Seems I had a lot of good suggestions last time I posted a recipe… I’m putting together a Burbon Imperial Stout that I plan on aging until next Xmas as gifts. I’m going to conduct an reintegrated mash in order to make this a truly all grain recipe with no sugars and extracts to bump ABV.
5.25 gal OG: 1.099 Est.FG: 1.023 Est. ABV: 9.6%
62% efficiency
NOTE: ABV will go up 1.7% (11.3%ABV) after Makers Mark is added at secondary. 9.6 is per the grain bill only.
GRAINS:
18lb Marris Otter / 79%
1.25 Chicolate malt / 6%
1.25 Roasted barley / 5%
1lb. Crystal 120 / 4%
1.25 Flaked barley / 6%
Sounds nice! If it were mine, I’d omit the nibs and soak an oak spiral in less Bourbon, but it’s your beer. The nibs are fine if it’s what you envision. I do think it sounds like a lot of Bourbon, but I’ve never tried adding much, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
I did a barleywine this fall with that yeast and really like the yeast character.
How about a couple pounds of brown malt? Adds another dimension to the malt profile. Also, I’ve got a soft spot for an imperial crapton of EKG hops in a beer like this. Not a lot of bitterness to them, but that mouth-coating resiny flavor that comes from using a large amount. Ages very gracefully.
I’d be tempted to just add it, but if you don’t want the gravity to skyrocket, maybe dial back the MO by a couple pounds. Or roast a couple pounds of MO in the oven until it’s a nice toasty amber/brown color.
I did a RIS a few weeks ago with all ekg. 4 oz at 90, 6 at 60, and 6 at 30. Calculates out to over 200IBU. Not for everyone! I’d have to plug it into a recipe calculator, but if you’re keeping it around the same IBU as your original recipe, id guess that 4 oz at 60 and 4 oz at 30 would be in the ballpark.
Nice! Yeah I’m probably going to take away 1lb MO and add 2 of the brown malt.
As for the EKG, I’ve never used them and want to try. I’m going to go 4 @ 60 and 2 @ 30. From what I’ve read you almost want to overshoot your IBU’s anyways due to the massive grain bill and the aggressiveness of the fermentation… does that sound about right?
Yeah, sounds reasonable. I wouldn’t be too shy of pushing ibu to 100 or so, it’s above the saturation point, but I think it still adds flavors you don’t get otherwise. And it’ll fade and mellow as it ages.
Edit - if you can’t get at least half a pound of EKG in there, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Yeah I’m going to change it and use 2 oz nugget at 90 and East Kent Goldings throughout the rest of the additions. Also adding 2lbs of brown malt and taking away 1lb of marris otter.