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

[emac813]

I brewed this on 3/20/21 and fermented it with WLP540 Abbey IV Ale. Today I transferred half of it to a keg with 1oz priming sugar to age for a couple months. The other half was transferred to a secondary to age on a tincture that I made for 3 weeks with 4oz Buffalo Trace and 4 very nice tihitian vanilla beans. I will add 1oz per gallon of a course crushed espresso beans for the last week before bottling (whenever that may be).

OG: 1.083
FG: 1.020
It is still very young, so there was a slight alcohol heat to it, but otherwise I could taste a good balance of roast and chocolate notes. Easy to tell that it will age nicely!

 

[MON5TER]

Bottled mine today after 3 weeks on Voss Kveik.
Has a very strong and rich taste. Almost over powering but also... it tastes like vegemite! I love vegemite and marmite but in a beer, not so sure. And after only 3 weeks in the fermenter at 32C.

Well, it’s bottled now with 1 carb drop per 750ml pet bottle so I will leave at room temp for 3 months and see what happens....

 

[Shenanigans]

Bottled mine today after 3 weeks on Voss Kveik.
Has a very strong and rich taste. Almost over powering but also... it tastes like vegemite! I love vegemite and marmite but in a beer, not so sure. And after only 3 weeks in the fermenter at 32C.

Well, it’s bottled now with 1 carb drop per 750ml pet bottle so I will leave at room temp for 3 months and see what happens....

Cool please don't forget to report back

 

[emac813]

This beer turned out great. Its almost 2 months since brew day and there is a slight astringency from the variety of roasted grains, but it should go away. I aged half of the batch with a Buffalo Trace and tihitian vanilla bean tincture for 4 weeks and then I dropped in 2oz per gallon of coarse crushed espresso beans for 24 hours at room temperature. I bottled the flavored batch today and it's going to be competition worthy.

 

[MON5TER]

Bottled mine today after 3 weeks on Voss Kveik.
Has a very strong and rich taste. Almost over powering but also... it tastes like vegemite! I love vegemite and marmite but in a beer, not so sure. And after only 3 weeks in the fermenter at 32C.

Well, it’s bottled now with 1 carb drop per 750ml pet bottle so I will leave at room temp for 3 months and see what happens....

After nearly 2 months in the bottles there is zero carbonation….
Taste is a bit smoother. Still marmite/vegemite and strong roast flavours. Still overpowering but it has definitely mellowed a bit.
So…. What to do?
1. Down the drain and make a new batch.
2. Get some CBC-1 yeast And add a few grains to each bottle…or
3. Hydrate the yeast. Mix it up and squirt a few ml into each bottle equally to use all the liquid.
3. Tip all the bottles into a bottling bucket, add yeast, mix and rebottle with as little splashing as possible?

Any other suggestions???

Thank you.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

After nearly 2 months in the bottles there is zero carbonation….
Taste is a bit smoother. Still marmite/vegemite

Marmite/vegemite sounds like autolysis - it's the taste of yeast corpses. That coupled with the lack of carbonation sounds like you've killed your yeast.

FWIW Lallemand list their Voss as going up to 12% ABV.

 

[MON5TER]

It’s strange. It fermented ok and dropped out in a temperature controlled fridge at 32c. And only 2 weeks on the trube. The taste was there when I bottled. Can autolysis happen that quickly?

What do you think…. Down the drain and try again?

 

[cmac62]

Okay, I didn't read the whole thread. But I am intrigued. I have a recipe I used a couple of times, but this one sounds really good. I know it won't go as written into my 10.5 Anvil so I'll have to break out the old cooler MT for this brew, can heat the strike and boil in the Anvil, but may do a no sparge and use the 2nds for a swartz beer. This could sit for a long time, will need to bottle this one. I don't want a 11% beer on tap, the keg would last forever, or I'd be hammered every night. Anyway thanks for the recipe, and congrats on a 10 year old thread. LOL..

 

[MON5TER]

Update…. There was 1 bottle that had firmed up and carbonated. I thought it would be an infection and maybe it was but…. I chilled it for a couple of days and it’s…. Delicious! I need to save this batch!

So, 2 weeks ago I put a sprinkle of CBC-1 yeast in each bottle and made sure they were kept at 19 to 20c. There was a little bit of vegemite smell but this has dropped right away and been replaced by cocoa and roast flavours.

Still no carbonation.

When I originally bottled them I added 1 coopers carb drop per 740ml bottle. This is usually perfect for stout. I assumed that as there had been no previous carbonation the sugar would still be there and the CBC-1 would kick off.

should I try again with some more CBC-1 and add a new carb drop?

The single carbed bottle was so good I don’t want to send the rest down the drain!

Any advice would be great fully received. Thank you.

 

[TestTickle]

Update…. There was 1 bottle that had firmed up and carbonated. I thought it would be an infection and maybe it was but…. I chilled it for a couple of days and it’s…. Delicious! I need to save this batch!

So, 2 weeks ago I put a sprinkle of CBC-1 yeast in each bottle and made sure they were kept at 19 to 20c. There was a little bit of vegemite smell but this has dropped right away and been replaced by cocoa and roast flavours.

Still no carbonation.

When I originally bottled them I added 1 coopers carb drop per 740ml bottle. This is usually perfect for stout. I assumed that as there had been no previous carbonation the sugar would still be there and the CBC-1 would kick off.

should I try again with some more CBC-1 and add a new carb drop?

The single carbed bottle was so good I don’t want to send the rest down the drain!

Any advice would be great fully received. Thank you.

My advice would be to give it more time…like a couple of months. I had issues with the first few imperial stouts I brewed. One batch I gave up on and dumped. The second one, I was frustrated and nearly gave up, but decided to hide it away and try to forget about it. It had little to no carbonation and no head at all. A few months later, I chilled one and it was fantastic. Carbonated with a nice head to it.

I have brewed this recipe a few times since, but I gave up on trying to ferment it with S-04. I enjoyed the flavor, but getting that stuff to attenuate is a challenge and adding some CBC-1 was a must. I tried US-05 and Nottingham, but really wasn’t too happy with the character of the beer. I think I added CBC-1 to those as well, I can’t recall.

I finally decided to try Imperial Darkness. It finished within a couple of points of where I expected. I only bulk aged it for a month, and decided to forego the CBC-1 and let it do its thing. I was not disappointed. It was actually carbed after a few weeks, but still needed to age. After about 6 months or so, it was just amazing.

I have a few bottles from that batch left, and I also have brewed a couple batches since (both 2.5 gallon batches…one kegged and one bottled). The kegged batch is long gone, but I still have a few from the bottled batch. So, I have a few bottles from about a year and a half ago and a few bottles from February of this year. The older batch has kind of lost it’s character, though it is still a good beer. The one from February is still going strong…in fact, I took what was left to a family get together just last night. Everyone who tried it loved it.

So in closing, Imperial Darkness rocks, and aging this for a minimum of three months after packaging is crucial IMO.

 

[Shenanigans]

Update…. There was 1 bottle that had firmed up and carbonated. I thought it would be an infection and maybe it was but…. I chilled it for a couple of days and it’s…. Delicious! I need to save this batch!

So, 2 weeks ago I put a sprinkle of CBC-1 yeast in each bottle and made sure they were kept at 19 to 20c. There was a little bit of vegemite smell but this has dropped right away and been replaced by cocoa and roast flavours.

Still no carbonation.

When I originally bottled them I added 1 coopers carb drop per 740ml bottle. This is usually perfect for stout. I assumed that as there had been no previous carbonation the sugar would still be there and the CBC-1 would kick off.

should I try again with some more CBC-1 and add a new carb drop?

The single carbed bottle was so good I don’t want to send the rest down the drain!

Any advice would be great fully received. Thank you.

So what did you do and did it work?

I'm still debating if I should use WLP002 or Voss.
Easier for me to keep something at 32oC with a fermiwrap and jacket than find a month free in my Kegerator to keep the WLP002 under control.

 

[MON5TER]

Well it’s just over a year in the bottle.
After the initial addition of cbc1 the bottle (PET) firmed up a bit but not enough. I left them for a few months.
Then I added a bit more cbc1 and popped in a carb drop. This seemed to work and in 2 weeks the squeezability of the bottles was just right for a stout.
Finally tired one last week after 3 or 4 days in the fridge…..
It’s a winner!!!! Rich, smooth, syrupy, tight lasting head, toasty, coffee and powerful. Gets better the further down the glass you go. First few mouthfuls are a bit overpowering but the journey down the glass is well worth it.

Will I brew this again? Yes! Will I go through the same protracted birth as this batch? I hope not!

A good lesson to me in patience perseverance and to not be afraid to try to save a batch especially when your gut (and nose) tell you it could be worth saving.

 

[taulpondolo]

Still got a case or 2 left of some 18 month old bottles. This beer is incredible. Definitely could beat 90% of stouts in a blind taste

 

[OssianOtt]

Hey, I'm gonna brew a variant of this one in the coming days. Using pilsner malt instead of pale ale malt, another hop for the 60 min addition and two 11g bags of rehydrated s-04 yeast instead of wlp002. The rest is identical.

The yeast in the beer recipe has an attentuation of 63-70%, the yeast I intend to use has attenuation of 74-82%, OG will be 1.105 and intended FG is 1.028, mash temperature is 66°c. if I want the same FG with the yeast I intend to use can I increase the mash temp to generate more non fermentable sugar to make up for the stronger attentuation in the s-04? Anyone with a clue of how much?

I have lutra kveik also which I could use, would it fit the recipe better?

 

[TestTickle]

Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about adjusting the mash temp unless you absolutely don't want to risk going under 1.028. According to the specs I have seen, 1.024 is the lowest S-04 or Lutra will go anyway with that grain bill and OG. You'd be looking at a difference between about 10.5% and 11% ABV.

I personally am not a fan of any Kveik yeast that I have tried, but this recipe tasted pretty good with S-04 from what I recall.

 

[OssianOtt]

Honestly, I wouldn't even worry about adjusting the mash temp unless you absolutely don't want to risk going under 1.028. According to the specs I have seen, 1.024 is the lowest S-04 or Lutra will go anyway with that grain bill and OG. You'd be looking at a difference between about 10.5% and 11% ABV.

I personally am not a fan of any Kveik yeast that I have tried, but this recipe tasted pretty good with S-04 from what I recall.

Thanks! I saw in the pitch rate/yeast starter tool in brewfather it recommended me to pitch about 750 billion cells or 5 bags so now I'm making a 3.4 liter yeast starter for the two yeast packages to hopefully hit that amount. I think I will maybe increase temp 1°c or such.

 

[OssianOtt]

Edit: got it sorted.

 

[OssianOtt]

I brewed 6.6 gallons of this the other day but with s-04, OG 1.090 FG 1.018. I made a two stage yeast starter from 11.5g pack of yeast, first one 1.8 liters next one 3 liters, dont know how many cells I had but probably somewhere north of 500b. The yeast took it down to 1.018 in about 3 days, maybe shy of 4 days, and its been steady since (about 2 weeks now), I managed to control temperature in my fridge, started at 61f ended at about 68f. my DIY copper immersion chiller started to leak a little bit of water into the wort while was cooling it and I had not sanitized the part of the copper where the water was running down into the brew.

Do you think this is infected from the picture? It did not leave any nasty smell when it was fermenting. Seems the original recipe call for 4 weeks in primary FV but I dont see any reason why to keep it that long. I just had a taste, its pretty rough/raw in this stage, not a very pleasant taste. Maybe it should not be at this stage with a brew this big. Could be some off-taste, I'm not really sure.

 

[Shenanigans]

I'm going to brew this on the weekend with WLP007.
Have space in my fermentation chamber to keep the temperature under control.
I'll report back before the end of the year.

 

[Shenanigans]

I'm going to brew this on the weekend with WLP007.
Have space in my fermentation chamber to keep the temperature under control.
I'll report back before the end of the year.

I actually did a bit of a light version, aiming for an OG of 1.090 I brewed 3 other beers on that day as it fitted better into the schedule and available equipment.
Ended up hitting 1.085 and after 18 day's it's down to 1.022 so it's about 8.3% Abv. , which is still an imperial stout
Looks like it's finished as it hasn't changed since I checked it last week and is within the expect attenuation range.
I'm going to bulk age it in a glas carboy and will package it in bottles next month.