In the Fermenter: Cleaning out the cupboard with Enchanted Nightmare Imperial Stout

If you hit the way-back machine to 2013, you'll find a post similar to this one. My Barleywine was basically an end of year excuse to clear out a collection of leftover ingredients. It's 2020, and I'm doing it again by making an English Imperial Stout.

This time, I didn't have quite as many leftovers, so I had to buy the 2-Row and Warrior hops. Everything else was either in a box in the basement or the fridge.

The idea behind using two yeast strains was taken from a recipe I stumbled across a few years ago for the long unavailable Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. That beer used both an American and English strain for fermentation. My guess is that at this strength, the SafAle US-05 will make up for the fermentation limitations of the LalBrew London. Plus, if it was good enough for Gonzo, it's good enough for me.

As a last step, I'll add an oak spiral that's been soaked in Whiskey. I'm hopeful that the oak will be subtle rather than overpowering. In roughly six months, I'll find out if I'm right.

My 5 gallon brew is below:

Grains:

10lbs Briess 2-Row

5.25lbs Crisp Maris Otter

1.25lbs Fawcett Medium Crystal

12oz Briess Chocolate Malt

4oz Simpsons Chocolate Malt

5oz Briess Black Patent

5oz Crisp Roasted Barley

Hops:

1oz Warrior (15.4% a.a.): 90 min
0.2oz Magnum (14.7% a.a.): 90 min

0.5oz Kent Goldings (4.5% a.a.): 60 min

0.5oz Fuggles (4.8% a.a.): 60 min

0.5oz Kent Goldings (4.5% a.a.): 10 min

0.5oz Fuggles (4.8% a.a.): 10 min

Extras:

1 Medium-Plus Oak Spiral soaked in Monkey Shoulder Scotch

Total Boil Time:
120 min

Yeast:

LalBrew London

SafAle US-05

64oz Starter

Mash Schedule:

Saccharification Rest: 152F for 60 min

Mashout: 168F for 15 min

Original Gravity:

1.095

Estimated Final Gravity:

1.022

IBU: 57

SRM Color: 48

Fermentation Schedule:

3 Weeks Primary

9 Weeks Secondary

6 Weeks Secondary with Oak

4 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

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