Russian imperial stout questions

[Secla]

I'm planning on a big ris for my next brew and have a few questions as my brews so far have been around the 5-6% this will be more around the 10% mark

I've seen that these go off big when they start fermenting, how much headroom should I allow in the fv to avoid spillage

is there a specific way I should age it, I know it will need keeping for at least 6 months before drinking. Should I keg as normal then just tuck away ? What temp is best for storing ?

Anything else I should know about brewing a ris ?

[Jocky]

A couple of things about brewing 'big beers' in general:
- If you are decreasing your ratio of total water vs grain your mash efficiency will suffer. i.e. If you are doubling the grain weight you normally use you will probably need to double the total water you use to keep the same efficiency, and boil longer to reduce it to the right gravity.
- Pitch looots of yeast. If I'm going to make a 10% beer then I reuse some or even all of a yeast cake from a beer I have just finished fermenting.
- Fermentation temperature management is critical. Keep it on the low side of the yeast's range for 3 days, after that you can let it raise to the higher end.

In terms of fermenter space, use a blow off if you can, but leaving 20% head space in the fermenter has always been good to me.
I will do 3 weeks in the fermenter to let it finish up properly.

If you pitch big, keep it cool at the start of fermentation and give it time to finish then I think you can drink it a couple of months after bottling, but it will definitely peak at about 6 months. Try and keep it cool and stable (18c or below), but mainly avoid long periods of heat.

[micmacmoc]

I made an Imperial a couple of years back, its gorgeous now! It needs tiiiiiiiiiime. though every bottle will be magic the ones you keep longer will, as usual, be the nicest. I even went to the trouble of buying a bigger mash tun just for Imperials. Jockys advice is bang on. Some people advocate some late hopping but when I've tried it its just lost, perhaps I was tooo cautious on quantity.
Its my fave beer to sit and savour. Some chorizo and strong blue or cheddar with it...or even as a desert beer.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

They can be a pain to condition. For best effect, force carb some of the way if you can, and bottle condition with lively yeast for the remaining volumes

[Secla]

I always force carb bit I was going to leave in keg to condition.Would I be better off bottling ?

I'm planning on using dried yeast, I've not got into reusing yeast yet. So should I just double up and use 2 packets for 23l

I sized my mashtun for doing higher gravity bears so hopefully that won't be an issue

[rpt]

Brew a normal strength beer first. When it's finished just save 200ml of the slurry and store in a sanitised container. Use this as the yeast in your RIS. This is exactly how I brewed my RIS with dried yeast.

[Secla]

How long can I keep the slurry ? I never brew particularly regularly, I'm guessing just pour the slurry straight in come yeast pitching time ?

[WalesAles]

Sec,
If you use a blow off tube, still put the FV in a Trug because you could still get a massive overflow.
My Coopers Stout kit brewed to 20lts yesterday has just blown the lid off the FV and made a big mess in the Trug!
Lesson learned, I will change the Trug water tomorrow because it will go bad otherwise, and I mean BAD!
I left the last Stout continue as normal and I was retching at the stink of the water and mould that was in the Trug.
Great Beer though.

WA

Yeh, I know this is the AG Forum, but I am just passing on things that could go wrong. I am only a lowly Kit Brewer still learning my craft.

[Rookie]

I always force carb bit I was going to leave in keg to condition.Would I be better off bottling ?

I'm planning on using dried yeast, I've not got into reusing yeast yet. So should I just double up and use 2 packets for 23l

I sized my mashtun for doing higher gravity bears so hopefully that won't be an issue

At least two.

[Padalac]

I'm planning on a big ris for my next brew and have a few questions as my brews so far have been around the 5-6% this will be more around the 10% mark

I've seen that these go off big when they start fermenting, how much headroom should I allow in the fv to avoid spillage

is there a specific way I should age it, I know it will need keeping for at least 6 months before drinking. Should I keg as normal then just tuck away ? What temp is best for storing ?

Anything else I should know about brewing a ris ?

I made a 10% imperial porter earlier in the year and it tasted great after a week and a half in the bottles. I don't think they NEED time per se. I am keeping a bunch to age for a while though.

Also, IMHO go high IBU. 80+ ibu basically

As said above, use at least 2 11g packs if using dried yeast. I used nottingham which worked out pretty good. Make sure to rehydrate.

[Brewedout]

I have used 2 packets of Nottingham dried yeast, but also used a yeast slope from brewlabs who chose a suitable strain. In each case worked brilliantly. Less risk of infection in this way too, worth considering when you think about the size of the grain bill.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[IPA]

Sec,
If you use a blow off tube, still put the FV in a Trug because you could still get a massive overflow.
My Coopers Stout kit brewed to 20lts yesterday has just blown the lid off the FV and made a big mess in the Trug! .

Once fermentation has started REMOVE the lid and refit it when the ferment slows right down and you wont have this problem

[orlando]

Yeh, I know this is the AG Forum, but I am just passing on things that could go wrong. I am only a lowly Kit Brewer still learning my craft.

I'd rather drink a well crafted kit beer than a lot of AG stuff I've had, including some notable rubbish I've brewed.