Brewing a MASSIVE Russian Imperial Stout! | Classic Styles

In this video, I cover my brew day for my second attempt at a Russian Imperial Stout. This time I significantly improved the recipe and my brew techniques and the product is excellent so far. Because this beer is well over 10% ABV and has very powerful flavors in it, I will be aging it in bulk for over six months and will not be doing a tasting video until then. Also, since I'm limited by kettle size and because I want to minimize fermenter headspace for the 6-month aging period, I'll be brewing two 3-gallon batches and blending them on bottling day instead of one huge batch. I think this will turn out to be one of the best beers I've made to date and I am very excited to see how it ages, so join me for the brew day and feel free to try it yourself!
#homebrew #RIS #RussianImperialStout
Tasting video: • Tasting my Russian Imp...
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The 60% Brewhouse efficiency BIAB recipe for 4 gal into the fermenter is below, along with the links to buy these ingredients from Amazon if you wish, but be aware they will not be as fresh as if you bought them in person from your LHBS:
Recipe on Brewfather: share.brewfath...
"Heart of Darkness"
16 lb UK Pale 2-Row - amzn.to/30dZjGO
1.5 lb Black Barley - amzn.to/2JiiedW
.75 lb Chocolate Malt - amzn.to/2JsyTdR
.75 lb Special B - amzn.to/2LIgeNC
.5 lb Crystal 120 - amzn.to/2RYSNkx
.5 lb Caramunich - amzn.to/2XxhQB5
Single Infusion Mash at 151 F for 90+ min
Water (ppm) - Ca: 66, Mg: 12, Na: 65, SO4: 77, Cl: 118, HCO3: 81
Gypsum: amzn.to/2XupJHv
Epsom: amzn.to/2XwlR3N
Baking Soda: amzn.to/2LG8lIM
Calcium Chloride: amzn.to/2Xsslpg
Calcium Carbonate: amzn.to/2xwiYpg
Campden Tablets: amzn.to/2RYnPJ4
pH Strips: amzn.to/2XrJgZ0
60 minute boil:
60 min - 1.25 oz Northern Brewer (9.9% AA) - amzn.to/2JuRshk
30 min - 0.75 oz Northern Brewer (9.9% AA) - amzn.to/2JuRshk
15 min - 0.5 oz Northern Brewer (9.9% AA) - amzn.to/2JuRshk
0.75 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) - amzn.to/30mvIuZ
Add chiller, yeast nutrient - Yeast Nutrient - amzn.to/2YNwUa8
5 min - 0.75 oz East Kent Goldings (5.6% AA) - amzn.to/30mvIuZ
OG: 1.100
Yeast: 2 x rehydrated US-05 dry ale yeast - amzn.to/2XrABps

[@andrewpropst787]

Can you share or point me in the direction for the full 5 gal batch recipe?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Quickly scaling up my beersmith recipe gave me this: 20 lb 2 Row 1.75 lb Black Barley 14 oz chocolate malt 14 oz Special B 10 oz Caramunich 10 oz Crystal 120 1.6 oz Northern brewer 60 min 1 oz Northern Brewer 30 min 1 oz EKG 15 min 0.7 oz Northern Brewer 15 min 1 oz EKG 5 min Hope you have enough room!

[@andrewpropst787]

TheApartmentBrewer Awesome thanks!! Great job with your videos!

[@andrewpropst787]

@@TheApartmentBrewer One question for clarification. Are you using the Caramunich I, II or III? Thanks Again!!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

@@andrewpropst787 my homebrew shop doesnt specify actually. I would assume whichever is the most common. 1?

[@Silverbullet69420]

Russian Imperials are my favorite style, would love to take a swing at this sometime

[@Stisse57]

I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout earlier this year. Planning on sampling it for Christmas! I used oak shavings in the secondary storage part of the brewing process.

[@jamesdunne9260]

Thanks for the video and recipe. I just brewed this and am planning to age for six months until the Australian winter!

[@ChutesBrewing]

This is a style I very much would like to brew. I did a huge barley wine several years ago (~12% ABV) that I aged for nine months with some bourbon soaked oak. A few things I learned form that experience: 1. I too get impatient and want to try it early. Resist that temptation; it's well worth it in the end. 2. Save half of it and just let it age for several more months. I aged the second half of my barley wine for a another year and it was FAR better than the first half since the flavors really matured during that extra long aging. 3. See point #1! Your RIS is a beer that will only get better with time. Keep up the great work; you're publishing really great videos!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

This is all 100% true, that sounds like an outstanding beer! Patience is not my strong suit so I tend to be very bad at aging bottles. This is precisely why I left this brew in a fermenter instead. It's getting close to a time that I can bottle this monster though, and I am very excited.

[@homecraftbrewing941]

Did you bulk age the second half?

[@ChutesBrewing]

@@homecraftbrewing941 No, they aged in their own bottles. The next time I brew one, I intend on bulk aging, probably in a small oak barrel for some extra funness.

[@bumpy-isms]

Hope to see you with this imperial stout in hand this winter. Great brewday Cheers Steve

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Hell yeah, I'll be sure to put a few bottles away for you

[@Zorro7Point5]

The base brew in one, and a adjunct brew in the other

[@Frameshaft]

I actually tried a RIS 2 weeks ago, it’s my 6th brew to date so I’m not expecting greatness but who knows! Buggered up water volume calculations along with an under powered stove led me to get 6L at 1.075 instead of 4L at ~ 1.100 1.110 and I dumped some left overt S-04 in the second, US-05 in the main one. I was gonna condition and bottle age but I hear priming is different with strong beers so I might just taste each one and combine in a gallon jug fillet to the top and dump the rest, will still get 8 pints so not to bad. Planning on aging 4 months. Great vid and on to the tasting part !

[@ramsie50mp]

Really appreciate your time to explain the process in layman terms it helps the beginner and novice to understan9d the process as it unfold

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Glad you found it useful! Cheers!

[@gumbomudd2801]

Great Video Steve... I really like the way you explain everything and show exactly what you're doing... Helps to understand the brewing process so much better. My girlfriend and I have a dark beer review channel called "Gumbo Mudd" and we will definitely recommend your channel... Great Job!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@christophermartin520]

I've had a few homebrews tonight. Been wanting to brew a RIS for almost two years and as I was drinking a Dunkel and thought I would look up homebrewing Dunkel. After watching this and your Dunkel video. You mate have got a new sub and a new follower on Instagram. Keep up the good brews. Cheers Christopher

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Cheers and thanks for the sub! I I'm glad you found it useful, and happy brewing! I tasted the RIS a few days ago and it is very good!

[@vaunthompson]

Thanks for your great work! Can you tell me the strike water quantity and temperature..? Thanks!

[@homecraftbrewing941]

Really enjoyed the video (and the tastings in subsequent videos, as well). I'm planning on doing my first imperial stout soon and am stoked to see you get such great results; huge motivation as I start my batch!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Awesome! Im glad you enjoyed it!

[@ChristopherNapolitano-i4o]

RIS my kind of beer, what was the water to grain raito that you used in the mash, this is the part I always get wrong.

[@kenfrank6771]

Can you clarify: was the "1.5 lb black barley" a "black malt (aka black patent)", or a "roasted barley". Going on the "stout" style, I'd assume "roasted barley 550L", but wanted to be sure...

[@garyballared2077]

would dilution be a better option?

[@Hannes_Lind]

Man u need to get a refractometer by the size of your samples for measuring the OG, nothing left to drink :). Btw they are not expensive anymore. Like ur vids though, just some feedback on what to invest in.

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

I'll have to check that out. Would be nice to have the extra precision, but I'm not sure how I would work it into my videos. Unfortunately at least a full glasses' worth of beer goes into these samples

[@Hannes_Lind]

Check out Dr.Hans Brewery he uses one regulary and puts photo of the OG in the vids.

[@jafarym77]

Yes, refractometer and digital ph meter will make your brew days much easier.

[@Zorro7Point5]

That grain build was H U G E !

[@garyelderman1229]

Oatmeal in the mash? I've found giving it a short cook on its own in boiling water will gelitanize it for conversion. My last batch left raw oatmeal at the end. Maybe you are doing something different. Love the "Apartment" part of brewing. you are making the most of it!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Although there wasn't any oatmeal in this brew it did seem to have an impact on the gravity for the NEIPA I brewed the other day. I'll have to consider that

[@rogeliomoreno1441]

I´ll try to brew this one, but I´m new to these kind of special malts... do all of them have to be crushed??

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

For the most part, yes. However anything that is in flaked form (flaked barley, flaked wheat, etc) doesn't need to be run through the mill and can go straight into the mash as is

[@rogeliomoreno1441]

@@TheApartmentBrewer Thanks!

[@Kberrysal]

Have you ever done it cold steep for your stout beer

[@TheBubyChris]

I’m curious how much water you used to get the 4 gallons of wort per batch? Maybe I missed that part

[@PbFoot]

nice! whats the music you used?

[@Marr0w1]

Really good video, I've been too worried about efficiency to tackle a recipe this big with my setup (but working on something closer to your RIMS video setup now). What did you do for secondary? Add any extra oxygen, or just rack into a different carboy with an airlock and let it sit at ambient? Definitely keen to try this recipe (if I can figure out how to fit it in with my fermenters)

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

I transferred over to dual 3 gal fermenters for secondary. Unfortunately this meant I had to leave some beer behind. But that kept the oxygen exposure limited. I did leave it at room temperature for aging but I probably could have kept it at cellar temp and it would have been even better

[@matthewmclean6571]

I can't find again where you said it in the video - what were your fermentation temperatures for primary and secondary? Thanks a lot!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

I think I stayed around 65-68 F for this brew, and then while aging I left it at room temp, but it would probably be even better if it was aged at cellar temps

[@matthewmclean6571]

Thanks! I just came across your channel and really appreciate the full brew day videos. By the way, what do you use for yeast nutrient? I'm brewing an RIS this weekend and taking some tips from your videos.

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Awesome! I'm happy you enjoy the long videos. I will typically use Fermax yeast nutrient. Good luck with the brew!

[@matthewmclean6571]

​@@TheApartmentBrewer Thanks a lot. The imperial stout brew went pretty well! I was wondering - have you ever tried dunk sparging? I'm new to BIAB, but I tried dunk sparging with my last two batches and I got insane efficiency, way higher than I ever got in a cooler-style mash tun. Although, I haven't tasted the final products yet, so I don't know if I am getting tannins or not.

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Happy to hear the brew went well for you! Cant say I've heard of that sparging method. How does it work?

[@Rubio_Eric]

I brewed a 4gal batch for the same reason u did. I am aging it in a keg with a few psi of co2 because of the extra head pace. Do u see any problems aging a stout like that?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Nothing wrong with that at all. That's how I aged the RIS I did the year after this one

[@Rubio_Eric]

@@TheApartmentBrewer awesome

[@user-gi5ck7oi2q]

You say that you made 2 batches with this. Was the grain build split in half or is it doubled?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

I used the same grain bill each time I brewed

[@user-gi5ck7oi2q]

Thanks

[@john8451]

Great video but a couple of points. If you do have to have music, fade it out when you are speaking because on more than one occasion it completely drowned out your words. Also if you are going to put text on the screen, leave it there for more than couple of seconds to give people time to read and understand it.

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

100% agree. This is one of my older videos, and I definitely had a lot to learn with editing at the time. Hope you enjoyed the video though!

[@afhostie]

How much did that grain bill cost you? That was insane

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Is been a while so I'm not sure off the top of my head. It was more than usual though!

[@nicolaspierredion]

Hey Thanks for this video, I've always wanted to make one of these as they are my absolute favorite. plan on making this next week but I have a few questions: is your 4 gallons of water imperial or US gallons? also did you add yeast before having it site for 6 months? also for bottling I was thinking a cup or so of dextrose but not sure if you have any recommendations. I love all your videos! thinking the quad is on my list as well. Would love to see e a Belgian Wit.

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Thanks for the comments! To answer your questions: the volume is 4 US gallons. Yeast is added during primary fermentation, aging didn't require additional yeast in my case. I cant recall how much bottling sugar I used but I dont think it was near a full cup. There are calculators online that will help you out with that. Thanks for watching and I will be doing a Belgian wit later this year! Cheers!

[@nicolaspierredion]

TheApartmentBrewer awesome thanks for the reply. Other question, your recipe said 2TSP yeast nutrient, I think in the video it said Table spoons, do you remember which it was by chance? Excited about the Belgian Wit! Happy brewing and stay safe!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Teaspoons!

[@TLewis-vt3tg]

So your recipe is for a four gallon batch that you calculated from a 5 gallon batch recipe, do you have the 5 gallon batch recipe still?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

You should be able to scale it all up linearly. Just multiply everything by 1.2 and then adjust accordingly for your own equipment and brewing methods. If you use beersmith there is a tool that does batch scaling well.

[@garyballard1790]

is dilution not an option

[@DougHanson]

Nice! When you transfer directly onto the yeast cake do you need to add any additional yeast?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Nope, no extra yeast needed

[@lostandscattered]

Did this go to bottling?

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Yes the tasting is in a separate video, a few months later.

[@jcinsaniac]

Was that grain bill PER BATCH or was it split between both batches? Favorite style of beer - CHEERS!

[@TheApartmentBrewer]

Cheers! Yes that grain bill was per batch.

[@tranceuniverse]

OK......really had to strain to hear what you were saying. VERY difficult over the *weird-ass* music! Music isn't necessary for people that want to learn. Trust me, we won't be bored in the lulls of dialogue.