Big Beers

General Homebrew Discussion
1

On my next brew day I’m going to try a couple big beers for fall/winter. An American Strong and an Imperial Stout. Not for competition. What cha think? I dont brew big very often.

Big Pale
1.094 targeted
67% Golden Promise
33% Light Munich
Mashed 150/90
58 Calculated IBUS Chinook at 60
1 lb jar of blonde invert syrup at ten
100 grams each of Cascade and Centennial at 170/15 wirlpool
Heavily oxygenated
1056 @ 62 for a couple days, then 65, finished at 72

Big Stout
1.092 targeted
60% Golden Promise
25% Dark Munich
10% Roasted Barley
5% 350L Chocolate
Mashed 150/90
54 calculated IBUS Magnum at 60
8 IBU Fuggles and 12 IBU Northern Brewer at 10
1 lb invert sugar at 10
Same fermentation as the Big Pale

2

I think they look good. Just personal preference, I’d probably bump the IBUs up a tad on the stout (to keep the sweetness in check). Either way they’ll be good beers.

3

I did my stout with the same SG with 75 IBU and i liked it.  I wouldn’t want more IBU though.

4

I’d consider adding a bit of medium crystal to bring a bit of sweetness in to help balance all the chocolate/roast.  You have a lot of base and Munich malts. With a 150F mash, the profile will tend to be on the drier side, kinda like a really, really big Irish stout.

my .02

5

And if you’re going to age this beer for very long the hop presence will fade.

6

I’ll bump the stout IBU.

Steve, you’re probably right, but dry is fine by me. Rather that than too sweet. Good advice tho

7

Honestly, even though there’s no crystal, it’ll have a fair amount of sweetness anyway in a beer that big, unlike a 1.040 Irish Stout.

8

They look delicious.

I did a Soviet Imperial Stout at 80 IBU.
Finished at 1.022. ABV=9
These are definitely beers that improve with age.
I’m going to let what I haven’t consumed sit for at least a year or more.

9

The invert should help keep things dry as well. I’m using it in more and more of my beers these days, it’s great stuff.

10

I love what your doing with the Munich malts in both recipes and particularly dig the grain bill for the pale. That’s totally how I’m rolling these days. I echo the advice that a smidgen of English crystal would do that stout justice, particularly considering your drying it out with a bit of sugar, I think a beer like that benefits having a touch of sweetness and extra body.

11

Cool. Sounds like I’m on one of the right tracks. I’ll try to remember this thread and post up how they turned out

12

Also a personal preference thing, but consider replacing the sugar in the stout with some candi syrup to get some of those dark fruit flavors.  I tend to enjoy that in my big stouts.

Cheers!

13

I have an Imperial stout on my to do list and plan to rack a gallon into a separate carboy after initial fermentation and add a pound of Cascade Candi Syrup company’s tart cherry.

14

They look good, Jim. Keep in mind a potential drop in efficiency with your higher grav beers. I’d probably mash lower at 148. Also, don’t be afraid to hold that lower fermenting temp a bit longer.

15

2 weeks in, the Big Pale is at 1.012 and the Big Stout is at 1.022. Both taste great. Im going to pull another sample in a week.

16

Been gone a while so I looked up my last post. July 20th. Not THAT long I guess. By the way this Big Stout turned out awesome. The big pale… not so much.

17

Awesome that you’re back. Assuming that you went undercover, did you catch them in the end?

18

Welcome back Jim!  Hope all is well. We missed you.  :smiley:

19

Thanks, missed you guys too

20

I’m sorry to hear your Strong Pale didn’t turn out the way you liked. I was thinking of making something similar. Any tasting notes or reasons why you think it didn’t succeed?