Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
These recipes and brewing/tasting notes come to us from Chop & Brew fan Adam Joyce from Madison, Wisconsin. Adam is a member of Sun Prairie Wort Hogs homebrew club a much-appreciated Chop & Brew Patreon supporter. (You should be one too!) He sent us a bottle of each version – Bourbon and Rum – that we’ll be sampling at some point soon. [Update: see our tasting notes in this video from our 12 Beers of Christmas 2019 series.] Until then, we encourage everyone interested in the Imperial Stout style to consider brewing this beer.
– Chip Walton | Chop & Brew
= = = = = = =
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout Version 1 – Bourbon
In the pending doom for winter I wanted to get a head start on a beer I would consider “warming” on a cold night. I tossed around a few ideas and finally settled with the idea that if I were to have five gallons of any beer I wanted a big stout that can be good after a couple months up and until a couple years or more. The idea of doing an annual batch and then doing a 2-3 year vertical started to motivate me even further to make such a large beer.
This idea evolved further and further until one day I got an email about a barrel at a discount and I could not resist. I got the barrel, made the stout and the rest is history. Granted the beer will evolve over the years and not all will be aged in a Bourbon barrel I thought it would be a good start to a yearly tradition. I currently have a Bourbon barrel and a rum version in the cellar for this winter and several years after that. I am looking forward to the next version of this beer to brew year after year.
Prior to the barrel the base had notes of boozy chocolate, coffee, roast, and caramel. Slight hints of vanilla and leather. Poured heavy the head looked like a nice rich tan latte with a midnight black beer under it. Even though it was young and had a boozy quality I still enjoyed the samples I took.
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
OG: 1.117 | FG: 1.030 | ABV: 12% | IBU: 72
For 5.5 gallons | BIAB | 65% Efficiency
Water Prep – 9.5 gallons of water total
- Bru’n Water Profile: Black Full
- 65% RO, 35% Tap – based on my home water chemistry
- 1.5 grams Gypsum
- 1.9 grams CaCL
- 2.6 grams Baking Soda
- 1.9mL lactic acid
- pH = 5.42
Malt Ingredients
- 15 lbs 11 oz 2-row (56.2%)
- 4 lbs 8 oz Munich 10 (16.1%)
- 2 lbs 7 oz Flaked Oats (8.7%)
- 2 lbs C40 (7.2%)
- 1 lbs 13 oz Chocolate Malt – 350L (6.5%)
- 1 lb 8 oz Roasted Barley (5.4%)
Mash Steps
- Mash In: 155F @ 75 minutes
- Mash Out: 168F for 10 minutes
Boil Ingredients for 120 minute boil
- 1.15 oz Magnum [12% aa] @ 60 minutes (38.5 IBU)
- 0.74 oz Columbus [14% aa] @ 25 minutes (20.2 IBU)
- 1 whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
- 1.15 oz Columbus [14% aa] @ 10 minutes (16.3 IBU)
Yeast
- WLP001 Cali Ale – two liter starter using two packages
Version 1 Notes
Brewed April 2018. I fermented this at 67F for three weeks and then moved into a five-gallon Balcones Bourbon barrel for two months. There was some leftover whisky in the barrel that I racked on top off. Prior to the barrel it was a bit boozy because of how young it was. Chocolate notes were very apparent blending into a smooth malty oat-like mouthfeel. Coffee, caramel and a little hint of vanilla. Medium-to-high bitter – though it may not hurt to bump the IBU a bit. Black as night but when poured it has a mocha head.
After sitting in an oak Bourbon barrel for two months the notes did mellow out a bit, but also added a big hit of oak and Bourbon with a slightly smoother base. I think the Bourbon addition is great. Oak, Bourbon and a wild dark, chocolate, caramel, leathery and vanilla base. I kegged it and carbonated it and had it on tap for a while before I decided to bottle a couple cases to put in the basement until next year. I would certainly give this beer six months or more to mellow out a bit, but that being said I still enjoy it when it’s a bit hot.
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout Version 2 – Rum
I made this a second time using the same recipe. My numbers were a bit off during brew day so the rum barrel version came off a bit light and seemed to have a thinner mouthfeel than the first iteration. Once the Bourbon barrel was empty of Version 1, I added a bottle of Old Sugar Distillery rum – which is also aged in oak – racked beer into barrel and aged for two months. The tasting notes are somewhat similar, other than the thinner mouthfeel. The beer still packs a punch of sweet rum, a little oak and a boozy Ol Scallywag stout. Again, I kegged, carbonated and then bottled a couple cases for later.
In the end I prefer the first one that I barrel aged. It seems more well-rounded. I suspect since I had already used that barrel, I needed to let it sit for four months instead of two to get more oak out of it. If you plan on making this I would suggest a long conditioning period to mellow out like any boozy RIS. I plan on making a non-barrel version mid-to-late winter 2018 and let sit until Christmas 2019. It would not be a bad idea to scale it down to 9-10% ABV and maybe adjust the IBU level. This one is a handful, a good stout to break open when relatives decide they want to talk politics at the dinner table.