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

[tiprya]

Ok cheers RdeVjun, that's probably a good idea for my first attempt, bottle after 4 weeks and let it age knowing I have enough yeast to carbonate.

Bulk aging is supposed to have some benefits but given it tastes great at the moment and has hit FG, I think bottling will ensure I will have something great in another 6 months.

 

[drsmurto]

My current RIS spent 12 months in a keg before bottling, bulk aging is easy if you have kegs, just give them a light carbonation and put them away for as long as you can wait. Great for adding oak to beer - the RIS had a stave of new american oak in it for that time.

Planning on repeating this with some french oak i have and doing somehting similar with an english barleywine.

 

[Mikedub]

as i posted earlier, i've added extra yeast (high grav s33) racked and added nutrient, although the IBUs are around 95, 1.030 is still bit cloying, maybe because half the grain bill is extract?
if i dont see any more attenuation over the next few weeks, what do you reckon, should I play the last card, i.e, wine yeast?

 

[stef]

Just dragging up an old thread.

Perhaps an odd time of the year for it, but i'm planning a RIS at some stage soon- put it away over summer ready for next winter.

My question is, if i add yeast (if necessary) at bottling time, and bulk prime for low carb, will the bottles eventually overcarb if they are left too long?

I dont even have a recipe yet, but if a big beer finishes around 1020 or thereabouts, is there a chance it will begin to ferment again in the bottle? Obviously by leaving in primary/secondary for a long time i'd try to have it fully fermented out, but guess you'd be screwed if it dropped another couple of points whilst in the bottle over 6 months...

 

[Yob]

My current RIS spent 12 months in a keg before bottling, bulk aging is easy if you have kegs, just give them a light carbonation and put them away for as long as you can wait. Great for adding oak to beer - the RIS had a stave of new american oak in it for that time.

Planning on repeating this with some french oak i have and doing somehting similar with an english barleywine.

planning on doing something like this myself..

Mardoo and I brewed a RIS today and it came out at 1.115, Id like to keg mine and Oak it, Ive got chips but I think I'd like to roast them, while looking for info I came across this, hadnt seen it before so thought Id share,



from >HERE<

anyone know of a guide as to how much to use x how long? had a bit of a search but couldnt turn anything up.

ed: some extra info >HERE< as well.

ed: ed: Rekon Im gunna go with a 200'c roast for a few hours and then soak in Drambuie for a few weeks, hit it for a month and age.

 

[TheWiggman]

Whichever way you go Yob your description is making me salivate. Going to have to make an RIS this year and store for the ages.

 

[Yob]

It's down to 1.060 today, pulled some high gravity yeast out of the freezer, will get that started in the morning and step up for pitching Thursday/Friday... Then I can REALLY start to play with additions.

 

[primusbrew]

It's down to 1.060 today, pulled some high gravity yeast out of the freezer, will get that started in the morning and step up for pitching Thursday/Friday... Then I can REALLY start to play with additions.

An oaked RIS sounds excellent. Any chance you could share the recipe?

So you pitched some yeast into this at 1.115 and are now going to pitch a different strain on top of that? What is the thinking there?

 

[Danwood]

Sounds good, J.

I fermented mine with a 4:1 blend of wyeast 007 and 099.

I bottled the 1st PET test bottle a couple weeks ago... and the bottle feels nicely pressurised now

I wasn't sure how effective the yeast would be after months in the keg whilst oaking and having cherry additions at various times... especially in the 11ish % alcohol environment.

But, everything seems fine and I'm looking forward to trying it after the additions.

 

[Yob]

An oaked RIS sounds excellent. Any chance you could share the recipe?
So you pitched some yeast into this at 1.115 and are now going to pitch a different strain on top of that? What is the thinking there?

It's a historical recipe, mardoo may be able to provide the link easier than I.. But..

When pushing above %10 it's a good idea to have a high gravity yeast to be able to tolerate the environment it's in.

Hence the 099 for the hard yards, I get the profile I'm after from the T58 but the 099 is for the additional fermentables and carbing if and when I want to bottle

 

[MartinOC]

Yob, did you re-oxygenate after about 24 hours? Might not need the 099.

 

[Yob]

Went to.. But was already with a krausen so let it be..

The stock brew is at about %13 so will add the 099 starter anyway, can't hurt it.

 

[Mardoo]

Here's the link for the recipe Yob and I just brewed. As it would have been aged in barrel, oak would of course have been part of the package, although it's not included in the recipe.

 

[Yob]

For me, the most alien part was adding grain to the kettle

 

[MartinOC]

How big was the volume? If you want to tie-up a keg for a long period, I've got plenty available & can leave it in a corner of my (now insulated) shed for a Looooong while to keep it away from temptation....?

Promise NOT to touch it....

 

[Yob]

Though I think you a hero for offering... I think I can find a place in the cellar for it.. Besides... I will need to put in and pull out the oak at various stages

Ed: I should add, this one is by far at the most seriously extreme end of brewing I've ever attempted (within style) and big ups to mardoo for bringing the game plan..

 

[MartinOC]

big ups to mardoo for bringing the game plan..

That man should be knighted, or given a GPS for finding his way in the dark.. h34r:

 

[Mr. No-Tip]

Yob, did you re-oxygenate after about 24 hours? Might not need the 099.

Hmm I did my annual RIS and EBW over the weekend and just plum forgot this strategy. They were both 1.090 OG though and had started very hard by 12 hours, so hopefully all good.

 

[TheWiggman]

What's purpose of adding the grain to the kettle, and how much of what? I can't see it in the link Mardoo provided.

 

[Mardoo]

Yeah, it's not in the recipe. It's something I dug up in a couple of the other threads on Ron Pattinson's site, which was also confirmed by a couple threads on HomeBrewTalk.com. The notion is that when using black/patent malt (not roasted barley) in stouts and the like, adding 10% of the total amount of the black malt to the kettle as whole malt helps bring out more very dark, raisiny flavors. This is an old technique, which makes sense because it is an historic brewing site.

Doing that was more of a, "what the **** let's try it" than out of certainty or experience. Apparently it's there historically as something that was regularly done by certain brewers. I'd love to say we'll let you know how it goes, but without a control batch that didn't use the whole malt in the kettle it'll be impossible to tell. But damn did that ugly looking kettle smell goooooood, and very, very complex. I've never smelled such a huge range of scents coming from a kettle.