Black Rose Imperial Stout Homebrew Recipe
This recipe comes to us by way of Dan Murphy, Chip’s homeboy from their University of Alabama days. Dan is a homebrew who went on to become a pro brewer, the head brewer at Fairhope Brewing Company in Fairhope, AL where he scaled this imperial stout recipe up for commercial production under the name Merry Widows Russian Imperial Stout.
If you didn’t know, New Orleans gets all the love, but Mobile, Alabama’s Mardi Gras is the oldest in the U.S. due partly to Joe Cain, who helped revived the Carnival tradition during Reconstruction. To this day, the Sunday before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is celebrated as Joe Cain Day in Mobile. His veiled band of Merry Widows led a procession from Joe Cain’s former home to his grave in Church Street Cemetery, and they are the only group or krewe throughout the weeks-long Mardi Gras festivities that throw black roses and black beads to revelers in the streets.
Being from Mobile, Chip named this beautiful dark, strong beer Black Rose Imperial Stout in tribute to Joe Cain, his Merry Widows, and many years of Mardi Gras madness, fun, and frivolity.
Check out the fun when we got together and home cooked a full menu of Creole cuisine and enjoyed this beer.
These are Dan Murphy’s specs for the recipe, given in percentages and IBUs as most pro brewers communicate a recipe. Use brewing software to calculate exact weight measurements based on volume scale of your brew as well as the efficiency of your system.
SG: 23.4 (Approx. 1.094)
Fermentables
- 83% Maris Otter (Fawcett)
- 7% Roasted Barley (Fawcett)
- 3.5% Briess Extra Special Malt
- 3.5% Simpsons Golden Naked Oats
- 2.0% Weyermann Carmunich III
- 2.0% Briess Red Wheat
Mash at 153F. Collect wort and boil for 90 minutes.
Hops
- 45 IBU at 60 minutes
- 12 IBU of Zythos at 30 minutes
Boil wort for 30 minutes with no hops, then add hops as noted during boil.
Yeast
- WLP090 – San Diego Super Yeast
Cool wort to 60F, pitch yeast, and aim to keep fermentation between 60-64F.