Phantasm Imperial Stout 2012

I was long overdue to brew up an imperial stout when I finally fired one up a few weeks ago.  Since imperial stout is one of my absolute favorite styles of beer, I have been planning on working an annual imperial stout into my brew schedule for quite some time now.  I’m finally now able to introduce Phantasm Imperial Stout and Phantasm’s Revenge into my regiment. 

The stars finally aligned and I had a good opportunity to brew one let it rest in the fermenter for the next month or two (its been in the secondary for about a week or two now after fermenting in the primary for about two weeks).  The idea is to split the batch into two halves once the secondary is done – half will be bottled as-is as a standard Imperial Stout (Phantasm Imperial Stout), the other half will go through an alternative conditioning (Phantasm’s Revenge).  I’m planning on giving Phantasm’s Revenge a different conditioning each year.  This year’s will likely be dosed with orange zest and cocoa nibs for a two week tertiary fermentation to impart some citrus and chocolate tones. 

The recipe started as Northern Brewer’s Imperial Stout Kit as a base.  I then upped the OG with some additional malt and brown sugar to bring the ABV up to around 10% and increased the hops to bring the IBUs up to compensate.  When I tasted a sample when I transferred it to the secondary, it was definitely a bit harsh (“rough around the edges” puts it pretty mildly), but this one isn’t designed to be a quick beer.  Age should mellow this beast pretty substantially and turn it into a delicious monster.  Despite the “hot” edges in the sample, I am very pleased with the way the beer came out so far.  It has a delicious, roasty, rich malt profile that is balanced out a bit by a healthy dose of hops.  I’ll be posting more updates on this brew after it has some more months behind it.  Until then, here is the recipe I used and some pictures from the brew day. 

(Disclaimer: if you brew this, I highly recommend using a blow-off hose as this one was spewing yeast out of the blow-off hose on my 6 gallon carboy for a couple days.)

I mashed the grains using a big fine mesh bag directly in the brew kettle.  This method works with up to about 5lbs. of grain.  I still go back to this method when I don't feel like pulling out the mash tun.  It keeps the equipment clutter down in the kitchen and clean up is quick and easy.  Efficiency isn't as good, but I don't mind that when I'm doing partial mashes.  Sometimes, I go for ease of use.

Boil time!  This brew really filled the apartment with some delicious malt aroma!

OG: 1.108 :-)  This monster should settle out around 10% ABV and still have a fair amount of malt body left to make a very rich malt profile.

Recipe

Batch size: 5.2 gal
Boil volume: 3.5 gal
OG: 1.107
FG: 1.027
Bitterness (IBU): 76.9
Color (SRM): 59.3
ABV: 10.5% 

[Grains]
NB Dark LME    12.000lb    Extract    66.7%
Two-row (US)    2.000lb    Grain    11.1%
Brown Sugar, Dark    1.000lb    Sugar    5.6%
Flaked Oats    1.000lb    Adjunct    5.6%
Roasted Barley    0.500lb    Grain    2.8%
Black Patent (US)    0.500lb    Grain    2.8%
Chocolate Malt (US)    0.500lb    Grain    2.8%
Crystal 120L    0.500lb    Grain    2.8% 

[Hops]
Summit 3.00oz 18.0% AA Pellet @ 60 min, 65.9 IBU
Centennial 2.00oz 9.0% AA Pellet @ 15 min, 10.9 IBU
Cascade 2.00oz 6.6% AA Pellet @ 0 min, 0.0 IBU 

[Yeast/Other]
Irish Moss    1.0 unit(s), Fining 1 tsp at 15 min
Scottish Ale yeast    1.0 unit(s), Yeast (2L starter)

Now, go.  Go forth and brew.  

Song of the Day: “Ray Charles” by Chiddy Bang

Beer of the Day: Iron Hill Media’s Hopilicious