Pages: 1
Imperial Stout, recipe advice?
So, I've had silent carboys for a while now, and am finally in a position to start making more again (and have a second keg to do it in!). I really want to try out an imperial Stout, of the Deschutes Abyss nature.
I know that that particular recipe is pretty tough to recreate, but does anyone on this lovely board have experience making well balanced ~10% stout monsters? Even more rediculous, how would one without the capacity to do a proper partial mash or even a full boil go about even attempting one?
I'd like to throw down my vanilla porter for short term, and get an imperial stout fired up for christmas time.
Any and all help/comments would be appreciated!
I like something like a pound of Carafa and a pound of Roast Barley with all the rest base malt. So that would make the black malts your steeping grains and then use the lightest extract available. I also use one or two pounds of corn sugar for enhanced fermentability. Shoot for an OG around 1.090-1.100.
I bitter with Columbus because I have it around and it has a lot of alpha acids. I go for the lower-middle of the style range for IBU.
Finally, US-05 does a great job with this sort of beer. Great attenuation and alcohol tolerance. Two packs should be good. Or even better - use a bunch of yeast from the porter.
Hope that helps.
I second the comments on using yeast form the porter. Plan your brew days carefully and then reusing yeast from one beer will eliminate any concerns about fermentation issues with the second beer.
Then you can just focus on the recipe and the brewing for the impy stout.
I like a little chocolate malt in there along with Brainards' suggestions for a recipe start. Maybe quarter to a third with his suggestions.
I load my stouts with dark malts. I think my imperial stout recipe has over 2 lbs of Choclate, Roasted Barley, and Black Patent with most of it being RB. I also add a little bit of crystal malt in there. I find that its a bit intense for a few months but really comes together with some time.
I bitter with Magnum for the high AA% and clean bittering. I also like to end with a high FG for a ton of body.
So, if I'm looking for balance with the malt/hops, but not much apparent "Bitter", is .7-.8 a good Bitterness Ratio?
I was thinking doing 1oz. Nugget @ 60, 1/2oz Magnum @30, and 1oz Willamette @ 15.
I've gone with ~.9 BU/GU; usually about 80-82 IBUs. I think its balanced but I also have a high threshold for bitterness. The beer fairs well in competitions but the judges do mention its a little too bitter.
I prefer a bitter only addition.
I have a 1 month old RIS (1.090 with 55 IBU) and I think that's a good bitterness level. Right now it's at 1.020. I used a combo of corn sugar and brown sugar to bring down the FG.
I used smoked cherry malt as part of my base malt and next time I would use a little more crystal, it could use a little sweetness to balance the smoke.
I put it in the back of my cellar so I would forget about it for a few months. The sample I had last night was good though.
All right, so I fired this guy up today. The bill was as follows:
SG: 1.110
FG: 1.026 (est)
ABV: 11.06% (est)
IBU: 56
3 Lb Light Dry extract
7 Lb Light Liquid Extract
16 oz Crystal 160
16 oz Chocolate Malt
12 oz Roasted Barley
2 Lb Corn Sugar
1 Lb Brown Sugar
1 oz Magnum @ 60
.5 oz Fuggles @ 60
1 Brewer's Licorice Stick @15
3 oz Bourbon Soaked Oak (for secondary, 7 days)
Safale-05 (pitched on a porter yeast cake)
Steep grains, Dry extract and hops in for boil. @15 minutes, I put in the remaining sugars and the licorice stick. Pitched atop a healthy cake from my Vanilla Porter, and 3 hours later there is about 1/4 inch of yeast at the bottom of my blowoff bucket. This kid is moving.
As an aside, the odd hops was older stuff I needed to use that brought the IBU in line with what I wanted. I'll let you guys know how it moves along over the next week.
Well RC. How did it go?
I'll let you know on Friday when it goes onto oak. All signs good so far, though.
Ok. Got it transferred over today. It tastes marvelous!
It showed a 1.043 gravity, but it also had such a vigorous fermentation that it has a pile of CO2 suspended in it. I could actually see it bubbling like a pint when I moved it, it tastes noticeably carbonated, and it developed a legitimate 1/4" head when I racked it to secondary. Additionally, it tastes boozy, so there is no way it is only 8%.
I'll recheck gravity in a week before it goes into keg.
Anyhow; I suspect that the above recipe will wind up being fantastic.
Why the transfer after only 5 days? Or am I missing something?
6 days. I put it atop the cake from another batch, so it was fermenting violently for the first 3 days, and it has been 2 days with no visible activity so I figured it was safe to transfer over.
Pages: 1
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|