Back in May, my friend Tommy and I decided to try brewing Mike Riddle's "Tricentennial Stout" from the book "Brewing Classic Styles". The first thing you will notice about this beer is that the grain bill is crazy. First, it boasts a full 5 lbs of roasted malts for a 6 gallon batch. Second, it calls for a target final gravity of 1.037. Third, it recommends a relatively warm fermentation temperature of 68-70 F, which should produce substantial diacetyl when using the recommended yeast (Wyeast 1084 - Irish ale). Yet, despite all these seemingly crazy recommendations, the brewer, Mike Riddle, justifies each one. The idea is that all that roast requires balance, so the high FG plus the diacetyl will help in that regard. Also, he recommends extended aging, which should allow the intense roastiness to mellow and start producing some complex flavors and aromas. As a firm believer in the maxim 'Fortune favors the bold', this seemed like a good recipe to try. It pushes the envelope in several respects, so we thought it would be a good learning experience for our first real attempt at brewing an Imperial stout.
Russian imperial stout
~6 gal batch, brewed 5/7/2010 at Tommy's parents' house
20 lbs Maris otter
2.5 lbs Chocolate malt
2.5 lbs Roasted barley
2 lbs Wheat malt
0.85 lbs Crystal 120
2.6 oz Northern Brewer (6.5% aa) @ 60 min
2 oz Northern Brewer @ 30 min
2 oz East Kent Goldings (5% aa) @ 15 min
3 oz EKG @ 3 min
2 oz EKG dry hop (added roughly 3 weeks prior to bottling)
1.102 OG
1.034 FG
8.9% abv
73 IBUs
Yeast propagation: Wyeast 1084, cake from a small batch of oatmeal stout
Single infusion mash at 156 F
Only water adjustment was 5.2 buffer (used N. Andover tap water)
Cast out 6 gal, approx 60.5% brewhouse efficiency
Fermented in a basement, ambient was probably low 60s, so this thing probably rode up into the high 60 while it was rocking (and it really rocked hard! using a yeast cake + injecting pure O2 makes for a very vigorous ferment!)
Review 2/21/11, about 6 weeks in bottle, beer is something like 9 months old by now. Served around 50 degrees.
Appearance - Poured into a snifter, get a small, dark brown head which hangs around, leaving clingy foam on the edges. Intensely black. Almost oily looking. After a few minutes the foam is mostly gone but a swirl brings it back.
Aroma - Vinous, bitter chocolatey roast. Could still be a little young in the bottle. Hop aroma faint, but it seems the dry hops are adding a subtle complexity. As it warms the alcohol comes out a bit, light, fruity, low fusels.
Flavor - Dry, dark chocolate. Balanced. Hops pretty mellow but definitely bring balance to this beer, lightening up the finish. I'm getting almost a dry red wine character too, kind of a brooding vinous quality with a light roast-acidity. This impression grows as the beer warms a bit in my glass. I was expecting more diacetyl based on our yeast selection and fermentation temp.
Mouthfeel - Full. Moderate "chewiness". Could be even fuller, silkier without being cloying. We mashed a little low out of fear. In hindsight we should have mashed to hit 1.037 as the recipe suggests. Carbonation level perfect: low enough to let the mouthfeel and sweetness shine through.
Overall - This is a big beer, but not huge. Chocolatey, roasty, and dry, but not barren. Between the crystal malt and the yeast character there is just enough sweetness to balance out the roast. I think a touch of oak could go really well in this beer and play nicely with the vinous qualities and aging roasted character, although too much oak would make this beer overly dry. Perhaps compensate with a little more crystal malt.
A pretty cool beer. It is quite different from most other imperial stouts I've tried, I guess the closest thing would be some of the real English ones (maybe Sam Smith's or Le Coq, but ours isn't nearly as minerally, acidic, or soy-saucey). I think this should age extremely well, at 8 months old it tastes great but I feel like it will only get better once those vinous qualities and dark fruit character develop more.
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