Ideas for a "Keeper"

[Stringy Bob]

Ive built up my stocks of low to mid gravity beers (1040 -1050) which will see me through a few month, so I'm looking for a stronger brew to keep for 6 months or so which will be ready to drink later in the year (its my 40th B'day in September so I'm sure it will get hammered then). I'm torn between an Imperial Stout or a nice hoppy IPA. Any suggestions would be appreciated for a brew in the region of 7%+.
Also, would S-04 be suitable for a brew of this strength? (its all I've got in at the moment).

cheers

[BarryNL]

I've used S-04 on plenty of brews around 7-8% with good results. Beyond that I'd probably try getting some Nottingham or making up a really big starter from a suitable Wyeast.

As to brew - you might like to have a look at an American IPA I made nearly a year ago: "All your hops are belong to us" It's really peaking now and one of the best beers I've made. I'd probably use US-05 instead of S-04, but definitely worth considering...

[Whorst]

Give this a go:

All Grain Recipe - Pliny the Elder ::: 1.074/1.012 (6 Gal)
Grain Bill

12 lbs. - 2 Row Pale Malt (American)
1 lb. - Corn Sugar
1/3 lb. - Crystal Malt (45L)
1 lb. - CaraPils Malt
Hop Schedule

1.5 oz - Chinook (First Wort or Mash Hop)
2.75 oz - Warrior (90 Min.)
.5 oz - Chinook (90 Min.)
1 oz - Simcoe (45 Min.)
1 oz - Columbus (30 Min.)
2.25 oz - Centennial (Flameout)
1 oz - Simcoe (Flameout)
3.25 oz - Columbus (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz - Centennial (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz - Simcoe (Dry Hop)
Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - 1800 ml starter
Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 150° to 152° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Boil for 90 minutes (remember to compensate your water if you normally do 60 min boils)
Cool and ferment at 66° to 68°

[coatesg]

I used S-04 in my Imperial Stout which came in at 9% ABV - I pitched two packets (rehydrating first) and it fermented from 1090 to 1022 (~4 gallons) without any big issues. Similarly, used 2 packets of S04 on a barley wine/old ale (still undecided which it is!) and that went from 1086 to 1023 (8.3% - 5 gallons). Of course, the alternative (to make sure you have enough yeast) is to repitch the yeast cake from a previous lower gravity brew.

The stout tastes fantastic now (4 months old) - I have had 6 bottles so far, though I am trying to leave it to sit until late in the year before trying it again.

This gave me 4 gallons in the FV:
6kg Pale
375g each: Wheat, amber, chocolate, crystal, roast barley.
200g Brown Sugar
Goldings to about 85IBU (though I used a 20 odd grams of Target to try to reduce the amount of hops in the boiler).

[BarryNL]

If you really want the low down on S-04 you can download the datasheet here.

[Stringy Bob]

Hmm..I like the look of the Imperial Stout Coatsg. Now I would normally ferment for about 10 days then stick it in the keg/bottle - would it be worth racking this to secondary for a month or so before I bottle or just get it bottled as normal and forget about it?
cheers

[coatesg]

I had it in primary for about 3 weeks I think, and then went straight to bottle. Some say maturing in secondary is better, but you may then have to add more yeast at bottling if it all drops out. (even when I bottled, there's relatively little sediment as S04 flocs out so well). I actually don't know whether it would make any difference or not.

if you have a go, then just remember to scale up to 5 gallons if you can fit it in your mash tun (mine was too small for a larger batch )

[oblivious]

Here are some ideas for you that can work with S-04

Dutch courage: Russian Imperial Stout


Barleywine Cooper Face jack

[delboy]

Give this a go:

All Grain Recipe - Pliny the Elder ::: 1.074/1.012 (6 Gal)
Grain Bill

12 lbs. - 2 Row Pale Malt (American)
1 lb. - Corn Sugar
1/3 lb. - Crystal Malt (45L)
1 lb. - CaraPils Malt
Hop Schedule

1.5 oz - Chinook (First Wort or Mash Hop)
2.75 oz - Warrior (90 Min.)
.5 oz - Chinook (90 Min.)
1 oz - Simcoe (45 Min.)
1 oz - Columbus (30 Min.)
2.25 oz - Centennial (Flameout)
1 oz - Simcoe (Flameout)
3.25 oz - Columbus (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz - Centennial (Dry Hop)
1.75 oz - Simcoe (Dry Hop)
Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - 1800 ml starter
Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 150° to 152° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Boil for 90 minutes (remember to compensate your water if you normally do 60 min boils)
Cool and ferment at 66° to 68°

That looks good, could be a problem aquiring those hops though on this side of the pond.

I have found a source for centennial and simcoe so im going to purchase some and try some american IPAs

[Stringy Bob]

Here are some ideas for you that can work with S-04

Dutch courage: Russian Imperial Stout


Barleywine Cooper Face jack

Both look good to me Oblivious - the wife assures me that size doesnt matter, but your MT makes me and my H&G coolbox feel quite inadequate

[oblivious]

Both look good to me Oblivious - the wife assures me that size doesnt matter, but your MT makes me and my H&G coolbox feel quite inadequate

its not the size of the mash tun its the strength of the O.G.

[fivetide]

Graham Wheeler's latest has a recipe for Robinsons Old Tom that looks promising (OG 1080), JW Lees Moonraker (OG 1073), Exmoor Beast (OG 1066) and Belhaven 90/- (OG 1070).

Others may have a different view, but it might be worth considering a 2hr boil for a beer you are going to keep until September from the offset.

[Stringy Bob]

Whats the reason for that fivetide?

[fivetide]

I was told early on that it keeps your beer tasting fresher for longer and is especially useful if brewing a beer for the future, eg. making festive ales early etc...

Someone clever will be able to tell you more, but I think it's because a longer boil has more chance of driving off that stale dimethyl sulfide smell/taste (DMS).

I'm not certain really. Seems to work though, and it's only another half hour. Also, when you're aiming for stronger ales, a more concentrated wort can be a good thing.