Smore's Imperial Stout for Review

[mrdail87]

Hey guys,
Been working on and refining this for awhile. Anyone have any suggestions/input before I pull the trigger? It'll be the most expensive recipe I've made yet, so I wanna make sure I'm not gonna screw it up.


Smore's Imperial Stout

Recipe specifics:

Style: Imperial Stout
Batch size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency 60%
OG: 1.078
FG: 1.020
Bitterness (IBU): 62.8
Color (SRM): 51.0
ABV: 7.7%


Grain/Sugars:

15.00 lb Two-row (US), 83.3%
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (British), 5.6%
0.75 lb Extra Special Roast, 4.2%
0.50 lb Crystal 60L, 2.8%
0.50 lb Roasted Barley, 2.8%
0.25 lb Biscuit (Belgian), 1.4%
1.00 lb Graham Crackers (added to mash)


Hops:

1.50 oz Nugget (AA 13.9%, Pellet) 60 min, 62.8 IBU


Yeast:
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast


Misc:
Cocoa Powder, 6oz, boil 10 min
Lactose, 1 lb, boil 10 min
2 Vanilla Beans added to secondary

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

This is for my own ignorance, what are the graham crackers expected to contribute?

 

[mrdail87]

I've read from other people trying the same thing that they do contribute a little graham cracker flavor. Not a whole lot, I'm hoping the biscuit will supplement it some.

 

[mrmedic0]

Any updates on this?

 

[mrdail87]

Any updates on this?

It's currently been in the primary for about a week. Actually uses White Labs and Wyeast's Irish Ale Yeast. (I forgot to make a starter so I just ran out and got another packet).

Mashed for 90 minutes at about 151°F. Got a slightly more efficient mash than previous all-grain batches:
Og: 1.094
Fg (as of 11/28): 1.022
Fermentation temp: 62° F

Will probably give this a few more days in the primary to let the yeast mellow the beer out some more, and then transfer it to the secondary for about 2+ weeks and add those vanilla beans with a week left.

Tasted a sample when doing my gravity reading. Smells like milk chocolate almost, tastes sweet like it should, nice and roasty, malt forward with little hop contribution at all. Definitely will be improved by some good aging.

Still too young to tell how much actual "s'mores" flavor I got out of it yet though. But I can tell it'll be a fine stout either way.

 

[BierGut]

Sounds delicious. Was the lactose and vanilla bean added to simulate the marshmallow portion of the s'more?

 

[mrdail87]

Sounds delicious. Was the lactose and vanilla bean added to simulate the marshmallow portion of the s'more?

Yep. I've heard of people actually using marshmallow for that flavor, but since this is a pretty expensive recipe, I figured it would be best to start off with as many tried and true ingredients first.

Plus marshmallow has fats in it too, which will kill head retention from what I'm told.

 

[mrmedic0]

Awesome. Keep us posted on results. I'm anxious to see how this turns out. Take a picture if you can too. I love me some s'mores

 

[mrdail87]

She just got racked to the secondary to age on vanilla beans for a few weeks.

Sample was super roasty, but still sweet. Definitely taste the chocolate coming though. Graham flavor is very subtle, but I'm alright with that.

Will probably keep it in the secondary for a couple more weeks and then age it in the bottles for another month or two.