Nice place you have here!! I am planning a Russian Imperial Stout for my next big brew. It will go into a 5 gallon rye bourbon barrel for the secondary. My hope is for an English Barleywine like approach; malt forward with a complex mix chocolate, coffee, roast, and dark fruit. The body will be thick and rich. Hops will be present, but balanced. My one concern is that most RIS recipes I have seen have little to no caramel malts mixed in. Is it stylistically correct to have some, or am I going down the wrong path?
15 lbs Maris Otter
2 lbs flaked barley
1 lbs chocolate malt
1 lbs roast malt
12 oz English extra dark crystal
6 oz English dark crystal
6 oz Special B
2.5-3 oz of Phoenix hops for bittering
1 oz of Fuggle for aroma and flavor
1 oz of Fuggle for dry hopping?
Mash at 156 and boil for 2 hours.
Wyeast London Ale 1028 yeast
OG of 1.100 at 75% efficiency
Thanks for the advice!
Dan