Russian Imperial Stout

[ohitsbrad]

The Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout and Left Hand Imperial Stout I drank recently were unreal. Now I have to try and brew one. Was just going to dive in with the grain bill from Brewing Classic Styles since I know no better. But I guess what I want to ask about is hops. Can I help clean out my hop freezer with this beer? Left Hand use Magnum and Goldings. Great Divide seemed to definitely have a fair amount citrusy, piney US hops in the flavour and aroma. It was almost like a big black roasty IPA.

So. I have leftover Challenger, enough for bittering.

Then small amounts of leftover Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook, Target and East Kent Goldings.

Any thoughts on how these will all go together? I want an imperial stout with hop flavour and aroma, not just bitterness. But will it be too muddy with so many varieties?

Would like to use dry yeast so I don't have to make a big starter. US-05 or Nottingham (if its available at TWOC). Any thoughts either way? I've never used Nottingham.

Here is the recipe:
19L batch (constrained by mash tun size)
60min boil
70% efficiency
OG 1098
90 IBU (Rager formula)
60 SRM

83% Bairds maris otter
6.5% Barret Burston roast barley
4.5% Weyermann caraaroma
2% Bairds chocolate
2% Bairds pale chocolate
2% Weyermann caramunich III

Mash at 68deg

60min:
67g Challenger (76 IBU)
10min:
15g Simcoe (5 IBU)
15g Centennial (4 IBU)
10g Target (2.5 IBU)
20g East Kent Goldings (2.5 IBU)
0min:
15g Target
25g Chinook
25g Simcoe

Ferment at 19deg

Tell me what you think.

 

[6470zzy]

I would leave out the Target and the East Kent, go with a longer boil (say 90 minutes) and I would use S-33 for my yeast. I think that it does a rather better job in a stout. I also like to use some biscuit malt in a stout as well. Well then that's my penny into the mix. Enjoy the brew-day.

Cheers

6470zzy

 

[Insight]

I brewed this recipe just last month with two 12g packets of US05. El grande sludge at the bottom of the fermenter, but the resulting beer turned out fantastic. Now to see if it lasts the requisite 6-12 months it should age in the bottles!

I also took the opportunity to clear out the freezer of old hops, though all of mine were fairly low alpha - Tettnang and Pacific Hallertau. Others may know better, but I would tend to stay with the EKG for flavour & aroma, but your bittering addition could be almost anything clean & neutral.

 

[sinkas]

Simcoe,
Amarillo
Centennial

the last 2 also used at the end,

You also want some black patent, melanoidin and rye malt in this, if you wnat my rexcipe, which actually tasted quite close, I cna send you the rec file.
,

 

[ohitsbrad]

Insight, how many grams of hops near the end of the boil did you use for what size batch? Would you say to stick with EKG because you don't like the hop taste of yours or because you just think it would be more appropriate? Or is it way too early to even tell?

sinkas, do you mean your recipe tasted quite close to the Great Divide imperial stout? Do I need the black patent with that quantity of roasted barley already?

6470zzy, I spose I thought maris otter would give enough biscuit flavour. Why S-33? I found a Fermentis powerpoint document for S-33 that suggests attenuation of only 70%. Which could leave me at FG 1.030. Boil time will be more like a total of 75mins to account for adding hops after the hot break. Why specifically a longer boil?

Thanks guys.

 

[beerguide]

Sinkas, if you do mean close to the Great Divide can you share your recipe with me also if you don't mind?

 

[sinkas]

CS YETI CloneA

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 30.00 Wort Size (L): 30.00
Total Grain (kg): 12.76
Anticipated OG: 1.095 Plato: 22.63
Anticipated SRM: 69.4
Anticipated IBU: 70.9
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 120 Minutes

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
68.0 8.67 kg. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
10.3 1.31 kg. JWM Amber Malt Australia 1.038 23
5.1 0.65 kg. Weyermann Caraaroma Germany 1.034 178
3.8 0.49 kg. JWM Chocolate Malt Australia 1.032 381
2.6 0.33 kg. Black Patent Malt Great Britain 1.027 525
2.6 0.33 kg. JWM Roast Barley Australia 1.036 711
2.6 0.33 kg. JWM Wheat Malt Australia 1.040 2
2.6 0.33 kg. Rye Malt America 1.030 4
2.6 0.33 kg. Weyermann Carafa Special III Germany 1.035 660

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
41.11 g. Simcoe Pellet 11.90 43.8 60 min.
41.11 g. Amarillo Gold Pellet 10.00 18.8 30 min.
21.63 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 5.1 15 min.
21.63 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 3.2 5 min.


Yeast
-----

 

[brendanos]

I think that grist looks pretty awesome as is!

 

[joecast]

hmm that rye sounds interesting. wouldn't mind trying that in a stout. looks good.
joe

 

[ohitsbrad]

What about the hops Brendan?

 

[brendanos]

It's a RIS, man! All that Simcoe, Chinook, EKG etc looks great as late additions, though they'll only be apparant for the first few months. If you want a specific hop character, keep it simple, but if you're just after complexity and balance etc use whatever you've got/want to get rid of. Again, it's a RIS, no hops would be out of place or overwhelming. Personally I'd add more bittering hops, as you'll have a lower bittering efficiency due to the gravity of the boil, and it's at least one permanent hop aspect in a beer that you might want to age, but whether you opt for the higher or lower end of bitterness depends on the choice of yeast strain and how well it's going to attenuate.

 

[ohitsbrad]

Thanks. I think I was secretly looking for confirmation that the recipe will be OK. I'll probably end up using a couple of packets of faithful US-05, and adjust bitterness accordingly. I wonder how old the Yeti imperial stout was then and how long they age it before distribution. Because it seemed to have significant hop flavour and aroma. Maybe they age it then dry hop it before bottling.

Oh and I emailed them and they declined to give any information at all about the recipe. Is it possible that some breweries keep their recipes secret because they copied them from someone else? Otherwise why not give out information? Post ingredients on their websites and help people to learn about beer.

 

[brendanos]

I guess I was being a bit zealous writing off late additions in a RIS. They'll last a while, but IMO large aroma additions are a bit of a waste of hops, though if fiscal concerns aren't an issue hop the hell out of it!

 

[ohitsbrad]

Basically brewed it as was. Moved a small amount of hops back to 60min. OG came out at 1.093 rather than 1.098, but I wasnt too disappointed seeing as it was the first big beer I've attempted. What could I expect trying to batch sparge with only 8L of water in nearly 9kg of grain. Tasting the hydrometer sample was overwhelming. The extremes of sweetness and bitterness at the same time. Hop aroma is excellent actually. Won't be saving it all for a year down the track!

 

[brendanos]

I'll be interested to know in a few weeks how low it gets, and I look forward to trying it in a few months. What's the hop character like?