Need pro help with Imperial stout recipe!

[NickLazy]

Hi!
Im trying to create am Imperial stout that has no roasty or bitter aromas. So far I have not been able to do it. If I use loads of dark malts its always roasty or bitter and if i turn down the dark malts and use no roasted malts it turns more into brown ale.
The ultimate goal is to brew a sweet but full bodied stout with at least 10 ABV and later add some roasted coconut and chocolate.
I Have tasted such commercial beers so I know its possible. So if you have any tips and tricks on malts, techniques or even better know a all grain recipe for such brew id appreciate it!

Thanks!
- Nick

 

[deadwolfbones]

Hi!
Im trying to create am Imperial stout that has no roasty or bitter aromas. So far I have not been able to do it. If I use loads of dark malts its always roasty or bitter and if i turn down the dark malts and use no roasted malts it turns more into brown ale.
The ultimate goal is to brew a sweet but full bodied stout with at least 10 ABV and later add some roasted coconut and chocolate.
I Have tasted such commercial beers so I know its possible. So if you have any tips and tricks on malts, techniques or even better know a all grain recipe for such brew id appreciate it!

Thanks!
- Nick

Debittered dark malts (Carafa Special, Midnight Wheat) and dark caramel malts (C120L, Caramunich III) should get you there. I made this one, which has almost no roast: https://brew4fun.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/polygyle-party/

 

[Dgallo]

Debittered dark malts (Carafa Special, Midnight Wheat) and dark caramel malts (C120L, Caramunich III) should get you there. I made this one, which has almost no roast: https://brew4fun.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/polygyle-party/

I really enjoy special b as a dark Carmel malt and carafa III as a dehusked dark malt. I’d suggest around 10-12% of the gist to be your roasted grains

 

[khannon]

You could also try cold steeping the dark grains.. like cold brew coffee, but with your dark malts.
https://www.homebrewersassociation....steeping-getting-the-most-out-of-dark-grains/ is a quick article on the subject.

I have done it once with a vanilla/coffee porter, came out great.

 

[NickLazy]

You could also try cold steeping the dark grains.. like cold brew coffee, but with your dark malts.
https://www.homebrewersassociation....steeping-getting-the-most-out-of-dark-grains/ is a quick article on the subject.

I have done it once with a vanilla/coffee porter, came out great.

Ive heard some positive and negative feedback from this method. I'm kind of afraid that cold steeping doesn't bring the body and color to the beer. I might be wrong.
Thanks for the link and advice!

 

[Dgallo]

Ive heard some positive and negative feedback from this method. I'm kind of afraid that cold steeping doesn't bring the body and color to the beer. I might be wrong.
Thanks for the link and advice!

It’s been my experience that if your mash ph is correct than you don’t need to worry about cold steeping. If you can’t do that than steeping the grains would be a better option

 

[Miraculix]

I tried the cold steeping for an black IPA once and had good results without much roast. But you need to bump up the numbers a bit as it didn't extract as much colour as using it within the mash would. But that's easy to deal with by just increasing the amount of roasted malt/grain.

Another way is to add the roasted grains only for the last few minutes of the mash. Never tried it myself but read that others had good results with it.

And of course, use the dehusked version of whatever roasted grains you plan to use.

What I have read is that midnight wheat actually imparts the lowest amount of roast from all of the dark stuff, so you might want to exchange all of your dark stuff for this and also incorporate the cold steeping or late mash technique as well.

Anyhow, let us know how it turns out!

 

[cactusgarrett]

+1 for cold steeping the roasted grains.
Also, swap out all roasted grains with the equivalent of debittered/dehusked grains. Midnight Wheat and Carafa III work wonders.

 

[Dgallo]

+1 for cold steeping the roasted grains.
Also, swap out all roasted grains with the equivalent of debittered/dehusked grains. Midnight Wheat and Carafa III work wonders.

Gotta have some roasted Barley or chocolate malt in there for an imperial imho. Not much maybe only 3% but without that true roast character, I feel the final flavor comes out more porter like in bigger beers

 

[mrdauber64]

I love midnight wheat and Carafa. I make a Schwarzbier that uses both and it is so smooth! I use 4 oz of Midnight wheat and 8 oz of Carafa. I would just up those a little bit and maybe add some Pale Chocolate for depth.