Billy the Barrel's Imperial Stout

"A Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout, inspired from BCS"

TODOs

• [x] oak + bourbon quantities and exposure time
  
• [x] grain bill and hops
  
• [x] yeast
  
• [x] aging vessels and process
  
• [x] account for impact of massive grain bill on process efficiency
  
• [x] Mash process and temp
  
• [x] Water chemistry
  
• [x] oak barrel
  
• [x] Bottling equipment (not enough flip tops this time)
  
• [x] get chalk
  
• [x] buy grain bill, DME and hops
  
• [ ] carbonation levels, qty of yeast to pitch for bottle conditioning and how to avoid bottle bombs
  
  
  

  RECIPE
  

  
  
  for malt bill
  https://www.homebrewhappyhour.com/bourbon-county-stout-clone-recipe/
  
  for process
  https://learn.kegerator.com/goose-island-bourbon-county-stout-clone/
  
  
  

  MALT
  

  
  
  Mash the dark groans later in the mash to avoid astringency/tannins extraction
  
  Grain bill from Hop and grain
  Buy DME in case gravity needs to be seriously corrected
  
  Base malt: 2row
  Layers of toasty/biscuit/roasted/dark malts - Up to 20% of the bill
  
  Expecting a ~15% drop in efficiency due to large grain bill (65% instead of 80%). The "11%" target accounts for eventual process undershooting or overshooting.
  
  120 minutes mash - what temp?
  Boil: 120 minutes
  
  

  WATER
  

  
  "Kettle finings are a must"
  
  

  HOPS
  

  
  60' and 45', aim for 60+ IBUs
  Neutral tasting hop preferred, EK Goldings
  
  

  YEAST
  

  
  "Pitch double yeast rate, for half sized batch"
  
  US05 2pks + yeast nutrient + rehydration
  
  Pitch temp 19-22C - violent fermentation, careful (use the 20L ferm bucket)
  
  Aerate as per usual
  
  
  

  FERMENTATION AND AGING
  

  
  

  PRIMARY
  

  
  ~1 month, time it takes to finish primary fermentation.
  
  

  SECONDARY
  

  
  Siphon in barrel. Keep excess beer for topping off the barrel (fight headspace). Prep the barrel as instructed, put in , shake and soak some bourbon after that and regularly rotate barrel to soak all places.
  
  Rack in 2 * 5L glass carboy. Make two diff. aging:
  
  Oak: American oak, medium toast cubes
  Room temp fine if not too warm.
  
  

  first carboy
  

  
  3 months aging, then bottling
  Per liter or beer: 2.7g Oak + 0.007L Bourbon
  
  

  second carboy
  

  
  6 months aging, then bottling
  Per liter or beer: 1.5g Oak in 0.005L Bourbon
  
  

  CONDITIONING
  

  
  
  Bottles. Might need to pitch fresh yeast on bottling day.
  
  TODO: qty of yeast to pitch for bottle conditioning and how to avoid bottle bombs
  
  

  INFO AND LINKS
  

  
  

• https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-much-oak-cubes-and-how-long.411105/
  
• http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1888/
  
• https://byo.com/article/russian-imperial-stout-tips-from-the-pros/
  
• https://learn.kegerator.com/goose-island-bourbon-county-stout-clone/
  
• https://www.homebrewhappyhour.com/bourbon-county-stout-clone-recipe/