DEFALCO'S IMPERIAL STOUT RECIPE

Opaque dark, roasty, strong & very smooth
O.G. - 1.090       F.G. - 1.022
 
INGREDIENTS:
 
  • 12 lbs. dark malt extract
  • 1 lb. British pale ale malt
  • 1/2 lb. roast unmalted barley
  • 1/4 lb. Chocolate Malt
  • 1/2 lb. medium crystal malt
  • 1/2 lb. Belgian Special B Malt
  • 1 oz. Columbus hops (bittering)
  • 1 oz. Brewer’s Gold hops (flavoring)
  • 1 oz. U.S. Goldings hops (finishing)
  • Yeast:    Dried - 1 pkg. Nottingham or Safale US-05 ale yeast
  • Liquid - Wyeast#1084, #1028 or White Labs Irish, British, English
  • 1 pkg. Bru-Vigor (yeast food if using tap water)
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (priming)
 
PROCEDURE: Note: If you are using Wyeast liquid yeast, prepare the yeast 24 hours prior to brewing! Activate the yeast by “smacking” it to rupture the internal pouch, thereby mixing its contents with the other contents in the pouch. Allow the yeast to remain at room temperature to swell. Check the packaging date on the pouch. If it has been over two months since it was packaged, allow an extra day for the pouch to swell up. If you are using White Labs Pitchable Yeast, simply remove from refrigerator and allow to warm up to room temperature during the brew session. A brew of this strength can greatly benefit from the use of a yeast starter to increase the amount of viable yeast pitched.
  1. In a small saucepan, bring a gallon of water to 160°-170° and turn off the heat. Add the bag of grains and water salts (if used) and steep 30 minutes. Now, gently sparge (rinse) the grains with hot tap water (ideal temperature 168°) and bring the total volume up to two or more gallons in a stainless steel or enameled kettle (avoid aluminum). As a rule, boiling as much of the full five gallons as possible is best. Bring to boil and resume step #2.
  2. Turn off heat and add malt extract. Return to boil, taking care not to allow wort to overflow onto your stovetop. Start timing now, continuing the boil for 5 minutes. Add the bittering hops (1 oz. Columbus) and boil 45 minutes. Now add the flavoring hops (1 oz. Brewer’s Gold) and boil 10 minutes. For aroma, add the finishing hops (1 oz. Goldings) and immediately turn off heat.
  3. To facilitate cooling, we suggest placing your brewing kettle in the sink with 5 or 6 inches of cold water (A tray or two of ice cubes in the cooling bath wouldn't hurt). Allow to stand for 20 - 30 minutes in the cooling bath.  Try to get your wort down to the same temperature as you are planning to ferment at.
  4. For best results, we recommend using Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast. If using dried yeast, while the wort is cooling, rehydrate the dried yeast. To do this, sprinkle the yeast into a cup of lukewarm (90°-100°F) water and cover with saran wrap or tin foil. Let stand for 10 - 20 minutes.
  5. Pour the cooled wort into the fermenter. Bring the total volume up to five gallons. Check and record the temperature and specific gravity at this time. Make the necessary gravity corrections for temperatures above 60° (Add .001 for every 7° above 60°F).
  6. If the temperature is less than 80°, pour the yeast "slurry" and the packet of Bru-Vigor (if using tap water) into the wort and place the lid and airlock over the fermenter. Although ideal fermentation temperatures are lower,it is very important to get the fermentation started as soon as possible to avoid contamination of the beer. In any case, be aware that temperatures over 110o will most likely kill your beer yeast.
  7. For best results, ferment at 60° - 75°F.
  8. FERMENTATION: Double Stage - The beer will be ready to rack (syphon) when the rocky head subsides (2 - 4 days) and the gravity drops to approximately 1.026 or less. Syphon the beer into the secondary fermenter. As soon as the foaming allows, top up the secondary with water to within 2 - 3 inches of the fermentation lock if your volume is short. Allow to ferment and settle until action has virtually ceased and the beer has clarified.
         FERMENTATION: Single Stage - We do not recommend single stage fermentation for a beer of this strength. If you must ferment using single stage fermentation, then allow wort to ferment for 10 days. Assuming your fermentation lock has stopped bubbling proceed to step #9, bottling preparations. We do recommend that you reduce your priming sugar if using this method.
  9. Check the specific gravity. This final gravity (F.G.) should read about 1.022 or less. If it is more than 1.027, do not bottle until you call us!
  10. Prepare the priming sugar by making a simple syrup on the stove. Pour the sugar into a small saucepan containing a cup of boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Pour this mixture into the finished beer as you are syphoning it into a sanitized priming container. Stir well, but avoid excess splashing. Immediately syphon the beer into sanitized bottles, leaving about an inch of head space. Use a bottle filler for ease in filling.
  11. Allow beer to age at room temperature for at least a month before chilling. Peak flavor should be reached about six months and lasts for at least a year. Longer aging will result in a smoother taste.
  12. Chill and serve! Pour carefully so as not to disturb the small amount of sediment on the bottom of the bottles. Enjoy your homemade beer!
ALL-GRAIN RECIPE
 
  • 22 lbs. Domestic Pale Ale malt
  • 1/2 lb. roast unmalted barley
  • 1/4 lb. Chocolate Malt
  • 1/2 lb. medium crystal malt
  • 1/2 lb. Belgian Special B Malt
  • 1 oz. Columbus hops (bittering)
    • v 1 oz. Brewer’s Gold hops (flavoring)
  • 1 oz. U.S. Goldings hops (finishing)
  • Yeast:    Dried - 1 pkg. Nottingham or Safale US-05 ale yeast
  • Liquid - Wyeast#1084, #1028 or White Labs Irish, British, English
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (priming)
 
Mashing Procedure: Heat 7 gallons of water to 168°, mix in water salts and stir thoroughly, now dough your crushed grain in, making sure to stir constantly to avoid dry pockets of grain. Once grain is thoroughly mixed in, cover. Check temperature after approximately five minutes, it should be about 153°, plus or minus 4°. If it is noticeably colder or hotter, add boiling water or ice cubes and stir to mix in to adjust temperature. Stir mash every 10 - 15 minutes. After an hour of mashing, recirculate wort back through grain bed until it begin to flow relatively clear, not a lot of cloudiness. Now you may run this clear wort off into your kettle while you slowly sparge the grain with hot water at about 168°. Try to collect a total of at least 9 gallons. Bring to a boil for about 70 minutes to reduce volume. Now begin adding hops as outlined above. Yes, this is a long boil!  Please note that when using all grain recipes, your original and final gravities may vary considerably from our predicted readings.