Russian Imperial Stout (Brew Day)

[DC]

Hi all, after contemplating making a Russian Imperial Stout for a while now and searching through endless recipes I decided on the recipe below and that Sunday gone was the day to finally brew my RIS.

It’s a scaled down version of John Smiths Tadcaster Russian Imperial Stout

10L Batch

PALE MALT 3000g
AMBER MALT 1000g
BLACK MALT 150g

DARK BROWN SUGAR 500g added during the boil

Boil time 1 hour 15 minutes

27.7g Challenger Hops (That’s all I had left)

WHITE LABS Super High Gravity WLP099

Compulsory grain shot


With strike water at 85° I doughed in and after the usual stir to break up the clumps of malt the temperature was bang on.


Topped up with a meagre 1.8L after the usual 90 minute mash and the smell was incredible


Another 15 mins resting after another good stir and the first running’s where ready to go, it was really dark and looked like engine oil and smelled fantastic.


After the 2nd runnings were ready it was off to the garage to boil a pitiful looking 15.3L in my now huge looking boiler. I decided to go Alfresco once again as the weather was so nice and to stop the garage filling with steam


Only boiled for 1 hour 15 mins as I was worried I wasn’t going to hit my final brew length of 10 litres.

15 mins from time and the IC and Irish moss go in, it’s going to take some time to cool this as the wort only covers half the IC. Nothing that a piece of scrap wood wedged under the boiler won’t fix.


All cooled and now the moment of truth the OG shot, it came out at 1094 at 20°C


A quick stir and in goes the WHITE LABS Super High Gravity WLP099, I didn’t make a starter with this (which I probably should have) but we will see how she goes.


Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out as I have been after making a RIS for quite a while now !

Cheers DC

[booldawg]

I saw that hydrometer pic and went 'whoooooooo'

[DC]

Hi all, Just thought I would post a quick update on my RIS it's just about fermented out and tested the gravity today and its down to 1014 from 1094. Should hopefully be ready to bottle by Sunday, going to sample trial jar 200ml later to get a 1st impression of my RIS.

Works out at around 10.4%


Cheers DC

[far9410]

Fantastic, how long are you going to try to keep it before supping?

[orlando]

Are you sure about the hydro reading? Looked closer to 1.004-6 than 1.014. Really interested in this as I want to brew a RIS for Xmas 2013 and only really want to do a 10 litre brew like this. What did you do as far as the yeast is concerned as I assume it is enough to ferment circa 20-25 litres. Did you pro rata it, use 1/2 what?

[jonnyt]

Looks like 1004 to me as well!

Isn't that a bit dry for a RIS unless of course you are from across the pond!

[DC]

Hi Orlando, I will double check my hydrometer and see what it was really reading? And report back, yeast wise I just pitched the Whitelabs yeast straight from the vial the whole batch ! Should have made a starter but have just pitched from the vial previously and it went ok. Should have really made a starter but couldn't be bothered, but as the FG is down so low it looks like all went fine without a starter

Cheers DC

[jonnyt]

I think your pitch rate was optimal for 10L

[seymour]

Fantastic, how long are you going to try to keep it before supping?

That's always the hard part. Hey, take some oak chips, toast 'em in your oven to sterilize and char a bit, and throw them in your fermentor for as long as you can stand to simulate barrel-aging. This makes a big difference in an imperial stout, adding some nice woody/tanniny/vanilla-y complexity. We won't tell if you slip a bit of actual bourbon in there as well.

[orlando]

Hi Orlando, I will double check my hydrometer and see what it was really reading? And report back, yeast wise I just pitched the Whitelabs yeast straight from the vial the whole batch ! Should have made a starter but have just pitched from the vial previously and it went ok. Should have really made a starter but couldn't be bothered, but as the FG is down so low it looks like all went fine without a starter

Cheers DC

I was just going on the picture and as you said the reading was taken at 20c it suggested that that was what your hydrometer was calculated for. If I'm right it will dry the beer out, although not always as the mash has quite a say in this. I wonder if this is a result of "overpitching"? I would be interested in what the instructions on the vial say, on balance over pitching is better than under pitching. Maybe jonnyt can say why he thinks it's "optimal"?

[DC]

Hi all, Just double checked my hydrometer and it was 1004 as suggested by Orlando which puts my RIS at a Heart Warming %11.7 which was more than I was expecting but I ain't complaining.

Seymour, As for oak chips I was going to just bottle as soon as fermentation has finished, I am a bit paranoid about racking to another FV then racking back into my 3 gallon fermenter for secondary fermenting or ageing/adding anything further. Is it normal practice to keep a RIS in a secondary FV for a while?

Just had a quick taste of the RIS from the trial jar and boy it's a Strong Beer, quite strong liquorice flavour but its quite drinkable at this early stage. Can't wait to try it in 6 to 12 months.

Cheers DC

[jonnyt]

The reason I thought it optimal is that White Labs vials have enough cells to pitch direct into 5 US Gallons for wort 1.060 or below.

1 US Gallon equals 3.785 litres so 10 litres equals 2.6 US gallons. Therefor around 1/2 a vial would be required for 1.060 wort or below. Given this was 1.095 wort a full vial is close to the optimal pitching rate in 10L

[seymour]

...I am a bit paranoid about racking to another FV then racking back into my 3 gallon fermenter for secondary fermenting or ageing/adding anything further...

Done carefully, this isn't too scary, especially in your case where there is practically no sugars left for any critters to consume, and nearly 12% alcohol should kill just about anything that goes near. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with bottling so soon, it's just that bulk aging is statistically more beneficial than the same amount of time in bottles.

...Is it normal practice to keep a RIS in a secondary FV for a while? ...

Yeah, definitely, sometimes up to a year or longer, especially when talking about bourbon barrel aged examples or wood-aging in general. It's true-to-style, too, considering you guys brewed these and shipped them up through the Baltic Sea and across land to the Russian Czars. Needless to say, the real deal aged awhile. That said, I know you guys drink stuff a lot liver and fresher than us as a rule. If it tastes good now, there's no reason not to drink it. Regardless, you won't regret setting aside a couple bottles to taste again next year for comparison.

[DC]

Hi Seymour, I might rack the RIS off the sediment/dead yeast after 1st fermentation into another FV then back to my 3 gallon FV and bulk condition it for a while prior to bottling and maybe look into adding oak chips. I wish I had an FV that would hold just 10L to do away with extra head space like in my 3 gallon fermenter.

Cheers DC

[orlando]

The reason I thought it optimal is that White Labs vials have enough cells to pitch direct into 5 US Gallons for wort 1.060 or below.

1 US Gallon equals 3.785 litres so 10 litres equals 2.6 US gallons. Therefor around 1/2 a vial would be required for 1.060 wort or below. Given this was 1.095 wort a full vial is close to the optimal pitching rate in 10L

Thanks jonny.