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

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Brewed this as a lager with WLP830. The pitch was massive but well worth it. Can definitely say that this is a brew that does not need carbing to be amazing. It's filling our lagering room with malt, hops, yeast, and spice aromatics.

Also going to brew this again this weekend with Denny's Best yeast.

 

[mbobhat]

Brewer did a bad thing...brewing this as a lager with WLP830. The pitch was massive but well worth it. Can definitely say that this is a brew that does not need carbing to be amazing. It's filling our lagering room with malt, hops, yeast, and spice aromatics.

Also going to brew this again this weekend with Denny's Best yeast.

I'm getting psyched to brew this one this weekend as well. Gonna try the partigyle for the first time, doing this and then adding some crystal to raise the body in the second runnings for a porter. I plan on using S04 for yeast. Thanks for the awesome recipe, I can already tell it's going to be awesome

If I bottle this you can has some of my homebrew marubozo

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

I'm getting psyched to brew this one this weekend as well. Gonna try the partigyle for the first time, doing this and then adding some crystal to raise the body in the second runnings for a porter. I plan on using S04 for yeast. Thanks for the awesome recipe, I can already tell it's going to be awesome

If I bottle this you can has some of my homebrew marubozo

I can say that this recipe is subtle up front but singing-smooth complex on finish. I get the dark malt up front like a stout. The heavy mouth-feel hides a lingering sweet breadiness that's followed by the a little bit of spicy lupulin and a final subtle aftertaste of D-180. Oops, let the cat out of the bag.

Great as a lager. Can't wait to brew this with Denny's Best yeast.

 

[mbobhat]

So, add some candi syrup?????!!!!?? D-180?

 

[Puddlethumper]

So, add some candi syrup?????!!!!?? D-180?

Nope! If it isn't broken, don't fix it!

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

So, add some candi syrup?????!!!!?? D-180?

Nope, but we did This will go to competitions this Spring.

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

So, add some candi syrup?????!!!!?? D-180?

I do recommend brewing this as a lager though. It's well within historical specifications to do a RIS as a lager.

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Nope! If it isn't broken, don't fix it!

That's what Budweiser says

Just a joke, no offense intended.

 

[Puddlethumper]

That's what Budweiser says

Just a joke, no offense intended.

Didn't know they said that. Bummer! One of my favorites, too!

Cheers!

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

didn't know they said that. Bummer! One of my favorites, too!

Cheers!

lol!!!

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

I'm not sure how much stock to put into rating sites but BeerAdvocate seems to have the most reviews. Of the top ten ales/lagers there were 7 that were from US brewers. Only one Belgian (at number 7). Of the ten, 2 were Russian Imperials, (both US). This is the kind of innovation and quality that US brewers were once known for (and are again!). Brew on...

 

[bpm07]

I brewed this bad boy about a month ago (7th batch ever ). Tonight was supposed to be bottling night but the final gravity is quite high, about 1.046. Granted, OG was very high (1.117) so maybe it's not going to go down any further... Also worrisome is that the 8th day gravity was about 1.048 so basically nothing has happened in 3 or so weeks.

I don't have much room in my small apartment (nor access to glass carboys) so I only do primary fermentation in an 8 gallon bucket and then bottle. For fermentation I used two packs of S04 and boy did they go to town... I had to put the fermenting bucket in the bathtub for the first 24 hours with the lid partially open to avoid an explosion in the storage room (and this was with a blowoff tube!)

On the bright side, the sample from the bucket tastes awesome! Only issue I might have is that it's a bit sweet (not surprising given the gravity) but perhaps that would take care of itself over a few months in bottles.

What do you fellow brewers think, should I just bottle and hope for the best or maybe add some yeast, or let it sit in the primary bucket for a few more weeks? Is there a chance that if I bottled without additional yeast, the beer would be unable to carbonate because I've somehow exhausted all the yeast from those two S04 packs?

Thanks for any input!

 

[mbobhat]

I brewed this bad boy about a month ago (7th batch ever ). Tonight was supposed to be bottling night but the final gravity is quite high, about 1.046. Granted, OG was very high (1.117) so maybe it's not going to go down any further... Also worrisome is that the 8th day gravity was about 1.048 so basically nothing has happened in 3 or so weeks.

I don't have much room in my small apartment (nor access to glass carboys) so I only do primary fermentation in an 8 gallon bucket and then bottle. For fermentation I used two packs of S04 and boy did they go to town... I had to put the fermenting bucket in the bathtub for the first 24 hours with the lid partially open to avoid an explosion in the storage room (and this was with a blowoff tube!)

On the bright side, the sample from the bucket tastes awesome! Only issue I might have is that it's a bit sweet (not surprising given the gravity) but perhaps that would take care of itself over a few months in bottles.

What do you fellow brewers think, should I just bottle and hope for the best or maybe add some yeast, or let it sit in the primary bucket for a few more weeks? Is there a chance that if I bottled without additional yeast, the beer would be unable to carbonate because I've somehow exhausted all the yeast from those two S04 packs?

Thanks for any input!

I agree with your exhausted yeast reason and I would add two more packs of rehydrated dry yeast because you don't want bottle bombs. Or just warm or rouse your wort and add 1 packet or make a starter? Maybe your yeast all flocced out?

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

I brewed this bad boy about a month ago (7th batch ever ). Tonight was supposed to be bottling night but the final gravity is quite high, about 1.046. Granted, OG was very high (1.117) so maybe it's not going to go down any further... Also worrisome is that the 8th day gravity was about 1.048 so basically nothing has happened in 3 or so weeks.

I don't have much room in my small apartment (nor access to glass carboys) so I only do primary fermentation in an 8 gallon bucket and then bottle. For fermentation I used two packs of S04 and boy did they go to town... I had to put the fermenting bucket in the bathtub for the first 24 hours with the lid partially open to avoid an explosion in the storage room (and this was with a blowoff tube!)

On the bright side, the sample from the bucket tastes awesome! Only issue I might have is that it's a bit sweet (not surprising given the gravity) but perhaps that would take care of itself over a few months in bottles.

What do you fellow brewers think, should I just bottle and hope for the best or maybe add some yeast, or let it sit in the primary bucket for a few more weeks? Is there a chance that if I bottled without additional yeast, the beer would be unable to carbonate because I've somehow exhausted all the yeast from those two S04 packs?

Thanks for any input!

Bottle rockets at that gravity...you could try the turbo charged re-pitch. You'll need an exponent of the original pitch due to the current ABV.

 

[bpm07]

Thanks, CSI and mbobhat! So it seems that bottling now is out of the question because the bottles might explode, and the recommendation is to pitch more yeast.

What do you mean turbo-charged re-pitch... Is it just pitch-a-lot-of-yeast-and-hope-they-don't-all-refuse-to-work-due-to-the-high-ABV? Would two more packs of (rehydrated) S04 do it?

 

[mbobhat]

Thanks, CSI and mbobhat! So it seems that bottling now is out of the question because the bottles might explode, and the recommendation is to pitch more yeast.

What do you mean turbo-charged re-pitch... Is it just pitch-a-lot-of-yeast-and-hope-they-don't-all-refuse-to-work-due-to-the-high-ABV? Would two more packs of (rehydrated) S04 do it?

You could pitch a bunch of yeast a high krausen, but then you'd have to make a starter, I would try two or if you want three dry packets rehydrated and see what happens. Just pitch a lot and make sure it is inside and room temprerature until it really gets going.

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Thanks, CSI and mbobhat! So it seems that bottling now is out of the question because the bottles might explode, and the recommendation is to pitch more yeast.

What do you mean turbo-charged re-pitch... Is it just pitch-a-lot-of-yeast-and-hope-they-don't-all-refuse-to-work-due-to-the-high-ABV? Would two more packs of (rehydrated) S04 do it?

Because the ABV is already high and the oxygen is likely depleted you'll need to make a special starter. If you're shooting for 1.028 from 1.046 with current ABV of 9% plus. You'll need a hearty yeast. I'd suggest using WLP001. Make a 3000ml starter using one vial of WLP001. This should give you about 340 billion healthy cells. Oxygenate it right after inoculating the starter. 6 hours later oxygenate it again. At 24 hrs crash and flocc. Pour off the starter beer then pitch once warmed to the RIS temp. It'll drive your FG down to 1.028 or lower.

 

[mbobhat]

Thanks, CSI and mbobhat! So it seems that bottling now is out of the question because the bottles might explode, and the recommendation is to pitch more yeast.

What do you mean turbo-charged re-pitch... Is it just pitch-a-lot-of-yeast-and-hope-they-don't-all-refuse-to-work-due-to-the-high-ABV? Would two more packs of (rehydrated) S04 do it?

Another thought, and one I plan to do with mine, pitch the beer on another yeast cake made from a smaller beer, I have a 4 gallon mild in my carboy, which should be ready in a week, and I'll pitch my RIS on top of that when I bottle the mild.

EDIT: I should say Re-Pitch on lower gravity yeast cake. I figure why not use a fresher (1.040 OG for the mild) yeast cake to try to condition it more quickly. It also frees me up a carboy, which is part of the real reason!

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Another thought, and one I plan to do with mine, pitch the beer on another yeast cake made from a smaller beer, I have a 4 gallon mild in my carboy, which should be ready in a week, and I'll pitch my RIS on top of that when I bottle the mild.

EDIT: I should say Re-Pitch on lower gravity yeast cake. I figure why not use a fresher (1.040 OG for the mild) yeast cake to try to condition it more quickly. It also frees me up a carboy, which is part of the real reason!

That will certainly get the gravity down.

 

[bpm07]

Again thanks for the different ideas! I only have 1 fermenting bucket and hence no yeast cakes I could pitch this on. My LHBS doesn't carry WLP so I picked up a Wyeast 1056 smack pack and plan to make a 3L starter as recommended.

Having never made one before, I wonder if a 3L starter is just a one-time boil of 3L of water together with 3 times the DME usually used for a 1L starter, or if it is a three-step process of making individual 1L starters with floccing and decanting in between. I did some googling and results seem mixed. Which did you mean in your suggestion?

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

Again thanks for the different ideas! I only have 1 fermenting bucket and hence no yeast cakes I could pitch this on. My LHBS doesn't carry WLP so I picked up a Wyeast 1056 smack pack and plan to make a 3L starter as recommended.

Having never made one before, I wonder if a 3L starter is just a one-time boil of 3L of water together with 3 times the DME usually used for a 1L starter, or if it is a three-step process of making individual 1L starters with floccing and decanting in between. I did some googling and results seem mixed. Which did you mean in your suggestion?

For a 3000ml starter I use a 4000L flask with 2800ml sterile water and 300g DME for a 10P solution. You could step it but infection is always a risk outside of a lab environment.

 

[lordmorphous]

That will certainly get the gravity down.

This got my 1.048 down to 1.036, but no further. Went ahead and bottled mine though and it is amazing. My OG was 1.115

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[m00se]

I brewed this in April 2013 with a portion of a Rochefort cake from a clone I did. I wasn't controlling ferm temps back then and think the fermentation got too hot. After a month on the cake I transferred to a corny for 6mo to bulk age. Unfortunately I'm getting a good deal of fusel alcohol in the finish off a pour from the keg. I've read that over time fusel can dissipate into esters. I'm thinking of moving the keg out of the keezer and leaving it to bulk condition for more time hoping the hotness cools down a little.

The good news is that I brewed the same recipe in May 2013 and have been bulk aging on Wild Turkey soaked oak cubes for 5+mo. I'm hoping that one turns out a little better.

Time will only tell if the hotness goes away.

 

[Kbho68]

I was thinking of adding some oak before I bottle this beer. Do you think this beer would do well on oak?

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

I was thinking of adding some oak before I bottle this beer. Do you think this beer would do well on oak?

I think some oak aging could pair well with this recipe, iffy....but only as a variation of the style

 

[tripplehazzard]

What was your mash temp? Im thinking 154 would be good to keep it a lil dry with some sweetness still

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[CSI - CandiSyrup]

We last mashed at 154F. The mouth-feel was still hefty.

 

[Puddlethumper]

I was thinking of adding some oak before I bottle this beer. Do you think this beer would do well on oak?

I'd avoid adding any more flavors to this beer. It is very complex as it is.

 

[Still_dreamin]

I'm thinking about brewing this but am unsure on mash/sparge volumes. I saw in an early post (page 6) the author recommended 1.5 quarts per pound of grain? That's in line with how i usually brew, but in this case, with a 20.75lbs grain bill that's looking like ~31 quarts or ~7.75 gallons.

That's all fine and good - i have the capacity in both my tun & kettle - but the preboil volume is only listed as 7.32 gallons! Is that much mash water lost to the grain? Because it seems even if you lost a gallon you'd only have a bout a half gallon to sparge with...


Can anybody fill me in on their specifics when brewing this? How much mash water? How much sparge water? Thanks!

 

[orangemen5]

I'm thinking about brewing this but am unsure on mash/sparge volumes. I saw in an early post (page 6) the author recommended 1.5 quarts per pound of grain? That's in line with how i usually brew, but in this case, with a 20.75lbs grain bill that's looking like ~31 quarts or ~7.75 gallons.



That's all fine and good - i have the capacity in both my tun & kettle - but the preboil volume is only listed as 7.32 gallons! Is that much mash water lost to the grain? Because it seems even if you lost a gallon you'd only have a bout a half gallon to sparge with...





Can anybody fill me in on their specifics when brewing this? How much mash water? How much sparge water? Thanks!

Your going to lose more than a 1 gal from grain absorption. I lost 2.5 gals. I guess it could depend on your crush and type of cooler you use. I also bumped up my starting boil volume since I boil off 1.75 gals in an hour. You could also lower your water to 1.3 qts pp if you wanted to give you more to sparge with.