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Looking for a knb recipe for a Russian Imperial Stout to put down over the next few weeks. I should have done it 6 months ago and now I could be sitting back enjoying it, rather than it being ready over summer.

Heres my thoughts

Coopers Lager Kit 1.7kg
2.0kg LDME
1.0kg DDME
250g Choc Malt steeped
250g Crystal steeped
30g EKG 30min
30g EKG 15min
10g EKG flameout
Yeast - 2 packs S-04 or maybe recultured CPA

I have read of Roasted Barley being added to stouts, but have never used or tasted it in a brew, is it a worthwhile addition?

Any other suggestions?

Planner

I've got a RIS conditioning in a keg at the moment with a stave of american oak in it.

You need roasted malt in there and a metric shedload of it. The recipe you have will make a brown porter with an OG of 1.071, not even close to a RIS.

I cant convert my RIS to a kit recipe as it uses a lot of brown and amber malt which need to be mashed with a large amount of base malt.

Here's a recipe i made up on the fly.

1 tin Coopers Stout
1 tin Coopers Lager
2kg LDME
1kg dextrose
500g choc malt
500g roasted barley

No need for flavour or aroma hops in this beer, its all about the malt and roast. By using 1 tin of stout and a tin of lager it enables you to get the IBU high enough to balance the OG. In this case, 81 IBU which sounds like a lot but will be happily balanced by that much malt.

Yeast - if using a dry yeast then i would suggest Nottingham as its attenuates well and you dont want too high an FG in this style otherwise it will end up sweet. 2 packets. S-04 might be ok, re-cultured coopers as well.

The easiest way to get enough yeast for this beer is to use an entire yeastcake from a previous beer.

A RIS isn't for drinking a few months down the track, it needs at least 6, if not 12 months before its ready and the rough edges smooth out. I tasted some of mine on the weekend that has been in the bottle for 5 weeks (bottled 6 bottles as i had too much to fit in the keg) and its horrid, very unbalanced and harsh. Exactly what you would expect but i like to see how a beer (or wine) changes in flavour as it ages. The rest of the RIS in the keg wont be bottled for at least another 3-4 months on oak and then be put aside to next winter at the earliest.

For some information about this style of beer have a read of the BJCP guidelines - Link

The local BJCP study group recently did the porter and stout session and tasted 5 or 6 commercial RIS. Amazing beers!

Thanks doc

Got everthing in stock at present except for yeast and roasted barley, which I can get this week. Is the roasted barley steeped as other spec grains? and should I up the water volume seeing as I'll be steeping 1kg?
LHBS has Nottingham in stock, so I'll pick up some this week, otherwise I'll dump onto the CPA yeastcake that currently has your DSGA on it (keen to see what taste this produces).

Looking forward to a winter warmer this time next year. Interesting to see the BJCP guidelines suggest a port taste, next to beer my favourite poison.

Planner

Thanks doc

Got everthing in stock at present except for yeast and roasted barley, which I can get this week. Is the roasted barley steeped as other spec grains? and should I up the water volume seeing as I'll be steeping 1kg?
LHBS has Nottingham in stock, so I'll pick up some this week, otherwise I'll dump onto the CPA yeastcake that currently has your DSGA on it (keen to see what taste this produces).
What volume is your on the fly recipe designed for?

Looking forward to a winter warmer this time next year. Interesting to see the BJCP guidelines suggest a port-like quality for aged versions, next to beer port is my favourite poison.

Planner

Yes, roasted barley can be steeped.

For 1kg of malt to be steeped i would use 3kg of ~65C water (2 parts boiling, 1 part cold). Steep for up to an hour. Drain and then rinse with another 3L of 65C water. Bring that to the boil and boil it for 10-15 mins.

If you have an entire yeastcake of the CPA yeast then i would just use that.

The recipe i made up is for 23L.

Some port flavours will develop over time. I have a barleywine that is now 18 months old and it has a good amount of the port/sherry/dried fruit flavours. As do old bottles of Coopers Vintage.

drsmurto wrote:The recipe i made up is for 23L.

Thanks again Doc. I should have added to my recipe, that it was a 17l batch giving an OG of 1092. I picked up a couple of packets of Nottingham today so I will go with that. Also picked up a couple of bottles of Samuel Smiths (Imperial & Oatmeal) to get me in right frame of mind for brewing stout.

Somehow also managed to come home with a stubbie of Brewdog Tokyo, which I'll take to Dad's on Friday to sample and share.

Planner

drsmurto wrote:Here's a recipe i made up on the fly.

1 tin Coopers Stout
1 tin Coopers Lager
2kg LDME
1kg dextrose
500g choc malt
500g roasted barley

This has been down for 9 days now, so last night I decided to take a SG (early I know, but I was bored and I wanted a taste).
It has dropped from 1100 to 1033 (expecting around 1020 - 1025).
This brew should be stored for quite some time prior to drinking, but that's gunna be tough, I was extremely tempted to draw another tube full for another taste.
I'll leave it alone for another week or two, and then bottle. Already showing great promise, and if it improves with ageing, I'll be very happy.

Aside: I did the steeping inside, rather than the shed where I normally brew. SWMBO was drawn to the kitchen to investigate the coffee smells, and said if I continued with brews like that (ie. no hop boils), I was welcome to brew inside everytime (lucky she didn't see all the black splashes over the kitchen bench and sink from the straining).

drsmurto wrote:A RIS isn't for drinking a few months down the track, it needs at least 6, if not 12 months before its ready and the rough edges smooth out.

Tried a stubbie of this last night after 3 months in the bottle, absolutely wrapt. If it continues to improve, good, if it doesn't smooth out anymore I'll still be very happy. Definately not a session beer, but at 11% you wouldn't want too many anyway. One very surprising feature was the fantastic coffee colored head that poured and lasted all the way to the end, for such a high ABV I expected little head retention.

Gunna really enjoy this next winter sitting around the campfire.

Great news Planner!

My RIS is actually on tap although i do only pour a 1/2 pint every week or so to see how the oak flavour is developing. I really should bottle it to reduce the temptation!

drsmurto wrote:Great news Planner!

My RIS is actually on tap although i do only pour a 1/2 pint every week or so to see how the oak flavour is developing. I really should bottle it to reduce the temptation!

Stop teasing, and give us a report on these taste temptations!

Cheers

Hirns

Still very young and hence still quite unbalanced.

Intensely roasty but that is to be expected with so much roast/choc/brown malt.

The american oak has imparted a nice vanilla note to the aroma, very happy with that as i think it goes well with the coffee/mocha.

I need to bottle it asap as i dont want the oak flavours to take over. Carb is spot (low) on so all i need to do is sanitise some bottles and the CPBF......