I would like some help making my first recipe

      I'm attempting to make my first recipe (on paper,, first).

I would like to make an imperial stout in the same vain as The Abyss, which is a great beer but very complex.

I increased the Dry Malt Extract to match the OG Style of ( 13F Imperial Stout ), then adjusted the bittering hops to balance the ibu/su ratio.
I then click the Misc. to add Oak chips,  Anise star,  Malto-Dext.  (couldn't find Molasses)  to add to the (complex) of the beer.


So...... I would like to know if there are any other adjustments or ratio's that  I would need to make, ( Other than the ibu/su ratio for the increased malt extract )  to keep in line with this style of beer?

Any advice or helpfull hints would be welcomed
stevemwazup.                                                                                                               





Steve's Irish Cream Stout Terminator stout/ PLUS EXTRA FOR THE ABYSS RECIPE i hope!!!!
Imperial Stout


Type: Extract
Date: 4/19/2009
Batch Size: 7.00 gal
Brewer: Steve
Boil Size: 5.82 gal Asst Brewer: 
Boil Time: 60 min  Equipment: steve's 10 gallon Pot 
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0  Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes: 
 
Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
13.53 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 81.96 %
1.58 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 9.56 %
1.40 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 8.48 %
6.30 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 62.2 IBU
2.40 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] (10 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
0.70 tsp Burton Water Salts (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
4.90 oz Anise, Star (Boil 30.0 min) Misc 
7.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
7.84 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc 
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale 


 
Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.086 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.022 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.44 %  Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 67.2 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 33.7 SRM Color: Color 

 
Mash Profile

Mash Name: None Total Grain Weight: 29.04 lb
Sparge Water: - Grain Temperature: -
Sparge Temperature: - TunTemperature: -
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: -
 
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)


 
Mash Notes: -
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 13.7 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F 
 
Notes Build a big starter for happy fermentation
This one is for ( The Abyss ).
Created with BeerSmith

My only suggestion to you would be to leave out the malto-dextrin. This is an unfermentable sugar that will leave residual sweetness; desirable for a cream stout, but not so much for an imperial stout. I think the molasses is a great idea. It will give you a SG boost and add some highly fermentable sugars to get the yeast going. I would also do whatever I could to oxygenate the crap out of the wort before pitching yeast, or you may have attenuation problems.

Thanks for the info about the Malto-dextrin.

I couldn't find molasses on the misc. tab, would anyone have any suggestions on the amounts. Or am I just not looking in the right place.

thanks for your reply.
stevemwazup

I am not familiar with The Abyss, but some malto-dex may be appropriate for the chewy mouthfeel of some Imperials, esp. since you're using extract and cannot change the profile of the DME you've got.

The 1084 is moderate on attenuation and flocc, so a longer primary will help completion and resolution of any diacetyl. 

I am not sure what flaked barley would do with steep-only, but other than the roasted barley, I don't see the grain/malt complexity that you seek.  If it were me, I'd use some Maris Otter 2-row for the bready/bisquity flavor, and use some chocolate, pale chocolate, small amt of black, for the bittersweet and coffee flavors, and maybe some dark crystal like 120L or Special B for the dark fruit and currant flavors.  Perhaps also some CaraMunich for some raisin flavors.

This is probably more work than you want but something like this would steep well in a s/s pot in the oven at 156F for 30 mins. 

Maris otter                      2#
Munich                          0.50#
Caramunich                    0.50#
Mix of the dark for another 1#

stevemwazup said:

I couldn't find molasses on the misc. tab, would anyone have any suggestions on the amounts. Or am I just not looking in the right place.

Click to expand...

Molasses should be found in the grains not the misc because it adds sugars to the wort, which increases ABV. I would not use more than 5% of total recipe.

I think I would drop the barley altogether, and add some chocolate, Cara, and Black malts to give it some depth.

Make sure you give this one some time in the primary. 1.086 is a big beer and will benefit from extending the primary fermentation out a bit. Also don't be surprised if this one finishes out above your estimated 1.022 (75% attenuation).  I would expect this one to finish around 1.027 and be happy if id goes below that. This also means it will be green longer and will also benefit from aging for and extended amount of time.

Cheers
Preston

Thank You guys for your advice and being so approachable with questions we newbies have.
Much Appreciated
stevemwazup

Molasses is listed under "Grains, Extracts, & Sugars"

stevemwazup said:

Thank You guys for your advice and being so approachable with questions we newbies have.
Much Appreciated
stevemwazup

Click to expand...

So where did the FG end up at, and how does it taste?

Cheers
Preston

     The FG ended up at 1.030. It taste really good. The color has a brown hue to it. It's still dark but not the deep black like I was expecting. Maybe I'll try some carafa 3 for color and  flavor next time.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions with the speciality malts, that really got me doing some research into the differant malts and what they can do for the beer. I used small amounts, of the different malts so I could give myself a point of reference for my next brew. Learning how the different malts effect the character of a beer is a lot of fun.

Thanks again,
stevemwazup.  Please take a look at my final recipe and feel free to leave any comments.

Type: Extract
Date: 4/19/2009
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Brewer: Steve
Boil Size: 8.00 gal Asst Brewer: 
Boil Time: 60 min  Equipment: My Equipment for steve's 10 gal pot 
Taste Rating(out of 50): 45.0  Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes: 
 
Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.03 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 70.34 %
1.58 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 11.07 %
1.40 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 9.82 %
0.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 3.51 %
0.25 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
4.05 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 77.9 IBU
2.90 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] (10 min) Hops 11.9 IBU
0.45 tsp Burton Water Salts (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
4.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale 


 
Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.076 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.080 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.020 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.030 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.43 %  Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.55 %
Bitterness: 89.8 IBU Calories: 374 cal/pint
Est Color: 41.7 SRM Color: Color 

 
Mash Profile

Mash Name: None Total Grain Weight: 29.04 lb
Sparge Water: - Grain Temperature: -
Sparge Temperature: - TunTemperature: -
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: -
 
Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)


 
Mash Notes: -
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 13.7 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F   
 
Notes

I Fermented the wort at 68.0 for 10 days, racked to secondary, at 66.0 for conditioning, still waiting to keg.

The tatse is realy good. The color is dark but it has a brown hue to it, instead of being just black.
Next time I will try adding some carafa 3 to the recipe for color.