please critique my RIS recipe!

[jotakah]

The only other time I've brewed a Russian Imperial Stout was back in 2007 and I was still using extracts. The only imperial-strength beers I've made allgrain have had adjuncts (sugar etc for DIPAs). Please critique my RIS recipe before I pull the trigger & buy everything!

For a 6gallon batch:
18# 2-row
1# caramel 120L
1# roasted barley
1# chocolate malt
1# caramunich II
1#flaked barley
1# flaked oats

for a target OG of 1.111

@60- 2oz Columbus & 1oz Perle
@30- 0.5oz Willamette

Lots of Nottingham yeast


Whatcha think?

 

[SpeedYellow]

Looks like a really good recipe to me. Has all the things I personally like: 8-12% dark malts, some oats, some flaked barley, no black patent malt.

What are the IBUs? Are you shooting for a dry or sweet beer?

Also, are you sure Nottingham is ok with this level of alcohol? I don't use it so I don't know.

 

[jotakah]

when i load the recipe onto brewtoad.com it calculates the IBUs to be about 79, the balance of the beer is rated 0.71 (bitter)

what do you think of the Perle hops in there? I have them in the freezer and don't have any other brews planned that could really utilize them until much later this year

shooting for a dry beer. I plan on having 2 five-gallon fermenters each with 3 gallon of RIS in them for primary, then gassing each 3gallon container with pure O2 for at least two minutes and pitching multiple packets of Nottingham in each. 3 week primary, rack them both back together into a large glass carboy and after a month or so maybe pitch some white labs super-high gravity yeast

 

[GuldTuborg]

Maybe it's just me, but "dry beer" and "RIS" just don't seem to go together in the same sentence. No, not all RISs are sweet, exactly, but I've had nothing that I would consider dry either. If you want dry, mash lower, get your calculated IBUs up to the same level as your OG in points (or higher), and manage your fermentation well. That will enhance the perception of dryness.

As for the recipe, why not use S-05 instead of Notty? If managed well, it should manage this gravity well enough that you won't seen the 099. I also get the feeling, with this large a beer, that a lighter crystal malt like the caramunich will not only get lost flavorwise, but will also add to the perception of sweetness, which you're trying to avoid. I'd drop it.

 

[jotakah]

You're right, it will never be "dry" but I want it to finish as low as I can without getting crazy.

I simply prefer Notty. I like how it dark beers age with Notty and it attenuates well.

Here's the modified recipe I'm brewing today:

18.25# 2row
1.25# Caramel120L
1.25# Roasted barley
1.25# Chocolate malt
1# flaked barley
1# flaked oats

@60- 2oz Columbus 1 oz Perle
@30 - 1/2oz Willamette

still no thoughts on the use of Perle anybody?

 

[LegitBrew]

I would go with columbus over perle personally. I'd probably drop the Williamette as well. I usually only do one addition of bittering hops in my RIS at 60min. Come to think of it, the last one I made used columbus. I might also throw in a slightly lighter crystal malt (60-80L). Using a combo can add depth to the flavor (lighter than 60 will probably get lost, but it should add something).....but will also add to the sweetness as stated above. You could just mash at a lower temp to help solve a bit of that.

 

[LegitBrew]

Ohh, just saw that you're trying to get rid of the perle. I would just use them, bumped up to get it where columbus would alpha/ibu wise. It shouldn't make a huge difference in a beer this dark if you are only using hops for bittering.

 

[GuldTuborg]

still no thoughts on the use of Perle anybody?

Nothing wrong with Perle if you want to use them up. They should last a good while in the freezer, though, if you ziplock them. They're a great hop, but subtle enough that their characteristics wouldn't exactly come through in an RIS, I think. That's not a problem, exactly, unless you're looking for something very distinctive.