Imperial Russian Stout

[bkmad]

G'day,
I've been lurking around here for a while and decided to post my first question. I've been brewing for 9 years and enjoy a good stout at this time of year and I've decided to up the ante and do an imperial stout.
I've been thinking of using the following:
2xBlackrock miners stout cans
0.5kg of dark malt
0.25kg lactose
15L total volume

My main concerns are getting a yeast to ferment all this out. Can anyone recommend a good yeast for such a brew? Also any input/suggestions from anyone who has made such a HG beer would be appreciated.

Thanks
BK

[Merlin]

bkmad,

I've also made an imperial stout using a Blackrock kit as a base. My recipe was:

1x Blackrock Miners Stout kit
1.7kg light malt extract (liquid)
1.0kg dark malt extract (liquid)
800g crystal malt grain (steeped 30min)
200g wheat malt grain (steeped with the crystal)
60g Pride of Ringwood hop pellets (steeped with the grains)
12g Goldings hop pellets (added dry to fermenter)

Total brew volume was 13L, starting gravity was 1092. I used the yeast that came with the Blackrock kit and it fermented out at SG 1036. Then i added a champagne yeast to finish fermentation off, but shouldn't have bothered because the final gravity a week later was 1035.

Mine turned out to be a damn fine beer, its about 8.5% ABV, tastes and smells like licquorice and burns like whiskey on the way down!

Good luck,

Cheers

Merlin

[bkmad]

Merlin,
That looks to be a great recipe and I might pinch some of it. I'll probably still go for the 2 kits, but add the grains as you did - I'm just getting into using grains and loving the results.

Thanks for the tip about the champagne yeast I'll buy some in case I need it.
Cheers
BK

[Oliver]

bkmad,

I'd omit the lactose. The beer is going to be pretty sweet anyway due to all that malt.

The lactose might just make it too sweet.

You could try using a couple of sachets of Safale (it's good to get a lot of yeast into a high-gravity beer like this). And consider a red wine yeast to finish off the fermentation. That's what we did for our No.19 Imperial Stout (Wrist-Thick Stout). See http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/ourhomebrews.html

Cheers,

Oliver

[Brew Nerd]

I brewed 'Black Mambo' this time last year. There's still a couple of bottles at my parent's house, but they're a bit scared to drink them!

It's the only brew I haven't used Saf Yeast for...

1 Can Black Rock Miner's Stout
1500g Dark Malt Extract (dry)
1140g Dextrose
510g Malto Dextrin
15g Willamette Hops
12ml Licorice Extract
1 x Sachet Muntons Gold Premium Yeast

5Lt water, boiled and added Can & fermentables for 5 mins
Then hops for another 5 mins

Then cooled, and made up to 17L in fermenter, add yeast & licorice

Black Mambo was my last brew B4 finding Grain & Grape (and more suble flavours & techniques)...but it still gets a mention by my friends as 'one Mighty Brew'

[bkmad]

Thanks everyone. I'll put it on this weekend - final recipe to be decided. I've got plenty of options now so it will be interesting to see what I decide on in the end!

Cheers
BK

[Oliver]

Brew Nerd,

The Black Mambo is one hell of a beer. Did you take any gravity readings?

Oliver

[Brew Nerd]

Oliver,

Yeah, I did take readings - but I'm not entirely convineced that I stirred fully B4 reading..?
OG = 1114
FG = 1031

There was no lengthy boil, racking or bulk priming - all of which are my staples now. Yet all my friends who consumed got very smiley faces, rosy cheeks, and muttered something like 'that's quite a beer'. Some then wiped their lips with sleeves before the next sip?!

One things for sure - I only once ever had 2 bottles on my own. Felt like all the water molecules had been vacuumed out of my brain the next morning!

Cheers - BN

[Oliver]

Yeah, I did take readings - but I'm not entirely convineced that I stirred fully B4 reading..?
OG = 1114
FG = 1031

Holy crap! Given the OG and FG, I'd reckon they were about right. Amazing. I am in awe!

Cheers,

Oliver

[Dogger Dan]

This is a large beer.

Do you need a spoon?

Love it

Dogger

[Conrad]

Did I do my calculations right to get 10.7% ABV!?!?!

That is one VERY big beer!

[Dogger Dan]

Even allowing for a poor mix and a dud yeast, I would bet 7.5-8

You will be looking through one eye after a few of those in a hurry.

Nice touch

Dogger

[Brew Nerd]

Um...a big beer it was. I shone a torch through the glass, but couldn't see through it. Sometimes I'd get a little worried that the malt would 'fall out' of the beer - like finding a whole bunch of dried Milo powder at the bottom of your glass of milk.

Cheers all....BN

PS - good luck for the weekend's brewing bkmad!

[bkmad]

Ok, I put it on on saturday. In the end I did the 2 blackrock cans, 0.5kg light malt, 0.5kg dextrose, 0.8kg crystal grain and 0.2 wheat grain plus 15g of goldings at the end of the boil. final vol somwhere around 15-16L. The wort came out looking very syrupy so I'm guessing it will be a very big bodied beer. As the sugars ferment will this reduce the syrupyness of the final product - I hope so, because it was very thick looking. Don't get me wrong, I like a big bodied beer, but if it is syrupy it might be too much.

OG was 1103 and I'm expecting FG around 1030 - 1035 so should be around 9 to 10% alcohol.

Cheers
BK

[Oliver]

If you find it too syrupy, you could always use it in a black and tan. Don't adulterate it with lager though. A nice ale (perhaps a dark ale?) would do the job. Just something to take the syrupy edge off.

Oliver

[Brew Nerd]

Hey BK...I found the same thing when using multiple cans - very viscous (I've also cursed as I burnt my fingers siphoning into the fermenter thru a grainbag). BUT magic seems to be afoot inside a fermenter, cause you couldn't tell once it was all over.

Hey Oliver, what's your plan for Black N Tan. Are you talking in the can, or mix once it's pouring time?
PS, Geoff's Grand Ridge Haiku for Black and Tan is the best piece of poetry I've read in a long time!

[Oliver]

Hey Oliver, what's your plan for Black N Tan. Are you talking in the can, or mix once it's pouring time?

I'm suggesting to make it as per the recipe, then taste and mix into a black and tan if deemed necessary.

PS, Geoff's Grand Ridge Haiku for Black and Tan is the best piece of poetry I've read in a long time!

You never know your luck, he might even read your kind praise one day

[thehipone]

Be careful using multiple cans plus extract, especially at the high alcohol levels that you are looking at here. Lots of kits arent very fermentable and you can get some pretty poor attenuation and some grossly sweet beers.