After 12 days I racked to secondary with a FG of 1.007. With my OG being 1.042 that will give this beer an ABV of 5.5%. A good session beer for the spring/summer I think. I did get the promised hints of citrus and pear with a bit of spicey notes. One unfortunate thing that happened was that I cooled the heated fermenter down from 74 degrees to room temp of 59 a day prior to racking. The air and liquid must have condensed, therefore pulling in about 1/2 cup of the water in my blow off vessel, up through the tubing and into the top of the bucket and into the beer. I didn’t see any film on top nor smell any off smells, so hopefully all is good. Note to self to leave the temp alone prior to racking.
I also cracked a couple beers that have been aging for a while. My Imperial Stout and Belgian Dubbel turned out great. They’re a little low on the carb but it has only been a couple weeks and it has been cold so they’ll only get better from here on out. So far, the stout has been the best tasting beer I’ve made. Very excited to share.
I did some reading and agreed to some of it, that the primary benefit of doing secondary fermentation is to clear the bear of suspended matter. I absolutely believe that the beer matures and finds a more complex personality during secondary. However, the latter of these two things can happen while bottle conditioning.
That being said, I chose to bottle both my Imperial Stout and the Belgian Dubbel early. The stout was given almost 2 months to secondary and the Dubbel was given about 3 weeks to clear in secondary. They’ll now age in the bottle and I might as well have them carb up at the same time.
Also, I need some equipment free to start my next brew, a Belgian Patersbier. I bottled both of the above using both plastic and glass bottles for a variety of sizes.
This was also the first time I’ve used yeast at bottling, which should be done anytime I secondary a beer from here on out. I used a couple dry yeasts for both. For the Dubbel I used a whole pack of T-58 along with 2/3 cup corn sugar, which was probably double of the yeast I should have used. The result will simply be more matter at the bottom of the bottle, so I’ll pour carefully. It shouldn’t effect the beer. For the Imperial Stout, I used about 3/4 cup of corn sugar with a half a packet of US-05. I was talking to a guy at the LHBS and he mentioned trying to use 5 oz of corn sugar and 2 oz of normal table cane sugar because traditionally they are both eaten by the yeast differently and for some reason it is a good method for bottling.
After some serious initial fermentation I’ve racked my Imperial Stout to a secondary fermenter. I think after this brew, I’ll purchase and use some Fermcap to reduce too much krausen and issues with excessive blow off.
My FG was 1.027. My OG was 1.081. I used this site to calculate my ABV and it gave me 7.2%. Ooofta. The color has a slight tint of burgandy, maybe from the malt. The rest looks like motor oil.
I’ve been wanting to brew this beer ever since I got my eyes on the Northern Brewer catalog. Here is there description:
“Imperial stouts were first brewed in England for export to the royal courts of the Russian Tsars. The Tsars are gone but the beer remains, the “War and Peace” of stouts. This kit yields a pitch black beer with tan head, resounding with burnt, bitter chocolate character, hops, and syrupy malt. A viscous, chewy body finishing with lots of roast grain and a warming alcohol note. A nice companion on a cold winter night or accompanying chocolate dessert. Recommended: 2-stage fermentation and yeast starter.”
Imperial Stout
Extract kit from Northern Homebrewer, Milwaukee, WI
Target OG: 1.086
Malt 1: 6 lbs. Dark Malt LME
Malt 2: 6 lbs. Dark Malt LME
Grain 1: .5 lb Simpsons Roasted Barley
Grain 2: .5 lb Simpsons Black Malt
Grain 3: .5 lb Simpsons Chocolate
Hop 1: 2 oz Galena – alpha 13.0% (60 min)
Yeast: #1728 Scottish Ale Yeast w/ decanted starter using stir plate (55°-70°F)
Boiling Schedule:
Steep grains at 155°F for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil. Sparge grains with 1/2 gallon of boiled water. Remove water from heat and mix LME @ 60 minutes. Bring water back to a boil and add Hop 1 @ 60 minutes.
Notes:
Suggested 292 billion cells for a 2 L starter. Transfer to secondary fermenter after about 14 days or begin taking daily hydrometer readings – when hydrometer readings are the same on consecutive days, primary fermentation is complete. Proceed to secondary fermentation for 2 months. Bottle with .75 cups of corn sugar. Bottle condition for up to 1 month. My OG was 1.081.
