Russian Imperial Stout.. first attempt..

[Loafman]

Hi guys, hope everyone is well

Well, it's nearing that time of year again. Time to think about the tradition of making a Ditch's stout for Christmas.. and maybe another ale to put in another barrel too.

I have also been thinking about making a RIS for some time now, ever since I tried some Fuller's Imperial Stout at a beer festival some time back..

I remembered seeing a recipe on the coopers website that read along the lines of:-

1.7kg Coopers Stout
1.7kg Coopers Dark Ale
1.7kg Coopers Lager
1kg Dextrose

I realise it will not really be ready to drink until around xmas 2016 at the earliest, but would like to get it underway soon, so that xmas next year will be very hazy.

Now I have a Coopers Lager and a couple of Coopers stout kits in the brewing cupboard, but not the Dark ale (although it's a fab brew).
I do however, have a couple of Coopers English bitter kits which are gathering dust, so figured I could probably substitute the Dark ale with one of these.. any thoughts?
And after a little research I have read that Safale US-05 is a good yeast for a RIS. I'm guessing 2 sachets should be sufficient.. any thoughts on this too?

It will be a bit of an experience, but one I am looking forward too.

Cheers guys!

[hazelbrew]

putting numbers into brewers friend as 5.1kg lme, and 1kg dextrose at 21 liters gives 1089 OG and 1022 FG- 8.75%. so yes this would be quite full on.

have to work out the IBU target for beer of this strength and see what all the kits add up to. the lager will be very low, say 5-10IBU.

this link useful:
http://www.homebrewdownunder.com/index.php?topic=902.0

you talking about this recipe:
http://store.coopers.com.au/recipes/index/view/id/49/

?

looks like english bitter and dark ale are the same IBU. so substitutable but slight lighter end brew?

if it was me I'd probably do something ill advised like just make it anyway and add 100g treacle for good measure

[bigtoe]

How about 2 cans Coopers Stout
2KG Dark or medium DME
500g Dextrose or Demerara sugar
Black treacle to taste...me i would drop in the whole 454g tin. Golden syrup works well also, leaves a slightly more sweet finish I feel.
22l brew length
It would probably need 3 kit yeasts or similar i reckon.

I would add water to 20L and test gravity, look for 1.090 or so and adjust with more water if higher. Ferment in a large fermenter or use a blow off tube at the minimum. 1.092 down to 1.020 is 9.5% by the time its primed, if it dropped to 1.016 its at 10% abv.

Using the 2 cans would keep the bitterness down, the 2KG of DME would pump up the OG just like a 3rd coopers kit would. Alternatively APA may work better than the DME as its low hopped.

[Fletch]

Jan this year I made a toucan using the following

1 Geordie Scottish export
1 Coopers stout
500g dark DME
both yeast
Made up to 19 litres and fermented low 17-19C

Best kit I've ever made. A AG brewing friend said it was the best homebrew stout he'd had and could not believe it was from a kit recipe.

[monkhouse]

What abv did that brew end up being fletch?

[JamesF]

I made GW's recipe for Imperial Russian Stout a couple of years back. It's really rather, err, "robust". In retrospect, bottling it in pints was perhaps a little ambitious. Works very nicely in a stew though, and my wife made some lovely sourdough bread with some last week.

James

[Fletch]

Nots sure Monkhouse. I think it was around 7%
Beautiful drop.

[Loafman]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll be knocking together a regular Coopers stout and another kit (I have 2 English bitter kits, hmm) for this xmas over the next day or two first, then I'm gonna dive into making the RIS.
I'm not too bothered about the final colour, as It will be very dark anyway. But I think I may go with:-

1.7kg Coopers Stout
1.7kg Coopers English bitter
1.7kg Coopers Lager
1kg Dextrose
And maybe some treacle..

I'll adjust the brew length to aim for around a 10% final product..

[Loafman]

Sorry, one more question guys..

I'll be adding yeast nutrient to the RIS, because I have had a few issues with stuck ferments in the past.

I have some Tronozymol but it has a BBE date of 2013.. I rarely pay a lot of attention to dates on products, rather trust my eyes and nose, but can't really do that with this stuff.

My thinking is, that as it's a dessicated powder and has been stored in a cool dark place I can't see how it will become less effective with age.. anyone else have any thoughts? Cheers guys.

[itenary]

You can get Imperial Stout kits here; www.artisan-goods.co.uk

Also Baltic porter.

[Haydnexport]

think you might get in trouble for posting links to your shop mate !

[Loafman]

think you might get in trouble for posting links to your shop mate !

Haha, some people love a bit of shameless self plugging..