Russian Imperial Stout

[Coldspace]

My first RIS I've done I've been happy with results. Started at 1.15. , finished at 1028-29 just under 30. Used 2 x 3 ltr stepped up 1084 starters, and really aerated the **** out of it for 3 mins with a paint stirrer as I was not into oxygen then.

Tastes good out of keg, bottle conditioning 16 tallies with reseeded CBC 1.

Knock out of a drink, going to do it again but diff receipe now I've got oxygen.

 

[fishingbrad]

Is that a recipe for the GF Coldspace ? care to share it ?

 

[skb]

Have any of you used a Barrel to age you RIS, that is my plan but in effect doing primary in carboy and secondary in the Barrel. I have gathered this from lots of looking around on the internet but the information is limited to say the least some appear to say secondary in the Barrel some seem to say age, none seem to say do the whole fermentation in the Barrel ? I am a little surprised that you cannot do primary in the barrel, I assume this is off flavours from sitting on the yeast cake for an extended period.

Sorry for the ramblings but the questions in my head are :

1) Secondary in Barrel is that the right approach
2) Should I potentially go to the Barrel early in the Primary (eg after day 5-7 when still super active but a lot of crap already fallen out
3) Is there another approach ...
4) Any other pointers, I am thinking of putting CO2 in the Barrel as I fill it to minimikse damage to the beer but in reality by aging in the Barrel there will be a level of oxidation I would imagine regardless.


PS thanks for all the help so far.

 

[malt junkie]

The words RIS and Barrel are usually accompanied by the user name Yob. If he doesn't respond here pm is your friend.

 

[drsmurto]

I've been barrel ageing RISssss for a few years. I add a lager yeast to the barrel to chew through a few more points and lager it through the winter. Rack to barrel when primary is done.

No point adding CO2 as a barrel is not air tight. I add potassium metabisulfite as more of an insurance policy. Not enough to protect against brett as the pH is too high for an achievable level of molecular SO2.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Further to the comments on re-starting a stuck ferment above, the late great Dr Paul Monk of the AWRI literally wrote the book on this.

His technique is based on halving and doubling:

Make a new culture of an appropriate yeast in a fermentable medium (sugars predominantly glucose, lots of YAN) and oxygenate the christ out of it.

When this culture gets halfway between OG and LG, add an equal volume of the stuck ferment and measure the blend Present Gravity (PG).

When the blend gets to halfway between PG and LG, double it again.

Keep doing this until the entire stuck ferment is blended in.

A good starter culture volume is 1/32 of the volume of the ferment to be rescued, requiring five* halving and doubling steps. Generally takes about four to five days.

 

[skb]

I've been barrel ageing RISssss for a few years. I add a lager yeast to the barrel to chew through a few more points and lager it through the winter. Rack to barrel when primary is done.

No point adding CO2 as a barrel is not air tight. I add potassium metabisulfite as more of an insurance policy. Not enough to protect against brett as the pH is too high for an achievable level of molecular SO2.

I actually have some potassium metabisulfite do your remember how much you used, by the sounds of it you use less than wine makers use.

 

[dannymars]

I recommend keeping a clean non-barrel portion of the RIS for blending later if the wood character gets too high. Nothing worse than beer that tastes like chewing a door frame!

 

[drsmurto]

I use 50mg/L of PMS.

 

[Coldspace]

Is that a recipe for the GF Coldspace ? care to share it ?

Sure mate, I'll put it up over the weekend when I get a chance..

 

[manticle]

I use 50mg/L of PMS.

Do you often find yourself lashing out at your partner or feeling sad for no discernible reason?

 

[Brewman_]

I've been barrel ageing RISssss for a few years. I add a lager yeast to the barrel to chew through a few more points and lager it through the winter. Rack to barrel when primary is done.

No point adding CO2 as a barrel is not air tight. I add potassium metabisulfite as more of an insurance policy. Not enough to protect against brett as the pH is too high for an achievable level of molecular SO2.

Hi DrSmurto,

I like the sound of that. What final gravity do you achieve? I would think the different yeast would do a range of things including bringing down the FG. Pre barrel and post barrel?

What sort of barrels?

Cheers Steve

 

[drsmurto]

Hi DrSmurto,

I like the sound of that. What final gravity do you achieve? I would think the different yeast would do a range of things including bringing down the FG. Pre barrel and post barrel?

What sort of barrels?

Cheers Steve

I decided on this method after tasting a RIS brewed by a winemaker. Amazing! So smooth but rich and stouty. After talking about it with him i started to understand how brewing and winemaking techniques can be combined.

So the barrel ageing on yeast lees serves a few purposes. Firstly, lager yeasts generally ferment more sugars than ale yeasts. This helps to lower the FG. Secondly you get some of the richness associated with barrel ageing wine on lees. The creaminess of a chardonnay for example. There is also the added bonus of having the extra yeast to help come bottling time. The beer is a collaboration so each brewer takes home their portion and some bottle. The reports are they carbonate well without additional yeast. I keg as i don't have sadomasochistic tendencies.

@manticle - coffee up the nose as a result of your comment! Literal lol.

I normally aim to get the FG down to low 20s, high teens if possible, depending on OG.

The barrels i use are 100L Yalumba 'Octavius' used for Yalumba's top shiraz. I get them high pressure hot washed each year at a winery and when not in use over summer, they contain a sulfite holding solution. So far none have developed any brett or other unwanted organisms.

 

[Coldspace]

Is that a recipe for the GF Coldspace ? care to share it ?

here it is mate, got a few ideas from other receipes, but tweaked it abit for the GF and from some ingredients I had on hand. Its turned out excellent after 2 months in keg, real night capper lol, Ive named it "Russian nuclear stout" lol....

3.5 kg pale malt
3.5 kg pilsner
0.5 kg Brown malt
0.5 kg chocolate malt
0.5 kg roasted barley
0.5 kg oats

= 9 kgs of grains for mash ( max for grain father), into grain father with 23 ltrs of water at 66 for 90 mins.
Mashout at 78 for 20 mins.
Sparge till GF is full to top, about 32 litres
Boil for 30 mins,
hops,
100 grms pride Ringwood 60 mins
Add into boil 1.5 kg of Muscovado sugar , 20 mins to boost grav and add nice flavour.
whirlflock at 15 mins
1.5 tsp yeast nutrient at 10 mins
50 grms of Centennial hops at 10 mins
50 grms of cascade at 5 mins

Optional extra: I did add into a hop spider 200 grms of plain licorich pieces in the last 10 mins. Only the flavour strips off, leaving the jelly in the bottom of the spider. We can taste just a hint in the back ground of the RIS, it seems to suit it but don't add it if you don't want to. This receipe is one I'm going to tweak here and there.

Ferment the 24-25 ltr batch with oxygenated wort and 2 x 2.5 ltr stepped starters of irish ale 1084 at 20 c till final grav. I don't own a 5 ltr flask, so made up 2 x 2.5 ltr ones decanted down to half ltr each, swirled and pitched in.

Keg or bottle with reseaded CBC 1 yeast.



Ive done this receipe once and its now coming out of the 9 ltr keg real nice after 2 months. first few weeks was very strong, but 2 months in its getting really morish, cant help myself surprised a few mates with it last night , gave them a night cap before their lovely understanding wives took them away from me, but they wanted another before going home last night. They prob were asleep before they got home lol after a heap of other beers then RIS to finish the night,lol . They prob wont be allowed back here for abit I'm Going to leave the glass bottles to age for a year, but the plastic bottle I did , has gone hard now so I know the CBC 1 reseeded yeast has worked a treat on carbing this bad boy up.

The Muscovado sugar is a type of brown sugar you get in the supermarket, real nice addition to get the grav up.
My first batch started at 1.115 and finished just shy of 1.03. This was without oxygen just really stiring it up well plus massive pitch of yeast. I think oxygen would help get it down into the 1.020 range which would be good. But I'm still happy with it.
I wouldn't want to drink anything heavier lol, its smooth, strong yet the 11% is hardly there on taste, but it hits hard after 2 glasses. lol

Cheers

 

[skb]

Good news is 10 days on the Fermenter is still bubbling away strongly so my fears my have been unfounded, interested to see how long it lasts I am very keen to get it as low as possible and over 10% ABV. It is a bit like a new born I can't help but keep checking on it, morning and night I think I may have some sort of mental problem.

 

[Brownsworthy]

In Russia the **** f#cks you.