Critique my Imperial Stout

My only suggestion and I'm sure plenty use 2-row but I always go with Marris Otter for my base 2-row. It's english, but that might not be what you are going for. the black malt is that like black patent?

but yeah looks pretty good. I've never tried lactose, that's usually used in like a milk stout right?

 

I would up the 2 row by 1 lb and cutdown the specialty grains so you have no more than 1 lb per specialty grain for 5 gallon batch.and I also prefer marris otter for my IRS. That is who I like it. Don't know about the lactose.

Marris otter is more expensive but you can get a nutty thicker taste than standard 2 row.

 

Seems high on the black patent, especially paired with roasted barley and chocolate malt. I've gotten ashy, astringent flavors from too much black patent. I'd pare it down to 2-3%

 

I've never done a RIS, but the high specialty grain to base malt ratio is the first thing that jumped out at me as well. Glancing at a few different online RIS recipes, it looks like the specialty grain to base malt ratio is usually more in the 1:4 to 1:5 range. I'd echo what @GormBrewhouse said.

 

Do you only boil off .5 gallon in an hour?

 

I agree with the other posts. You currently have about 30% dark malts (black, RB, chocolate), thats a lot. I would cut that about in half. I'm not a fan of lactose, but that's a personal preference. US05 is a good choice though.
If using distilled, your water is going to be pretty acidic with all those dark malts. You might run into some conversion problems. Might be good idea to add some baking soda, or slaked lime, or chalk. You should try something like Brewcipher to get an idea of your water profile.

 

I brewed an RIS in the fall that ironically I tapped last night. It was 58% base malt and 42% specialty grains (flaked oats, Munich, chocolate, C120, black, and roast barley). I went with such a high percent because I also read that CCB does this with their stouts, which I consider the standard for richness and mouthfeel in a stout. Mine tasted great, albeit not as good as Zhukov, but it certainly had a richness and thick mouthfeel I've not had on my prior imperial stouts.

 

Use spring water. You need the minerals.If you were using dme, a 50/50 mix of distilled and spring would work because dme contains minerals.

 

OP, regarding post #12 above, Munich isn't really a specialty grain, as it can self convert, so don't get thrown off by those percentages too much.

One last suggestion would be to vary your crystal malts a little more. C150 and special B are not very different. Personally I would switch out the special b for some c60 or 80. Or an English crystal in that lovibond range even better.

 

Too much specialty grains can lead to an overly sweet beer due to a huge amount of non fermentables and., as others have mentioned, increased acidity. Specialty grains are like spices, for me, and one can use too much of a good thing. Special b is an excellent grain , but using over 1 lb per five gallon batch can make your beer a raisin bomb. If that is what zukof tastes like then rock on. When I use special b I use .5 lb or less per five gallons and get a nice effect.

In the end everybody has different tastes. Have fun and let us know how it turns out.

 

I find that big beers leave a lot more flavor from the base malt. Specialty grains as many others have said need to be in check. I would therefore keep the base malt at about 80% or perhaps higher.

For your consideration:

3.95lb marris otter- 81.3%
.1lb chocolate malt- 2.1%
.25lb roasted barley- 5.3%
.2lb caramel 150 or special b (not both)- 4.3%
.25lb flaked oats- 5.3%
.075lb black patent- 1.6%