AG#10 Imperial Russian Stout

[Lugsy]

Well it's pretty much done at 1.028 I think, it may drop a point or two but it's been the same the last two days. I think it might be a bit too sweet, I've just checked the FG on a bottle of real Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and it's about 1.020. Now I'm thinking it might be a good idea to boil up 500g of sugar in 2 litres of water (sorry I didn't listen earlier! ) and add that to the fermenter to try and drop the FG a bit. I should end up with about 1.022 and 10.2% ABV according to beer engine based on my original recipe (which would be about right for the real thing).

I'm also thinking about splitting the batch, keeping a gallon as it is and thinning down the rest (which would probably be a more interesting experiment ).

What do you think?

L

[Lugsy]

I transferred this to secondary a few days ago and harvested some of the yeast to use in another beer. This new beer hadn't started fermenting 24 hours later so I put a fresh pack of yeast in and the ferment was well under way 12 hours later, leading me to think that the yeast is all dead in the Imperial stout, is this likely? It's at 1.028 (9.4%) so have the yeasties died in the alcohol? How high can S04 go?

I want to get the FG down to somewhere around 1.020, I'm guessing the sugars that are left now are pretty much unfermentable (is this true?) so I'm still looking at adding a couple of litres of water and 500g of sugar to thin it down a bit but I'll need some fresh yeast to start it off again. What yeast should I use now? Do I need one that attenuates well or will something else be OK to get going on the additional sugar? How about a wine yeast? This is totally new ground for me so I have no idea what to do now

Cheers,

L

[Gricey]

I'd say your yeast are pretty much goosed after working their little hearts out in a RIS. I used 3 sachets of US-05 on mine though some people brew something easier on the yeast first (e.g. a bitter) and repitch ...

My RIS was a nightmare as well to brew and I'm not sure I like it (but will just leave it months and months). My next will have a sugar boost to make the body lighter and make the brewday less strenuous ... I am a big fan of the Brooklyn Black though, yum!

[Befuddler]

My RIS was a nightmare as well to brew and I'm not sure I like it

Same here.. I blew 2 elements in the process and ended up finishing the boil the next day. It turned out quite acrid and burnt tasting. Only me and my brother will drink it, everyone else is repulsed. I still have about 20 bottles that I'm ageing a full year until this Christmas.

[WishboneBrewery]

It's not something you can compare to a good stout, its different to that, mine has just passed a year old and deserves a tasting soon. From 3 months onward its been improving, I expect another year will make another difference too.

[Spud395]

Great story Lugsy, enjoyed the read
I've a litttle 5L batch ageing untill Christmas as well, but I cheated and used DME to top up a normal stout.
I dont know if I'd be up to the full hassle of that, I'm a bit of a lazy feck when it comes to it.
Well done though