Bricksh*tter - Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout

[Gricey]

First go at my own recipe having read some 'Designing Great Beers' and wanting to get a RIS put away for xmas/jan...

Feedback very welcome though I've ordered the ingredients already (have some on hand to tweak if any glaring errors)...

Bricksh*tter Oatmeal RIS (B.O.R.I.S)

Batch Size 20L

Grist Bill
9073g Maris Otter Pale Malt (75%)
1089g 60L Crystal Malt (9%)
847g Roasted Barley (7%)
726g Flaked Oats (6%)
363g Torrefied Wheat (3%)

Hops
Challenger 6.5% Leaf, 222g @ 90m (119.14IBU)
EKG 6% Pellet, 30g @ 10m (4.21IBU)

Mash
60m @ 67ºC

Boil
90m

Yeast
WLP001 California Ale Yeast - 2.12L starter made from 2 yeast vials. Ferment @ 20ºC

Bottling
2 vols CO2 (batch prime 86.9g sugar)
Mature for 3-6 months

Stats
Total IBU 123.4
BU:GU Ratio 0.95
Target OG 1.130
Target FG 1.033
ABV 12.77%
Colour 56.9SRM

[WishboneBrewery]

Sounds good, though I'd be tempted to vary the Roasted a bit with some Chocolate
I bet you could get away with a 65-66c mash which would help a bit with your Mash efficiency, you'll have plenty of body left anyway. My two Imperials are both tasting good

[Gricey]

Got 170g dark choc from porter left over, I'll sub that out. It looks darker than the black malt I have though, might be time for a grain id parade and see if my supplier mixed labels

[EccentricDyslexic]

Mash longer and lower so you dont end up too sweet! Advice from aleman that! What eficency are you expecting? if you normaly get 70%, expect 60%

Steve

[coatesg]

I'd bring down the crystal a bit too - or it'll get quite thick, especially with the flaked oats in there. I would also double the size of that starter - or just pitch 4 packs of rehydrated US05 (much cheaper, same strain I think).

[Gricey]

Mash longer and lower so you dont end up too sweet! Advice from aleman that! What eficency are you expecting? if you normaly get 70%, expect 60%

Steve

Had around 70 but I'm still trying to work out what my efficiency actually is. I'll find out from my pre boil OG!

Also need some help working out the batch sparge, the calculator on this site goes a bit nuts and suggests negative values.

[Gricey]

I'd bring down the crystal a bit too - or it'll get quite thick, especially with the flaked oats in there. I would also double the size of that starter - or just pitch 4 packs of rehydrated US05 (much cheaper, same strain I think).

It's malted oats, I had to go on what was available. The starter size was suggested from Mr Malty, I've bought 2 vials of WLP001 already... I could just nip to my local brewshop and grab 4 packs of US05 if they have it.

Crystal - down by how much? I have a few other malts I could throw in to replace that are lighter, I think I have some lager and munich kicking around.

[Gricey]

Hmm, they don't have it, could be in a pickle. Do you think Mr. Malty is out based on the high gravity?

[coatesg]

The WLP001 will work just fine (was just suggesting that if you can use US05, in this beer it's a lot easier than making a mammoth starter and cheaper too ). If you have the yeast already, go with it, but I'm surprised Mr Malty gives only a 2.1L starter (even if you're using a stirplate), unless the vials happen to be very fresh indeed (a couple of weeks from the calc) - mine never seem to be any fresher than a few months .

As for the crystal, it's entirely up to you - I would actually just drop it to get it to about 3%, or replace it with pale, but it's down to you entirely (it's your beer!) - you will have a fair amount of residuals anyhow from an FG of about 1.033 (if all goes well). Malted Oats - sorry misread the recipe - Either way, you'll get a lot of mouthfeel from them.

[Birdman]

2.1L starter seems low to me to

Assuming a high viability it comes up as a 5.1L starter for 2 vials for me!

I always keep a couple of 250ml Sterilin pots of yeast slurry from a previous batch in the fridge for a couple of weeks after finishing a previous ferment on a low gravity beer. Just in case I feel the need to do a high gravity ale. Ive got 2 of US-05 in there at the mo.

Also. Porridge Oats from the supermarket are about 50p a kg if you want to use flaked oats. Ive used them straight out the bag and lightly toasted in the oven and not had a problem either way. Never really had a stuck mash yet though with my mash tun (touch wood)

[Gricey]

One for next time then. I've amended my order (hopandgrape rule!) and theyre sending me 2 WLP001 and 4 US05 in sachets, so I can decide tomorrow.

What do you reckon?

[Birdman]

Don't think it will make much difference in flavour, and certainly wont be noticeable on a beer of that strength and that complex in the grain bill so I'd pitch the dry US-05 (interestingly mr malty says 2.2 x 11g sachets for that starting wort, so I'd just pitch 3 packets).

Also really pushing it to get a starter of that size ready in time if you are brewing tomorrow.... and obviously the extra cost of making 5L of starter wort

I have an 8.5% RIS conditioning in secondary FV's at the mo (10L with chocolate and coffee beans, 10L without) which I used repitched US-05 on and it tastes great so I would'nt worry about using the dryed. I use dryed US-05 a lot and I think the beers taste as good as beers with wlp001 / wy1056 but maybe Im not sophisticated enough to tell the difference?!

[Gricey]

Planning on brewing Friday. Not used US05 before, I take it I just rehydrate in a little wort like I did with Jims bitter and pitch as usual. I went with WLP001 simply because Ive used it before and made 3 starters now (with stir plates). Got a whole bunch of DME left over to make up starters also.

Repitching always appealed to me but never got round to it. As does making up from slants though I don't own the glassware for that yet...

[Gricey]

Heres what I meant about the batch sparge calculator also...

[WishboneBrewery]

Just Drain 2.7L from the mash after the Initial Mash period, then top up with the second batch volume.
Its a big beer, you have a lot of malt in the mash tun.
Thats what I've done in the past