Hybrid Session Stout

To brew the Imperial Stout with Evan, we needed a huge amount of yeast cells (or buy 5 yeast packets or build a 9 liter starter, which are both huge wastes of money). I brewed a 2.5 gallon low gravity session stout to build up the yeast cells so that we could pitch the new beer on top of the yeast cake. I was aiming for something with notes of caramel and chocolate with a viscous mouthfeel and low alcohol content.

The recipe:

3.25 lbs Canadian 2-Row

6.0 oz Caramel 60

4.0 oz Roasted Barley

4.0 oz Chocolate Malt

4.0 oz Flaked Oats

2.0 oz Caramel 120

0.50 oz Goldings @ 60 minutes

Mash Temperature: 156 degree F for 45 minutes

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

Specs:

OG: 1.045

FG: 1.015

ABV: 3.9%

IBU: ~22.2

I bottled it 3 weeks after brewing. I put one gallon into my cubitainer and added enough table sugar to carbonate it to ~1 volume of CO2. I bottled the rest and carbed them to approximately 2.2 volumes of CO2. Review to follow shortly.

Collaboration Imperial Stout with Evan

A few weeks ago, my best friend Evan visited me for a few days. He has been in Peru for months now and he's been itching to brew. We decided to brew a huge Imperial Stout so that we can enjoy it for years to come.

The recipe:

20 lbs. Marris Otter

2.5 lbs. Chocolate Malt

2.5 lbs. Roasted Barley

2.0 lbs. Wheat

0.85 lbs. Caramel 120

2.8 oz Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings @ 30 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings @ 15 minutes

2.0 oz Goldings Dry hop

Yeast: Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

5/29/10 Update: Gravity is at 1.034. I transferred the beer into a 5 gallon Better Bottle and had enough remaining to transfer into another 1/2 gallon growler. The 1/2 gallon portion will sit on a bed of cacao nibs (.8 ounces) and coffee (.2 ounces). That is the equivalent of a half pound of cacao nibs and 2 ounces of coffee for a 5 gallon batch.

Cami's Special Bitter

I had an aging packet of Wyeast 1028 London Ale in the fridge that I wanted to brew an double IPA with (using CTZ, Amarillo and Simcoe hops), but first, I needed to build up some yeast. I decided to brew a 2.5 gallon batch of special bitters as a starter beer.

Recipe:

3.00 lbs. Marris Otter

0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L

0.25 lbs. White Wheat Malt

0.75 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix @ 60 minutes

0.25 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix @ 20 minutes

0.50 oz Fuggles/Goldings mix dry hop for 12 days

Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Mash @ 152 for 60 minutes

OG: 1.041

Projected final gravity: 1.010

Projected ABV: 4.0%

IBU's: 33.6

Brew day went off without a hitch. I hit my mash temp target on the spot (152) and my post-boil volume was just a shade under 2.5 gallons. I achieved 72% efficiency.

5/27/10 Update ~ I added the dry hops today. I resisted the urge to take a sample of it, but it smells great.

6/5/10 Update ~ Reached a final gravity of 1.008, giving me a 4.3% ABV beer. I bottled to 1.5 volumes of CO2. I am really excited to drink this in 2+ weeks.