Of all the stouts to brew, the Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) is the one that you have to brew at least once to see if you can.  It’s one of the biggest beers you can brew.  As I read, there are no limits – just minimums with the RIS.

Being a somewhat experienced brewer (I am celebrating 10 years of brewing in July), I didn’t think I would have any trouble brewing this style.  Well, I was wrong.  All the materials I read about how this style would put my equipment to the test and there would be trial and error involved in brewing it didn’t sink into my thick skull.  I should have heeded some of the warnings.  Watch this video to see the details of the Russian Imperial Stout brew session and what I am writing about in this post:

Let’s start here: a ten gallon cooler for a mash tun is not going to cut it for a mash with 24 pounds of grain. Thankfully, I had an extra cooler that allowed me to mash in two separate vessels at the same time.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t hit my starting gravity and I really should have been able to do that. I think one of the tricks I am going to try next time is brewing a smaller final batch volume version of this beer. What’s wrong with a 4 gallon or even a 3 gallon version of this beer? This style isn’t something you drink in a long session, more of a special occasion sipping beer to me. If I made a smaller batch size, the bottles would still last me three to five years after my brew session.

The second trick – which I want to try first – is to brew with enough grain for a five gallon batch and split the grain between two vessels like I did during this session. I plan to mash the same way as I did, using the mesh bag in the smaller cooler and the same false bottom set up in the larger cooler. After collecting the first runnings from the mash, I would rinse the grains of the smaller cooler and transfer the second runnings into the batch sparge of the larger cooler. If I combine them in the larger cooler, I think I would have a higher gravity at the beginning of the boil which in turn should give me a higher starting gravity.

Trial and error is the name of the game with the RIS so I learned something. Hey, I guess no matter how experienced you are as a homebrewer, you still have things to learn.

Russian Imperial Stout recipe is here!

Brew On!