First Brew (imperial Stout) Experiences

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Mr Flibbles

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I created an Imperial Stout based off Coopers' website, and the recipe calls for:

1 x Coopers Stout

1 x Coopers Dark Ale

1 x Lager

1kg dextrose

Fermented at 22 degrees or so with the kit yeast, targeting 18 degrees over the last couple of days. Its Day 7 and after an OG of 1.090 its now at 1.032. Still has some way to go. The taste is interesting. Its what you would get with Coopers' Vintage + an English barleywine + a splash of Coopers' Dark Ale mixed up. Not much roast yet, but some malt and the mouthfeel is great - thick and syrupy. Good whack of alcohol too that warms and slightly burns on the way down. Still uncertain if I'll be brewing this again, maybe with three cans of stout instead.
 
I created an Imperial Stout based off Coopers' website, and the recipe calls for:

1 x Coopers Stout

1 x Coopers Dark Ale

1 x Lager

1kg dextrose

Fermented at 22 degrees or so with the kit yeast, targeting 18 degrees over the last couple of days. Its Day 7 and after an OG of 1.090 its now at 1.032. Still has some way to go. The taste is interesting. Its what you would get with Coopers' Vintage + an English barleywine + a splash of Coopers' Dark Ale mixed up. Not much roast yet, but some malt and the mouthfeel is great - thick and syrupy. Good whack of alcohol too that warms and slightly burns on the way down. Still uncertain if I'll be brewing this again, maybe with three cans of stout instead.
Something to put away for the cold depths of winter, Flibbles.
 
Some, but I drink stout day in, day out. No matter what temperature it is.
 
Since you mention taste and a gravity of 1032 I assume you've tasted the hydometer sample.


Here's my tongue in cheek translator of hydrometer tastes:

If hydrometer sample tastes - like it will kill you - the beer on 2 months will be - barely drinkable
- bloody terrible - pretty good
- like commercial beer - bloody marvellous
- like passably good home brew - absolutely superb
- quite good - a show winner


Get the picture, your brew will improve dramatically in it's first 2 months in the bottle, and then continue to slowly improve for many months after that. So don't despair an ordinary tasting hydro sample, the best is yet to appear.
 
I'd say its very good on that scale. The fruitiness is a bit strange though. Its slightly turning into a malty taste now. I certainly will stash at least half of the brew for a few months.
 
I created an Imperial Stout based off Coopers' website, and the recipe calls for:

1 x Coopers Stout

1 x Coopers Dark Ale

1 x Lager

1kg dextrose

Fermented at 22 degrees or so with the kit yeast, targeting 18 degrees over the last couple of days. Its Day 7 and after an OG of 1.090 its now at 1.032. Still has some way to go. The taste is interesting. Its what you would get with Coopers' Vintage + an English barleywine + a splash of Coopers' Dark Ale mixed up. Not much roast yet, but some malt and the mouthfeel is great - thick and syrupy. Good whack of alcohol too that warms and slightly burns on the way down. Still uncertain if I'll be brewing this again, maybe with three cans of stout instead.

Wasn't it you who posted a week or two ago about aging said beer in bottles and I replied that it needs to age for months if not years.... good to see you listened! <_<
 
Yes that was me, I'll leave half for 3 or 4 months while I brew an export stout in the meantime. I hope the fruitiness will mellow.
 
Its Day #9, the SG is 1.017 (OG was 1.090), I had to give the hydrometer a spin, it was reading around 1.026, must have had some air in it. The fruitiness has mellowed into the background and the main taste is an alcoholic slap of roasted malt. Precisely what I wanted. Its thick and syrupy. Now this is a stouty stout! ABV is currently 9.8%.
 
You're making me jealous. It's only day 9, wait until day 60.

My take on ageing is that you get a real increase in quality in the first 2 months, then it levels off a lot and further improvements are slow. Refer back to my chart, if it's even half nice at bottling it will be awesome in 3 months.

Having said that I cracked my first few Dr Smurtos Golden Ale bottles after just 3 weeks in the bottle as I couldn't wait any longer. But nearly every brew I make I drink the last bottle and ask myself why I didn't lay it all down for that long.
 
I've got an Imperial Stout fermenting away at the moment too.
It was an all grain recipe that was similar to Jamil Z's Imperial Stout + a few cans of goop to bump it up to a double batch.

I was wondering how you are going about bottling this bad boy?

I am hesitant to naturally carb it in the bottle for fear of over or under carbing it as it will be aging in glass for a very long time... Bottle bombs are not pretty and I am aware of how good Wyeast 1056 is at continuing to eat everything just when you think it is done.
Is it worth force carbing it then bottling?

EDIT: OG was 1.100, expected FG is around 1.024, 10.3% ABV.
1056 has a tolerance of 11% ABV so there is still a bit of headway for it to carb before being overwhelmed with alcohol.
 
I'll be bottling with one carbonation drop for this batch, as I prefer stout to be mildy carbonated, not fizzy macro piss, and an RIS doesn't need too much carbonation. I'll definitely store most of the batch somewhere safe for a few months, even though I'll be using PET bottles for this batch (and Coopers does say they can be good for 18 months with that nylon coating). In the meantime, I'll brew up a standard export stout (around 7% abv) and look into adjusting this RIS recipe with grains and a different yeast, possibly WLP013 or WLP002. The stock coopers recipe isn't very stouty, more of a strong ale or barleywine mixed with stout that is beginning to mellow and sharpen. Mmmm, stout.
 
I wouldnt use the plastic bottles.. I found they would loose carb after 12 months.. not what you need for a RIS...
 
I've got a PET bottle where the contents oxidised over about 4 years. It tasted like a mixture of dog poo and VB.

These Coopers PET bottles DO leak oxygen in, but very, very slowly. I wouldn't be putting a stout in PET as you might keep some a long time. Last year a fellow brewer found a 10 year old glass bottle of Coopers Stout and we drank it fine, still carbonated and not oxidised.
 
PET bottles aren't designed for long-term storage. The plastic is porous and is permeable to oxygen (lets oxygen in) through the plastic itself over an extended period of time. So if you're going to cellar long-term, you definitely need to use glass.
 
This time of year is a good time for gathering champagne bottles for special brews like these.
You need to get a new capper end & the caps are pricier, but they do look great.
 
I would be using glass but I have nothing on hand and I won't be traveling out west to a home brew supplier for this batch.
 
I've got a PET bottle where the contents oxidised over about 4 years. It tasted like a mixture of dog poo and VB.

These Coopers PET bottles DO leak oxygen in, but very, very slowly. I wouldn't be putting a stout in PET as you might keep some a long time. Last year a fellow brewer found a 10 year old glass bottle of Coopers Stout and we drank it fine, still carbonated and not oxidised.

What a terrible waste of perfectly good dog poo.

Not only do PET bottles let the O2 in, they let the CO2 out.
 
Its bottled. Final abv is 10.2% or so accounting for the sugar drops I put in.
 
Tasted the first bottle. No head, thick, oily, very small amount of carbonation, tastes like a fruit pudding soaked in alcohol with a slight amount of roast. Will leave the rest alone for quite a while yet.
 
Tasted the first bottle. No head, thick, oily, very small amount of carbonation, tastes like a fruit pudding soaked in alcohol with a slight amount of roast. Will leave the rest alone for quite a while yet.

Any update on the taste of this, I'm a great fan of RIS and if it tastes good I'm sure looking forward to brewing it myself.
 
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