Planning a BCBS-inspired brew and small beer - critique requested

[dtwhite]

Working from a recipe I put together from multiple sources to replicate the grain bill and flavor from Bourbon County Brand Stout, I put together the following recipe (Russian Imperial Bourbon Stout). Note: my "fermenter volume"s are really kettle volumes, and I will only be transferring ~6 gallons to the fermenter, leaving much of the trub behind.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: RIBS
Author: adapted from BCBS recipes

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Russian Imperial Stout
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 7.29 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 9.54 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.087
Efficiency: 65% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.114
Final Gravity: 1.027
ABV (standard): 11.46%
IBU (tinseth): 69.86
SRM (morey): 40

FERMENTABLES:
23 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (65.2%)
7.5 lb - German - Munich Light (21.3%)
20 oz - American - Roasted Barley (3.5%)
20 oz - American - Chocolate (3.5%)
20 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (3.5%)
16 oz - German - De-Husked Caraf III (2.8%)

HOPS:
2 oz - Warrior, Type: Pellet, AA: 16, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 59.69
2 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 10.17

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 147 F, Time: 90 min, Amount: 12.5 gal, 160.2
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.42 qt/lb

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 oz - Bourbon-soaked oak cubes, Type: Flavor, Use: Secondary

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 73 F
Fermentation Temp: 67 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

NOTES:
Need ~650B yeast cells.

This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/209377/ribs

My normal efficiency is 80% and I adjusted that down to 65%, which I think is a conservative estimate for the loss in efficiency from so much grain, even though I still have 1.42 qt/lb. But, I realized that there's still going to be a lot of good stuff left in the grain, so I decided to try and make my first small beer from that:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Baby Back RIBS
Author: a terrible idea

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Stout
Boil Time: 120 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 8.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.029
Efficiency: 15% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.044
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 4.43%
IBU (tinseth): 37.71
SRM (morey): 40

FERMENTABLES:
23 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (61.7%)
7.5 lb - German - Munich Light (20.1%)
20 oz - American - Roasted Barley (3.4%)
20 oz - American - Chocolate (3.4%)
20 oz - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (3.4%)
16 oz - German - De-Husked Caraf III (2.7%)
1 lb - Brown Sugar (2.7%)
1 lb - German - Smoked Malt (2.7%)

HOPS:
2 oz - Willamette, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 37.71

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temperature, Temp: 150 F, Time: 90 min, Amount: 9 gal, 150
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 73 F
Fermentation Temp: 67 F
Pitch Rate: 1.0 (M cells / ml / deg P)

NOTES:
second runnings from RIBS

This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/210823/baby-back-ribs

I am adding 1 lb of smoked malt and 1 lb of brown sugar to the existing grain to get a little bit of a different flavor and up the gravity. I chose 15% efficiency thinking that is a reasonable estimate for what might be remaining in the grain. Should I alter that estimation?

Any other suggestions? Is the mash temperature alright for a beer that thick? Should I be doing the 12-hour extra dose of O2?

 

[ziggy13]

How'd this turn out? Do you think Goose Island uses 001 as their yeast?

 

[Schumed]

Smoked malt is a bad idea for this ...there is an awesome bcbs thread you need to read through

 

[dtwhite]

How'd this turn out? Do you think Goose Island uses 001 as their yeast?

It turned out great, and I'm actually planning a second brew of it very soon. I might tone down the IBUs slightly but it's good at the level I chose as well (68). I'm having trouble getting the bottles to carbonate - I would recommend using champagne yeast at bottling. The beer ended up around 13% alcohol thanks to some fantastic attenuation and even with adding fresh US-05 at bottling, I think all the yeast just killed itself.

As for whether or not 001 is the correct yeast - it's hard to say. This is a very flavorful beer and the yeast character would have to be off the charts to taste it among all the roasted malts and booze. In the real BCBS I can't really taste yeast character and I can't in mine, either. I think 001 works but if you are capable of getting good attenuation with any other yeast I'm sure they'd work fine too. There's almost zero chance that a midwestern brewery like Goose Island uses the west coast 001 as their yeast, but I have no idea. I think 090, US-05, or any other reasonably clean and well-attenuating yeast would work.

Here's a link to the completed recipe: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/209377/ribs

Smoked malt is a bad idea for this ...there is an awesome bcbs thread you need to read through

The smoked malt was just for the small beer, not in the normal BCBS-type beer. I ended up scrapping the small beer anyway, but trust me, I know smoked malt would be pretty terrible in the main imperial stout.

 

[TandemTails]

Did you actually perform a decoction or did you just raise the temperature of the entire mash? I BIAB and to mashout, I just bring the entire kettle up to temperature.

Looks like a nice recipe though. I've been thinking about brewing another beer that can sit for a while once bottled and I love BCBS so this might be good to do

 

[dtwhite]

I didn't do a true decoction, per se, but I did remove some liquid and bring it to a boil before adding it back. I've got a different setup now and I can actually increase the mash temperature with direct heat, so I'd probably do that now.