Style Of The Week 7/3/07 - Russian Imperial Stout

[warrenlw63]

Hahaha!! Maybe Mal. :lol:

It always seemed to be the style that showed yeast bite to the max though. I still stand by the fact I reckon the ones on the smaller end of the scale 1.080(ish) were always nicer. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[brettprevans]

If someone has already posted this forgive me.

Grain and Grape has a decent amount of info on RIS (link). They have versions for K&K, Extract and AG.

I like the sound of all of them and am planning on doing the K&K and Extract soon. If nothing else if probably provides a good basis on which HBs can use to make thier own personal tweaks.

 

[Stuster]

Tut, tut, Mr Riggers. I'm surprised that you didn't at the very least reference that the majority of your article was taken verbatim from this Roger Protz article. Using that to write the article is fine in my book, but if you're just going to copy and paste, at least you should say where you got it from rather than suggesting it's your own writing.

You be the judge. From Riggers' article.

Later commercial examples were bottle fermented with live yeast and improved with age. It was 10 percent alcohol by volume and was brewed from pale, amber and black malts with a touch of Pilsner malt. An enormous amount of Target hops, around 24 pounds per barrel, were used. Thats four times the hop rate of a conventional beer. It had an aroma of fresh leather and liquorice, with bitter chocolate in the mouth, and an intense finish packed with bitter dark fruit and hops. There was an oily, tarry note, - the hallmark of the style.

And from the Protz article. :lol:

It will be of little comfort if I tell you what a truly remarkable beer this was. As it was bottle-fermented with live yeast, it improved with age. It was 10 percent alcohol by volume and was brewed from pale, amber and black malts with a touch of Pilsner malt. It is thought that pilsner malt was used from the 19th century--perhaps some European malt came back in the vessels that supplied the Baltic with beer. An enormous amount of Target hops, around 24 pounds per barrel, were used. Thats four times the hop rate of a conventional beer. It had an aroma of fresh leather and licorice, with bitter chocolate in the mouth, and an intense finish packed with bitter dark fruit and hops. There was an oily, tarry note, the hallmark of the style.

 

[warrenlw63]

Tut, tut, Mr Riggers. I'm surprised that you didn't at the very least reference that the majority of your article was taken verbatim from this Roger Protz article. Using that to write the article is fine in my book, but if you're just going to copy and paste, at least you should say where you got it from rather than suggesting it's your own writing.

You be the judge. From Riggers' article.



And from the Protz article. :lol:

Stuster

I've tasted a few of Riggers' Imperials... I can quite definitely say he knows his stuff.

Probably best Imperials I've tried.

I'd just stick with his recipe judgement. Article is probably just a primer to get people on the right track when making one for the first time.

Warren -

 

[Stuster]

I'm sure he knows his recipes, but it appears he knows (or cares) little about copyright. :angry:

 

[warrenlw63]

Probably up to Protz to bang on his door not you Stuster. :lol:

Only looks similar in the history section. Brewing notes are most likely original.

Like most things I guess if it doesn't please you don't read it. Grain and Grape's phone number is there. Perhaps you could ring them and let them know of the oversight.

Warren -

 

[neonmeate]

Like most things I guess if it doesn't please you don't read it.

it's not a matter of like or dislike? a matter of intellectual property.

 

[Darren]

I agree with Warren, that bigger is not necessarily better.

Any bigger than 1.080-1.090 and you will never get it to carb in a bottle (if you wish to)

cheers

Darren

 

[warrenlw63]

Yeah, in part I agree. OTOH it's the internet. You'd go spare trying to catch out every bit of plagiarism going around. :blink:

I guess including footnotes and references would be a good thing. OTOH I wouldn't publicly hammer the perpetrator. Particularly when it involves a site sponsor. I would have notified them quietly.

Plus if it's not one's own intellectual property it merely makes you a sweatshop lawyer.

Warren -

 

[Stuster]

Guess you're right, Warren. Just a bit shocked at the extensive copying he'd done. I've really liked his articles before, and I'm sure he's a good brewer, but that is pretty poor.

Stuart, Stuart and Stuart (Non)solicitors
Want unqualified, unconvincing legal advice for free. See us and we'll give you advice for nothing.

 

[Malnourished]

Any bigger than 1.080-1.090 and you will never get it to carb in a bottle (if you wish to)

What makes you say that? I've never had that problem, though I usually repitch yeast at bottling after prolonged secondaries these days.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Bottled an RIS 4 weeks ago today and decided to open one up and see if it was carbing.
Only the faintests of phsssts and on pouring in a glass no carbonation at all.

Anyone with any experience with this style care to comment on my chances of this carbing up over the next six months or so?
S.G 1.105 F.G 1.024
bottled and primed with 3/4 tsp sugar.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Here's the particulars.

Recipe: Russian Imperial Stout
Brewer: Andrew Clark
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 15.00 L
Boil Size: 22.32 L
Estimated OG: 1.099 SG
Estimated Color: 111.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 99.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 57.00 %
Boil Time: 120 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.75 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (5Grain 74.19 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (2.4 EBC) Grain 6.45 %
0.45 kg Chocolate Malt (Joe White) (550.0 EBC) Grain 5.81 %
0.30 kg Crystal Dark Bairds (260.0 EBC) Grain 3.87 %
0.25 kg Roasted Barley (Thomas Fawcett) (1199.7 EBGrain 3.23 %
25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent pellet [5.10 %] (Dry Hops -
50.00 gm Northern Brewer [7.60 %] (60 min) Hops 50.3 IBU
40.00 gm Northern Brewer [7.60 %] (30 min) Hops 30.9 IBU
14.00 gm Northern Brewer [7.60 %] (15 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
25.00 gm Goldings, East Kent pellet [5.10 %] (15 mHops 8.4 IBU
40.00 gm Goldings, East Kent pellet [5.10 %] (3 miHops 3.4 IBU
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.50 kg Brown Sugar, Dark (99.0 EBC) Sugar 6.45 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Batch Sparge light body
Total Grain Weight: 7.25 kg
----------------------------
Batch Sparge light body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 29.58 L of water at 70.9 C 65.0 C
10 min mash out Heat to 78.0 C over 2 min 78.0 C

 

[Peter Wadey]

Hi Andrew,
I'd expect so, but I'm going to cellar mine for a year before sampling. Bottled just last weekend.
Bit more aggressive with the Roast Barley at 8%. Quite sharp. Maybe make that 2 yrs.

Rgds,
Pete

 

[reviled]

Bump B)

I tried an RIS from a mate which was absolutely devine! Finished at about 1030 and I reckon any lower and it would almost lose the character it had, it sort of melted in the mouth like a nice bar of chocolate... :icon_drool2: Yum!

Also with this style I dont reckon you want much carbonation at all, would be easy enough to keg it, lightly carb then bottle from the keg if youre worried about the poor yeasties not being able to do the job for you...

 

[newguy]

Anyone with any experience with this style care to comment on my chances of this carbing up over the next six months or so?
S.G 1.105 F.G 1.024

With that OG, it's hit & miss whether it will carb up appreciably. That very high OG will inhibit the yeast. I have a divine RIS in the bottle now (a little over a year old) that started @ 1.090 and I forget where it finished. I primed with some DME & bottled and it carbed up just fine. Before that I brewed a 1.107 BW and the damn thing never did carbonate at all. Flat as a pan of piss. I had to pour it all out.

Now I always force carbonate the high gravity beers that I brew to put away for a long time (bottle - lower gravity beers I keg). I rack to a keg, chill, force carbonate, then bottle from the keg. I don't have problems with things not carbing anymore.

One thing you can try is to put the bottles into an esky with an aquarium heater set to ~30C. Put enough water in that the bottles are immersed but their caps aren't. Leave them for 3-4 days then try a bottle to see if the carbonation has improved. Leave them longer if need be. Also be sure to swirl the yeast into suspension before doing this.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I'll take your advice newguy and try the immersion trick, might help to kick start them, I'll leave for another month and check then. If they haven't carbed any more I might try cracking the bottles and dropping a few grains of chamagne yeast or some other high gravity yeast in and resealing.

Andrew

 

[pmolou]

cant wait to make an imperial stout had the red hill RIS last year :icon_drool2: sooo good

 

[Jesse]

My RIS started at 1113 and now has stalled at 1042 for the past week, It was pitched onto a whole yeast cake and went off with a bang got down to 1042 in a week and has sat there ever since. Nottingham was used.

Should I use a champange yeast to get it started or bottle with extra yeast. I am planning on having it in secondary for another 3 weeks

 

[Stuster]

The RIS I did with crozdog a couple of years back started at 1095 and stalled at 1030, also on a yeast cake to start. Chucked more ale yeast at it but to no avail. Ended up bottling it after only a few weeks in secondary and found ourselves with bottle bombs after a while. Not too pretty. I'd definitely recommend leaving it in secondary for much longer than 3 weeks. Especially at this time of year if you don't have temp control. Since you're probably going to want to age this for a while, I'd suggest you leave it in secondary for as long as you can.

 

[Quintrex]

The RIS I did with crozdog a couple of years back started at 1095 and stalled at 1030, also on a yeast cake to start. Chucked more ale yeast at it but to no avail. Ended up bottling it after only a few weeks in secondary and found ourselves with bottle bombs after a while. Not too pretty. I'd definitely recommend leaving it in secondary for much longer than 3 weeks. Especially at this time of year if you don't have temp control. Since you're probably going to want to age this for a while, I'd suggest you leave it in secondary for as long as you can.

Depends how much yeast/autolysis character you want. I left some on the yeastcake and it starts to pick up some hella vegemite character.
If you want to limit this character I'd probably pitch some champagne yeast, if it doesn't budge after a week, then it's probably more a problem with your mash temp or something. So you could bottle it hoping that the carbonation will 'lift' the beer from being so heavy.
maybe other more experienced high grav guys could offer other options.

Q