Stout Fellow - RIS

[EccentricDyslexic]

In memory of a beloved dog i am looking at brewing this version of Aleman's RIS, taking into acount his recomendations for improvments and trying to make it mature a little earlier so i can raise my first glass to him a year from now.

Recipe: Stout Fellow RIS
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Boil Size: 30.11 L
Estimated OG: 1.104 SG
Estimated Color: 123.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 76.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.50 kg Pale Malt, Golden Promise (5.9 EBC) Grain 76.00 %
1.00 kg Barley, Flaked (3.0 EBC) Grain 8.00 %
0.50 kg Carafa I (663.9 EBC) Grain 4.00 %
0.50 kg Carafa III (1034.3 EBC) Grain 4.00 %
0.50 kg Chocolate Malt (940.0 EBC) Grain 4.00 %
133.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.60 %] (120 min) (FHops 44.0 IBU
100.00 gm Fuggles [3.90 %] (120 min) (First Wort HoHops 28.0 IBU
33.00 gm Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.00 %] Hops 4.3 IBU
0.50 kg Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 EBC) Sugar 4.00 %

Im looking at mashing for 2 hours, 1 hour at 64c and the second hour at 67, to make sure all of the fermentables are extracted and ready for the yeasties to avoid to high a FG. This will be pumped from a great hight onto the yeast cake of my Guinness Plus that is 4 days into its ferment with Nottingham.

I have ordered a 300w aquarium heater so i can sit my FV in a bin of water at a temp i can more acuratly control. I am thinking about fermentatin temps, some sites (USA) say to ferment cooler to avoid esters, but im not sure i want to avoid esters? can some one give me some pointers on this? I dont think ive ever had a RIS so am brew blind a bit!

I really want to do Fellow proud with this brew, it should idealy be black with maybe a tiny redness under strong light, strong and BIG but gentle and loving just like my old boy was.

Thanks chaps!

Steve

[Aleman]

Steve,

You don't necessarily want a big ester thing going on . . . having said that fermenting at 20-22C with Nottingham and a massive amount of yeast is not really going to generate too many anyway.

Just make sure you aerate well initially . . . and I would want to give it another blast after 6-8 hours to help it attenuate as it should.

[floydmeddler]

I wouldn't use all the yeast cake as you'll be over pitching. This could leave you with a right mess and apparently affects flavour too. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-no ... ke-166221/

Use this calculator:

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

[EccentricDyslexic]

Yes i had heard of this, basicaly i need about a cup full of slurry...it does worry me about infection though with all the scooping etc. But i suppose an infection has little chance of getting a hold with the amount of yeasties raring to go...?

Aleman, regarding reairating...how do you go about this? I usualy pump the cooled wort from the boiler at floor level out of a hose held about chest height into the FV, is this high enough? I do have a bottle of oxygen in the workshop....

steve

steve

[Aleman]

That article is talking about normal beers though not an RIS, where pitching lots is yeast is important to ensure adequate attenuation.

let me list a few of the exceptional circumstances in which knocking out onto a yeast cake might make sense from a pitch-rate standpoint. If you're planning to ferment a very big ale - Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, Quadruppel - starting a smaller beer - Dry Irish Stout, Nut Brown Ale, Belgian Blonde - and knocking out onto the dregs of that beer might actually be feasible, cell-wise.

Steve I would give it a thorough whisking after 6-8 hours which should generate lots of foam . . . how much whisking . . . about 5 minutes after your arm has dropped off seems to do it ok

[EccentricDyslexic]

Id be worried having the lid off for too long! I must get over that!!

Steve

[Aleman]

Don't leave the lid off then . . .just rest it loosely on following pitching . . . and then after 6-8 hours remove the lid (if the yeast hasn't already done it ) give it a damn good thrashing and put the lid back on)

[EccentricDyslexic]

Thanks chaps.

Another question, this grain bill is massive, my mash tun has a capacity of 38 l to the top, am i going to need to mash twice? BS is saying in need 30l of strike water! then add in 12kg of grain...i dont think its gonna fit!

Steve

[Aleman]

Even with a thicker mash than normal it more or less filled my 50L mash tun three options

Brew a smaller volume
Mash twice
Get a bigger mash tun

[EccentricDyslexic]

Hehe! Well a beer this big is gonna be a once a year job, so will mash twice me thinks!

Ta

Steve

[TC2642]

You could try adding some malt extract to the boil to get the OG up.

[coatesg]

If you batch sparge then yes you may struggle a little to get 25L @ 1100+

But if you continuous sparge, then you should be able to manage it - the mash tun might be full to the brim, but with a thick (long) mash (~2.2L/kg) it'll probably fit. (I got 19L @ 1086 (pre sugar addition) out of a 24L tun in the past...!)

[EccentricDyslexic]

Thanks chaps for your advice, i dont have any malt extract other than about 1/2kg i use for starters and slopes, but i do fly sparge so i will do two mashes and fly sparge each until i have collected half my wort form each mash. I will do 90 min mashes both at 64c and with each sparge lasting an hour i recon its gonna be a BIG brew day too!

I m gonna treat my water using the water treatment calc (set to stout) in the otherplace.

I think i have all bases covered now, the guinness has been sitting on its cake for long enough now so if the Carafa arives today then i will get the brew on!

Steve