Critique, info, and help on my (ris) stout recipe?!

Rye malt needs to be mashed not steeped. I would google mini-mash if I were you. Basically, get 1# of 2-row and add to your steeping grains (all in your grain sock). That would give you a total of 2.5# of grain. I usually mash with 1.5 qts / lb, so ~3.75 qts round up to 4qts = 1 gallon. Heat everything to ~150 and hold that temp for at least 30 mins, then drain. You can rinse the grain to get more sugars into your wort. Then continue as normal, i.e. add DME...

I think most people here would not use the dark or amber DME (just light DME), prefering to get color/flavor from the steeping grains. I would not add that much sugar to a RIS, but I like mine more "chewy".

That room temp should be close to ideal, the actual fermentation temp will likely be ~5 degrees higher than your ambient temp so right around 65 degrees.

Don't do a secondary, just leave it for 3-4 weeks then bottle.

FWIW, I would consider getting recipes from a different source in the future

good luck

 

Just want to elaborate on this part for the OP. The dark and amber extracts have grains added to them to make them dark and amber. They undoubtedly taste different than light extracts. Unfortunately, unless you happen to know the malt extract very well from past experiences, it is difficult to know the balance of dark roasted malts, dark huskless malts (usually lacking roast character), and sweet crystal malts used to make the extract's color. If you make your recipe from light extract, made only from base malts, you can add the specialty grains in whatever proportions you see fit and you will have a better sense for which grains are responsible for your finished beer. This approach gives you more control and allows you to learn about ingredients more readily. However, if I already had the DME on hand, I'd give it a shot, but maybe in less complex recipes.

In addition I do think you have more sugar than you need, and I suspect that you will have a difficult time tasting any of the Belgian sugar in here, given that the recipe already has specialty grains and unknown grains from the extracts. The candi syrup products are probably more flavorful than the crystalline sugar products, althrough I don't know that from experience. However, these products shine in recipes with barebones grists. My best use of the dark syrup was a dubbel with nothing else but pils malt.

 

Just had another thought, in case you already do have the dark extract. Some on-liner retailers who sell ingredient kits publish their recipes, and sometimes these recipes use dark or amber extract. These recipes have often been well tested (at least for big retailers). While not all extract brands are the same, it may help you target what a reasonable recipe looks like. If you keep your tweaks of those recipes minor and purposeful, and you set your yeast up for a good fermentation (proper pitching rate, lots of oxygen, and temperature control - it's a big beer you are setting out to make), you might just end up with a really tasty beer. Here is Northern Brewers RIS recipe: http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/ImperialStout.pdf

 

If you want a neutral yeast then notty at that temp works. If you want a more flavorful ale yeast you're going to have us something like s-04 at a slightly higher temp imo. Are you using the sugar to up the abv without adding a lot of body? You might want to try briess rye malt extract instead of trying to steep rye grains. Replace the amber or dark extract with rye and then fill in the rest of the base extract with light or extra light extract. I really do not like the dark or amber extracts they take way too much control from the brewer and you don't learn much by using them.

EDIT: The Briess rye malt extract contains crystal 40 so you might want to take that into account.