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Author Topic: The perfect Imperial Stout  (Read 13000 times)

RPIScotty

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #30 on: March 08, 2016, 10:11:14 am »

Jaggery or Panela is probably going to switched with brown sugar.  I think I like the nutrient benefits it will give the wort, ie potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and calcium.  2 lbs is probably what I am going to stick with, but does anyone know what kind of color contribution it will have?

I don't have a better answer on the color issue than to say it works similarly to specialty malt. A little molasses will add a good amount of brown going into black, much like black malt. The jaggery I've used was fairly light on color and contributed similarly to C30 or 40. The panela I've used has gone somewhere in the C60-80 range. Like malts, the volume you use will also play a factor in how much color contribution it has.

I'd be careful about the panela you find. Mexican panela is usually more refined than some of the South or Central American products (often labeled as piloncillo). I've bought piloncillo that was far less refined that gave beers an unpleasant mineral and metallic flavor.

I just combined two separate bags of Turbinado I had from a few different brews and the color was much different between bags.


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Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #31 on: March 21, 2016, 12:45:31 pm »
I am on to selecting my hops for bittering, and curious how much should be used for aroma if any.  With a 90 min boil my bitters will probably be a full boil or a 90/50, and I was going a 20/10/5 for my aroma. Initial thought anyway.  For bitter I was thinking Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, or Columbus?  ~35-42 IBU
Aroma maybe fuggle, willamette, vanguard, EKG, cascade, crystal, cluster?? ~25-38 IBU

was thinking a total range of 60-85 IBU and trying to get a good balance value.  My current recipe is sitting around BU:GU 0.69 Balance Val 1.69 which seems a little off.  Any ideas anyone is willing to throw at this?
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RPIScotty

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #32 on: March 22, 2016, 10:36:31 am »
I am on to selecting my hops for bittering, and curious how much should be used for aroma if any.  With a 90 min boil my bitters will probably be a full boil or a 90/50, and I was going a 20/10/5 for my aroma. Initial thought anyway.  For bitter I was thinking Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, or Columbus?  ~35-42 IBU
Aroma maybe fuggle, willamette, vanguard, EKG, cascade, crystal, cluster?? ~25-38 IBU

was thinking a total range of 60-85 IBU and trying to get a good balance value.  My current recipe is sitting around BU:GU 0.69 Balance Val 1.69 which seems a little off.  Any ideas anyone is willing to throw at this?

I typically just stick with the BU:GU numbers and "relative bitterness ratio" value that corrects for attenuation:

           
Relative Bitterness Ratio  = BU:GU*(1+(AA-0.7655))

Ultimately it's just a reference but it's pretty useful.

Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #33 on: March 30, 2016, 01:21:38 pm »
As a reference point do you find a difference in your numbers?  I am trying to find a good base number to work from as a recipe development standpoint.
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RPIScotty

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #34 on: March 30, 2016, 06:28:59 pm »
As a reference point do you find a difference in your numbers?  I am trying to find a good base number to work from as a recipe development standpoint.

Not usually. You'd have to stray a fair amount up or down from 76% to really alter the BU:GU that much. I pretty much stick with the standard numbers for BU:GU and target IBUs for a specific beer based on that. Sometimes with the Belgian yeasts you may see a  +0.02-0.03 difference in RBR to BU:GU but it's just a reference anyway.

Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #35 on: April 03, 2016, 01:29:49 pm »
Just finished cooling down my wort on this MASSIVE beer.  I got great results and with batch sparging even.  59% efficiency on this RIS.  The boil went as planned 1.5 hours, and mash was 1hr 40 mins.  My first AG in the books - 1.140 OG on 6.3 gallons of wort! pH 5.6, and this dark-malty water profile.  Hoping for about 74-78% AA with 1450/wlp001 blend roughly 14.7%-15.3% with a FG of 1.024-1.029.  My fear is it wont be ready to drink by the holidays but I will keep it posted.  Pitching in an equally massive slurry. 1.32M/ml/P  Went with some high quality vanilla beans and cacao nibs in the boil.  I am just blown away with the 59% efficiency on my first AG batch with the new set up. Ended up with just shy of 39lbs of grain in my mash tun, and it was a monster to stir.  Super excited.  Thanks for the help everyone.  I am ready to see what I can get going in the future. I did go for the online Indian Jaggery.

 If my recipe ends at 1.023 I will be surprised but I kept it on the low end of 70 IBU just in case it does.  For a balance factor.  I guess I could always dry hop if it finishes in the 30's. Bittered with Warrior, late adds of a blend of cascade/willamette and whirlpooled with the same blend of hops.

Off to the not so fun part, the cleaning.  Thanks for everyone's help and input.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2016, 08:01:20 pm by JJeffers09 »
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RPIScotty

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The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #36 on: April 03, 2016, 06:15:40 pm »
At 78% AA you should expect 1.031 FG.

That's a big beer! Hope all goes well. Aerate the $&@? out of it and you should have a pretty nice winter sipper.

I'm looking to dabble in RIS a bit this year but at a much lower gravity. I'm trying to keep it under 9%.


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« Last Edit: April 03, 2016, 06:19:05 pm by RPIScotty »

Offline 69franx

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #37 on: April 03, 2016, 09:25:24 pm »
As Derek said, aerate the hell out of it, and you should likely give it another 60-90 seconds after 24 hours, as huge beers like that
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Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #38 on: April 04, 2016, 10:56:41 am »
my buddy from the brewery down the road came out late last night to check it out and he brought some pure O2 to put on it for a bit just before I pitched.  I am hoping it goes really well.  As long as my ferm chamber holds up I am pretty sure it is going to be great.  I felt pretty good about the recipe and the results after he checked it out and was impressed.  If he gets giddy over it, Like I DID, makes the effort, time, and $$ into this brew makes it all worth it.  So now I need some fingers crossed for no infections...

Chugging away by 9:00p last night, about 2 hours after O2, and I can not believe how fast and high this krausen got!  I used a blow off tube to a 1 gal sani jar.  The krausen traveled the 3' - 3/4" tube, with 1.8 gal head space.  Planning on a SG in a couple days.  Smells amazing in my chamber though...

Krompus R.I.S. 2016 is in the books!
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Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #39 on: April 04, 2016, 11:09:11 am »
I wish I would have had the scotch for the hot scotchy... coulda woulda shoulda.  Next time...
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RPIScotty

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #40 on: April 04, 2016, 11:12:51 am »
I've got to get a RIS stout recipe together for next year.  Think I'm going to try 75% Pale and Munich, about 15% Roasted and Specialty and 10% Cascade Dark and Nib Syrup.

I'll likely shoot for around 9-10% ABV and use 1450. 


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Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #41 on: April 04, 2016, 11:31:42 am »
I modified final g.bill to this
72% G.P and Otter
5% Brown
3% Flaked Corn
5% Jaggery
4% Crystal
5% Dark Chocolate
5% Blackprinz
1% RB
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Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #42 on: April 05, 2016, 02:41:02 am »
does anyone think that most RIS finish with really high FG due to the wide use of 1968 London ESB?
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RPIScotty

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #43 on: April 05, 2016, 03:11:05 am »
does anyone think that most RIS finish with really high FG due to the wide use of 1968 London ESB?

You're making an assumption that 1968 is widely used.

I don't know that I've ever seen a RIS recipe using 1968. Given the fact that most people make high alcohol RISs,I'd say that 1968 isn't an ideal strain alcohol tolerance wise.

If anything, the higher FG of RIS is likely Due to higher OG, lower attenuation, fermentability of wort, etc. rather than yeast selection.

Offline JJeffers09

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Re: The perfect Imperial Stout
« Reply #44 on: April 07, 2016, 08:29:00 am »
4 days in and 51% down.  1.071 SG, and the aroma from this malty monster is crazy.  I am so impatient I need to start up another brew.  Maybe off to a American Blonde...  since I can't find a good one anymore.
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

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