If you ask people about the style of beer that I’m most known for the answer will be an imperial stout. I have brewed one at least once a year for the past four years. Well this year has been no different. I brewed one in January and now this is my second iteration of Let’s Stout It Out this year. But I am putting a twist to this batch. I have some oak chips soaking in bourbon right now. I normally let my RIS go about 6 weeks in the fermenter. I’ll strain the bourbon off the oak chips and throw them right in, then will sample it every so often to make sure I don’t get too much bourbon character. I’m looking forward to enjoying this beer come Thanksgiving this year.
Recipe Details
| Batch Size |
Boil Time |
IBU |
SRM |
Est. OG |
Est. FG |
ABV |
| 6 gal |
60 min |
58.4 IBUs |
51.6 SRM |
1.092 |
1.027 |
8.6 % |
|
Actuals |
1.092 |
1.01 |
10.9 % |
Style Details
| Name |
Cat. |
OG Range |
FG Range |
IBU |
SRM |
Carb |
ABV |
| Imperial Stout |
13 F |
1.075 - 1.115 |
1.018 - 1.03 |
50 - 90 |
30 - 40 |
1.8 - 2.6 |
8 - 12 % |
Fermentables
| Name |
Amount |
% |
| Pale Malt, Maris Otter |
19 lbs |
80.85 |
| Roasted Barley |
1.5 lbs |
6.38 |
| Special B Malt |
1 lbs |
4.26 |
| Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L |
8 oz |
2.13 |
| Caramunich Malt |
8 oz |
2.13 |
| Chocolate Malt |
8 oz |
2.13 |
| Pale Chocolate |
8 oz |
2.13 |
Hops
| Name |
Amount |
Time |
Use |
Form |
Alpha % |
| Warrior |
1.5 oz |
60 min |
Boil |
Pellet |
15.6 |
Yeast
| Name |
Lab |
Attenuation |
Temperature |
| Edinburgh Ale (WLP028) |
White Labs |
73% |
65°F - 70°F |
| Scottish Ale (1728) |
Wyeast Labs |
71% |
55°F - 75°F |
Mash
| Step |
Temperature |
Time |
| Mash In |
155°F |
60 min |
Notes
Longview Water Profile - Straight from the faucet through a carbon filter
Batched sparged at 170 degrees.
Brew day at my house with Ron. He brought his equipment and brewed a Lemon Lime Wit that day. This was my second brew for the Labor Day weekend. |
I missed my numbers pretty badly with this beer. My SG should have been in the 1.085 range and I believe I was hovering around 1.075. My volumes were more like 7.75 gallons than 7.25. I boiled it hard for an extra 30 minutes or so to get my SG. That is when I put the hops in. I may have been a bit under my 5.5 gallons into the fermenter, but that is just fine.
Yes, I used two different yeast companies. I knew I wanted to brew this beer and I went to a LHBS and he did not have another vial of WLP028 so I bought the Wyeast smack pack off of him. 2000 mL starter for 3 days, cold crashed and then another 2000 mL wort on top of it. I had a nice healthy pitch for this beer. As you can see from the looks of my messy fermentation chamber. It blew the little white cap off of the carboy cap and I have beer in the bottom of the fermentation chamber. I just cleaned up the chamber from an exploding hefe. Yes, blow off tubes need to be use, but this is less than 5.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon carboy, surely I had enough head space. No sir! I have brewed this beer 6 or 7 times and I have never had a blow up like this. First time for everything I suppose.
9/27/2015 – Soaked 4 ounces of medium toast oak chips in bourbon for 3 weeks. Added everything that was in the mason jar to the fermenter.
