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

[Garmoni]

So I fermented this on a Nottingham yeast cake. It went from 1.09 to 1.02 in two and half days. Surprised it finished so fast. Tastes amazing. It's going to be had to wait for it to age out.

 

[Nmnbrewer]

Brewed the original recipe up yesterday on my ebiab basket setup. Used 19 lbs of 2 row, crystal 120 instead of special b. Got the wrong yeast so I decided on the fly to use a pack of Safale be256 and an sf04. Who knows what’ll happen. Good bad whatever. I just like the process. Managed to hit 1.097 og with just the extra 2 lbs on grain. I was very happy with that on my biab setup. I did use an additional 1.25 gallons of water to start so my mash wasn’t too thick. Just increased boil to 2 hours and hit my volumes spot on. Oh I also only used 2 oz of challenger and 1 oz of Perle at 60 and 2 oz of us goldings at 30. Its fermenting away in a swamp cooler setup at 64 right now. I’d like to rack over oak cubes after a month in primary (maybe less). Should be good ( or crap) by Christmas this year. Biggest beer I’ve made so far and the system handled it like a champ. I could certainly go bigger. I did like the mash consistency so I’d prob just add more water if I added more grain and then just boil longer. An added benefit was that I managed to get 4.5 gallons of 1.031 wort after heating up 6.5 gallons of water and putting the basket back in. So 8 hours and 23 pounds of grain yielded 5.5 gallons at 1.097 and 4.5 at 1.031. I’m very happy with that.

 

[GoeHaarden]

n added benefit was that I managed to get 4.5 gallons of 1.031 wort after heating up 6.5 gallons of water and putting the basket back in. So 8 hours and 23 pounds of grain yielded 5.5 gallons at 1.097 and 4.5 at 1.031

Been think about doing party-gyle RIS for a while now. Let me know how your second running of this turned out. Did you keep the same hop schedule for both? Interested in how they turn out...

Brewed yesterday. Was afraid SO4 wouldn't get the job done so I went with Nottingham instead.

How did it turn out with Notty? FG? I have a ton of Notty saved from a previous brew...

To anyone who has party-gyled this brew. How did the second running brew turn out? Any suggestion?

 

[Nmnbrewer]

I just went with s05 for the second running and used 1/2 oz of cluster at 60 and 30 for the hops. Winging it. It’s churning away right now. Shouldn’t take long that’s for sure. RIS is going crazy as well after a short lag period. I’m keeping it pretty cool so it was expected.

 

[GoeHaarden]

I just went with s05 for the second running and used 1/2 oz of cluster at 60 and 30 for the hops. Winging it. It’s churning away right now. Shouldn’t take long that’s for sure. RIS is going crazy as well after a short lag period. I’m keeping it pretty cool so it was expected.

Gotcha. I'm only going to be able to control fermentation temps for one, and was thinking about just doing S05 for the second running and using a swamp cooler. Let us know how it turns out with S04.

 

[Garmoni]

How did it turn out with Notty? FG? I have a ton of Notty saved from a previous brew...

To anyone who has party-gyled this brew. How did the second running brew turn out? Any suggestion?

The Notty turned out well. It fermented very fast (just over 2 days) on a yeast cake from a previous brew. I let it sit in the primary for 28 days and racked this morning to secondary. Final gravity was 1.018. Tastes amazing. A little hot as others have mentioned but it's still young. I'm going to age this one out awhile.

 

[stosh]

Brewed this today. My first Imperial Stout effort. My gravity was 1.102.

The question is...

How much do I have to worry about hot side aeration?

During my process I ended up spilling enough to have to figure out how much water I had to replace. I brewed this BIAB and I mashed with about 6.5 gallons and did a cold water dunk with about two gallons. Because of the spillage, I poured the hot wort into a fermentation bucket for measurement then back into the kettle. Then poured the "sparge" water into the main kettle. My water volumes (after the industrial accident) were right on.

Since I poured the hot wort from the kettle, to the ferm bucket and back into the kettle is there anything I should be concerned with? I don't get deep enough yet to consider hot side aeration but it popped into my mind after I went from bucket back to kettle.

 

[LoneTreeFarms]

I think as long as your equipment was clean and sanitized you should be fine.

 

[EtchyLives]

Two years ago I did this and let it bulk age for six months at 50°F. It was amazing but I had lower efficiency so it only ended up at around 8.5%.

This year I hit 1.103. Great action from the yeast after hitting it with some O2 and a big pitch of Imperial Darkness. Only 6 months to go.

 

[ApolloMC]

Brewed this yesterday. I plan on letting it bulk condition for around 3 months, and then bottle condition for another 5+. Can't wait to enjoy it NEXT fall / winter!

FYI, for anyone interested in doing a Parti-Gyle brew, I was able to get about 2 gallons of second runnings to make into a light porter that should end up around 4.3%. Although I should note that I boosted the grain bill by 2# of Pale Malt and .25# of Roasted Barley for an OG of 1.107 on the first runnings (I was compensating for my lower efficiency). Without that extra grain I'd guess you might only get 1.5 gallons, or 1 gallon of a higher ABV. Still, no reason to waste good wort if you ask me. You might as well ferment it!

 

[anton005]

I recently uncovered 12 of these in a box that I thought was empty bottles brewed 6/16! What a great surprise! It only gets better.

 

[Robin0782]

Think I'm finally going to tackle an Imperial in a few weeks and this seems like a great base recipe. Similar to a 6% stout I made a few years ago that was awesome. I like the heavy hand on the roasted barely. Might adjust it a little. US-05. Columbus to bitter since I have it on hand, flaked barley in place of the cara pils. Otherwise the same. Look forward to drinking it late fall 2019.

 

[Kirbuno]

I brewed this last August. Just tasted the result. I feel it is a bit heavy handed in the roasted grains taste profile. If I were to do this one again I would back off on the dark grains 15-20%. Just my opinion, for me, this one is over the top and hard to enjoy.

 

[EtchyLives]

I just bottled up this batch. Final gravity was 1.015. The Darkness is a very high attenuating yeast.

Test jar sample had a flavors of licorice, coffee, and chocolate and was just a tad boozy. Thankfully it's not a sugar bomb like some of the stouts I've been purchasing lately. Competition season is here so I'm excited to see how this goes.

 

[TestTickle]

Almost 8 years later and this thread is still alive, haha. Love it.

 

[pbrennan10]

Just kicked this, ended up great after about 3 months. Missed my OG and it only ended up about 8% but was still very good. Used nottingham

 

[Robin0782]

Well I just finished brewday on this one, with a few changes. Only hit 1.087, but I was aiming for 1.090 since the original recipe was too much for my mash tun. I kept the specialty grains almost the same, only changing carapils out for flaked barley. I'm using US-05. Columbus to bitter. No late hops. I hope to finish around 1.020 for 9%. Looking forward to it, I think it will turn out quite tasty.

 

[Shenanigans]

Thinking about brewing this next month but with a few changes. I'll keep the same malt bill but will need to change the hops and yeast as I want to use up what I have.

1st for the yeast I would like to use wlp005 but am a bit worried that the alc. tolerance might be too low.
The white labs website says medium 5 to 10% which is a bit of a wide range.
If it's not up to the task then I would like to keep it British and have 1098 and 1318 or dry M42, M36 or Notti.

Any recommendations?

For the hops I only have 1oz of Challenger, could I just replace it with EKG?
I also have Fuggles, German Perle, German Northern Brewer and Bramling Cross.

Any recommendations?

I was also thinking of doing a second running's beer maybe just 3 gallons so it wont be too thin and cap it with some chocolate and bit of a medium crystal malt. Probably crystal wheat to help add a bit more body. Then make it a hoppy brown with Cascade and Centennial. Depending on the SG maybe add some DME to get it up to about a 5 or 6 % beer with a medium attenuating yeast.

Anyone else make a nice beer from the second runnings of this beer?

I have to admit I didn't read all 27 pages so sorry if these questions have been answered before.

Thanks!

 

[TestTickle]

Thinking about brewing this next month but with a few changes. I'll keep the same malt bill but will need to change the hops and yeast as I want to use up what I have.

1st for the yeast I would like to use wlp005 but am a bit worried that the alc. tolerance might be too low.
The white labs website says medium 5 to 10% which is a bit of a wide range.
If it's not up to the task then I would like to keep it British and have 1098 and 1318 or dry M42, M36 or Notti.

Any recommendations?

For the hops I only have 1oz of Challenger, could I just replace it with EKG?
I also have Fuggles, German Perle, German Northern Brewer and Bramling Cross.

Any recommendations?

I was also thinking of doing a second running's beer maybe just 3 gallons so it wont be too thin and cap it with some chocolate and bit of a medium crystal malt. Probably crystal wheat to help add a bit more body. Then make it a hoppy brown with Cascade and Centennial. Depending on the SG maybe add some DME to get it up to about a 5 or 6 % beer with a medium attenuating yeast.

Anyone else make a nice beer from the second runnings of this beer?

I have to admit I didn't read all 27 pages so sorry if these questions have been answered before.

Thanks!

Yeast: Some of those manufacturer specs can be a bit on the conservative side and it's possible to squeeze a little more out of them. With that said, I used S-04 in mine, over pitched, aerated the hell out of it after about 12 hours and pitched a little more. It may have been a temperature issue, but it maxed out right at around 10%. Next time, I think I'll use WLP007.

Hops: I think that Fuggles would be a decent substitute.

Second Runnings: I made a beer out of the second runnings that actually turned out decent despite too much volume that brought the ABV down to less than 5% (OG was 1.042). My brother in law really liked it. Next time I'll bring the volume down a bit and shoot for closer to 1.050. I mean, it's essentially free beer

Overall, this is a good beer. I split it into three batches and added cacao nibs and vanilla to one of them. It ended up with some hints of cherry in it. Another batch I added bourbon soaked oak cubes, and the third I left alone. All had good flavors. I bottle so I did have some carbonation issues because it aged so long. I still have a lot of bottles aging, so I will see if they ever get to a decent carb level. Next time, I'll add some CBC-1 yeast to the bottling bucket.

 

[Shenanigans]

Thanks for you reply. Think I might indeed go for Fuggles. I'll also use wy1098 as I'm concerned that the Wlp005 will crap out too soon. I just need to find another beer for it. Wanted to use it for an India brown ale clone but the starter took ages to get going so I had to use M42. Anyone know a good American IPA that I could use wlp005 for?

 

[TestTickle]

Thanks for you reply. Think I might indeed go for Fuggles. I'll also use wy1098 as I'm concerned that the Wlp005 will crap out too soon. I just need to find another beer for it. Wanted to use it for an India brown ale clone but the starter took ages to get going so I had to use M42. Anyone know a good American IPA that I could use wlp005 for?

I supposed I should post this in a new thread, but here's one of my favorite IPA recipes. It's inspired by Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA. I'm not sure how well WLP005 would work with it, but it's a lower attenuating yeast than what I use so the ABV would be a bit lower (probably around 6.5). I never did any mash hopping before this recipe, but I think it really helps give it a very balanced and well rounded hoppiness.

5.5 Gallons
OG: 1.063
FG: 1.010

11 lbs 2-Row
1 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel 10
1 lbs Carapils
8.0 oz Caravienne
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Mash
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - First Wort
0.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - First Wort
0.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - 30
0.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - 30
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Flameout
0.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Flameout
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days

 

[Shenanigans]

I supposed I should post this in a new thread, but here's one of my favorite IPA recipes. It's inspired by Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA. I'm not sure how well WLP005 would work with it, but it's a lower attenuating yeast than what I use so the ABV would be a bit lower (probably around 6.5). I never did any mash hopping before this recipe, but I think it really helps give it a very balanced and well rounded hoppiness.

5.5 Gallons
OG: 1.063
FG: 1.010

11 lbs 2-Row
1 lbs 4.0 oz Caramel 10
1 lbs Carapils
8.0 oz Caravienne
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Mash
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - First Wort
0.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - First Wort
0.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - 60
0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - 30
0.25 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - 30
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Flameout
0.25 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Flameout
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7 Days

Thanks, looks like a nice recipe

I've actually decided I'll do a Little Sumpin Sumpin clone.

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

Hello, I am planning how to make this recipe. Here in Argentina I don't get the yeast WLP002. I am looking for a dry substitute but cannot find one that is suitable.
Marabuzo recommend Danstar Windsor, but I am concerned about the low flocculation of that yeast against the very high flocculation of the WLP002.
Has anyone made this recipe with dry yeast?
What was your experience?
How did they do it?
I would appreciate any comment that can take me out of these doubts. Thank you in advance and especially to Marabuzo for the recipe.

 

[ApolloMC]

Fire away with dry yeast! It will be just fine. US-04 would probably be the closest substitute to WLP002. I used WLP004 when I made it. I don't think the yeast has a lot to do with the flavors in this brew. You obviously wouldn't want a Hefe yeast, but anything english or clean will do just fine. Only concern is alcohol tolerance. US-05 and US-04 both are somewhere around 10% or 11% I believe. So keep it under 10 and you're good. Pitch at least 2 packs, if not 3. And grab some CBC-1 if you plan on bottle conditioning. Don't rely on the primary yeast to be healthy after fermentation is complete, especially if you're going to bulk age it a bit.

 

[TestTickle]

I have used S-04 a few times with this recipe, and it never finished where I wanted it to. I tried everything to squeeze out a couple extra points, but was still 10-12 points high on FG. The beer still came out really good, but maybe just a tad sweeter than I had hoped for.

I have a batch aging right now with a blend of US-05 and Danstar Nottingham. I wanted to use Nottingham alone, but only had one pack and this beer needs at least double that. I don’t know if the yeast will really make much difference in the flavor, but we’ll see. If I think of it, I’ll report back with results.

Also, as Apollo suggested, make sure to use some CBC-1 yeast if you are bottling, and even then, give it plenty of time to age and carbonate - like two months or more.

 

[Shenanigans]

If you can get it M42 would be a good dry yeast for this.
Alc. tolerance of 12% and high attenuation and flocculation.

 

[Oldskewl]

I would recommend Nottingham. I just brewed a 12% Barleywine with 2 packs of Nottingham. First time using dry yeast. It did the trick!

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

Hello, thanks for the comments, they are very helpful in making my decision. As they recommend, I plan to make 2 or maybe 3 sachets of yeast and use some nutrient to help her work. I think I'm deciding on the nottingham. I use saf 04 regularly and in some cases I find it difficult to reach a final density. the s05 attenuates more and has a drier finish, but I think I'll try the nottingham, it has had good general comments.
If anyone has any other tip, do not hesitate to comment, thank you very much in advance.

 

[TDirgins]

OK, I'm exhausted after reading this whole thread. Definitely going to give this one a whirl but I still have a few questions regarding first runnings and brewing the second batch from the "spent" grains.

1. My calculator shows a 7 gallon strike and 3.5 gallon sparge for the RIS. Just to be clear: I should sparge for the RIS, correct?

2. I'm left with wet grains in my cooler. How do I know how much water to add to get a second batch?

3. I saw several comments about adding DME to the second batch to bump the gravity, but how would I know how much to add?

4. Any advice on which hops to use on the second batch?

I've been brewing for a few years but never tried something as complex as this. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

I was thinking about it too and I was planning to use part of my first batch so that the beer from my second batch is not so light, since almost everything will be taken by the first. So I planned to make a batch a bit bigger actually at the limit of my equipment capacity. I thought about taking 3/4 part for my first running and leaving 1/4 for the second so that I give more strength to my second running, and that it does not come out so light. But I'm still not decided and I don't know if what I think is right. If there is someone who can guide me, I would appreciate it.