[fredthecat]

I am theorizing about an Imp Stout i plan to do in a bit, and came across this awarded imp stout recipe.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/13th-day-imperial-stout/

this is radically different from the grist i had. 1.6lbs of special b?? really? IBUs arent listed but that looks like ~110 IBU minimum.

so this is a very sweet imp stout with very high bitterness?

i had a distinctly bad beer i made once which was about 8% and had a full lb of special B. i hated it, but it would have been decent without the extreme cloying raisin taste.

does anyone have a highly recommended modern style Imp stout recipe they want to share?

[denny]

"very sweet with high bitterness" seems like an oxymoron

[Steve Ruch]

I am theorizing about an Imp Stout i plan to do in a bit, and came across this awarded imp stout recipe.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/13th-day-imperial-stout/

this is radically different from the grist i had. 1.6lbs of special b?? really? IBUs arent listed but that looks like ~110 IBU minimum.

so this is a very sweet imp stout with very high bitterness?

i had a distinctly bad beer i made once which was about 8% and had a full lb of special B. i hated it, but it would have been decent without the extreme cloying raisin taste.

does anyone have a highly recommended modern style Imp stout recipe they want to share?

Use this recipe without the special b?

[denny]

I am theorizing about an Imp Stout i plan to do in a bit, and came across this awarded imp stout recipe.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/13th-day-imperial-stout/

this is radically different from the grist i had. 1.6lbs of special b?? really? IBUs arent listed but that looks like ~110 IBU minimum.

so this is a very sweet imp stout with very high bitterness?

i had a distinctly bad beer i made once which was about 8% and had a full lb of special B. i hated it, but it would have been decent without the extreme cloying raisin taste.

does anyone have a highly recommended modern style Imp stout recipe they want to share?

Use this recipe without the special b?

Then you'd have to make other adjustments also.  It also has 2.6 lb. of roasted barley and it's for 6.3 gal.  I'd brew it as is.  Between the hops and RB, the Special B will be balanced out.

[ynotbrusum]

Joe Formanek's "Four Tsarinas and Two Tsarovichs" recipe is pretty good - he wins regularly with it:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/four-tsarinas-and-two-tsarovichs-imperial-stout/

Cheers!

[fredthecat]

"very sweet with high bitterness" seems like an oxymoron

that is what i describe a beer that has a high FG (remaining sugars -simplified) and a high IBU.

i can't imagine how that could be confusing?

the alternative for a balanced taste in a high ABV beer would of course be a low FG with lower IBU

Use this recipe without the special b?

the whole recipe seems completely different from what i had planned, and most imp stout brews. but the ones i sourced were from at least 2 or 3 years ago if not more. theyre more in line with restrained use of roasted malts and some crystal added.  a recipe for old rasputin includes less than a lb of roasted malt over 200L and then just an extra 0.5lb of brown malt.

as denny mentioned, 2.6 lb of RB?? huh? even cut down for a 5gallon recipe thats about 2.1 lbs and then more specialty malts from there.

Joe Formanek's "Four Tsarinas and Two Tsarovichs" recipe is pretty good - he wins regularly with it:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/four-tsarinas-and-two-tsarovichs-imperial-stout/

Looks good. It looks heavier on the dark malts than I anticipated using, but I will take this one into account, especially the wheat malt.

I'm also using a small part DME to boost gravity, but i plan on at most 10% ABV

[joe_meadmaker]

I really loved the last stout I did.  More of an imperial chocolate stout.  Here's the recipe:

Golden Promise - 75.7%
Crystal 60 - 8.1%
CARAFA I - 4.1%
Pale Chocolate - 6.8%
Flaked Oats - 5.4% (not sure if these should be included as a percentage in the grain bill, but it's how I wrote it up)

For 5 gallon recipe:

Roasted barley (cold steep and add at the end of the mash) - .5 lb
Lactose (add at end of boil) - 1.125 lb
Invert sugar #4 (add to boil, I only added this because I had it on hand and wanted to use it) - .5 lb
1 oz Magnum - 60 min

White Labs WLP004

Mash - 75 min @ 154 - 155
Boil - 60 min
OG - 1.094
FG - 1.027

After fermentation, steep 2 oz of cacao nibs for 4 days

This stout was really good at the beginning, but got pretty fantastic once it was 2-3 months old.

[Kevin]

Not to dissuade you from making the recipe you found but the best imperial stout I ever made was the original RIS published by Ron Pattinson. This is my version of that recipe adjusted for my equipment profile. https://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/2581876/1848-barclay-perkins-ibst

The second best imperial stout I ever made was the Black is Beautiful IS published by the Homebrewers Association about a year ago... https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/black-is-beautiful-homebrew-recipe/

[fredthecat]

Not to dissuade you from making the recipe you found but the best imperial stout I ever made was the original RIS published by Ron Pattinson. This is my version of that recipe adjusted for my equipment profile. https://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/2581876/1848-barclay-perkins-ibst

The second best imperial stout I ever made was the Black is Beautiful IS published by the Homebrewers Association about a year ago... https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/black-is-beautiful-homebrew-recipe/

i have considered that ron pattinson 19th century style black/brown/amber malt imp stout, but im aiming for a highly hopped US style one that has intense malt flavours going on and also a lot of hop flavour/aroma.

im thinking there are four concepts i could aim at. feel free to correct me or suggest more.

1. "us bourbon barrel style" variety of heavy roasted malts with moderate supporting crystal. high hopping/ibu from american hops. high ABV and oak/whiskey potentially
2. ron pattinson's black/brown/amber mid 1800s imp stout. people who make it swear by it.
3. "very dark black beer" with a ton of layers of less-harsh roasted malts (dehusked carafa/midnight wheat,etc) and very dark crystal malts, maybe less IBU even.
4. "double stout", a dry irish stout but with the ingredients mostly doubled, a really strong normal stout with twice the ABV or more but maybe 1.5x the hops and roasted malt.

i have traumatic experiences about beers with two high an FG/too much crystal so can't do 3. im leaning towards 1 or 4.



also was that 1845 style imp stout really made with 210 IBU?