome it is. Looking at cold crashing and maybe adding cocoa nibs this week. Half to have coffee/bourbon. Half to add coconut. Maybe..
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Aged a batch of this on oak chips soaked in Ricardo Coconut Rum.... fan-freakin-tastic. Couldn't believe how much coconut came through. I've used coconut extract in the past with excellent results as well.
 
ruger988 said:
Aged a batch of this on oak chips soaked in Ricardo Coconut Rum.... fan-freakin-tastic. Couldn't believe how much coconut came through. I've used coconut extract in the past with excellent results as well.
Click to expand...

That is interesting. I've done toasted coconut with great results, but noticed the extract at LHBS. You got me thinking..
 

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