Was planning to brew an imperial stout this weekend as I'm kid-free for it with few obligations. Started to weight out my grains last night and realized I was missing some dark grains that I had planned on in my recipe. So have some more grains coming next week, but thought I'd crowd-source thoughts here... So planning on a half barrel (15-gallon) batch. 10 gallons will be going into a barrel and the remaining 5 gallons will be getting a heavy dose of cherries. I have no black patent malt, and only a half pound of roasted barley (500L). But have the following: - tons of Perla Negra (dehusked chocolate malt - 340L) - plenty of Briess chocolate malt - plenty of chocolate rye - plenty of various cara malts ranging up to 170L So would you wait for black patent & roasted barley or go ahead with the brew this weekend with a possible cold-brewed grains addition afterwards?
Personally, I'd wait. To me, grain bill is so key to an Imperial Stout that I wouldn't mess around. I suspect my vote will offset @GormBrewhouse's vote yet to be cast.
"plenty of Briess chocolate malt" I brew with English chocolate malt and have zero experience with Briess chocolate malt. Are there a complexity of flavors from this product? If so, why not just brew with what you got? Otherwise wait? How about a compromise solution of just brewing a 5 gallon batch with the ingredients you have on hand to produce the Cherry Imperial Stout? Cheers!
hahahahahahaa. I ,as well, will go with waiting, and, agree a imperial stout is mostly about the big complex grain bill.extras like nibs, cherries and other ingrediants do add, but ya gotta have the grain. next voter up
Cause...that'd require two brew days...way too much time invested and you know I'm not brewing next weekend. I do need to get my brown out of the barrel and want something ready to go when I empty it. Definitely leaning towards brewing this weekend and maybe steep the black patent in the fermenter....I mean, what could go wrong with that?
haha...no, never done before...but wondering about it. I mean the roasting will have killed pretty much everything, right?
I would look at what ingredients I have on hand and try to make the best of it. And you have a lot of choices. However I brew 2.5-5 gallon batches and am not afraid to throw out beer. If I brewed 15 gallons, I might be less adventurous. Nah. I’d wing it.
In my last beer I steeped the toasted oak cubes in the fermentor (it was about 2 weeks). Flavor is very nicely subtle. It worked! But I poured boiling water over them first to sanitize and clean. If you're getting creative, why not deep roast some of the grains you have on hand? Oven...baking pan...200-400 F your choice...toss every 10 mins...a dry roast.
This may be a too late, but you could make the beer, and while it is fermenting either cold or hot steep the black patent, followed by pasteurizing the steeped liquor, and then add whenever it make sense to do so. Cheers!
