New to this forum, wondering if you guys might have any input on my recipe for this weekend. While I know there is a lot of flavor going on here, I am really interested in achieving a balanced finished product. I am not sure if I need a little more bittering hops - not really looking for much aroma or hoppy flavor? (this is a partial mash recipe):

5 gallons

Original Gravity 1.13 (17.3)


10# Extra Light Dry Malt Extract

4# Pale Malt
2# Flaked Barley
8 oz. Carfa III Malt
8 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Roasted Barley

mashed for 60 minutes in 3 Gallons of water at 150 degrees

1/2 cup cocoa powder (added with 15 minutes left in the boil)
1.5# Molasses (added with 15 minutes left in the boil)

1 oz. Nugget 45 minutes.

Safale US-05 (2 packages)

thanks for any input

This sounds to me more like a barley-wine than imperial stout! Is your goal actually an SG of 1.130??!! That'll end up around 15% ABV or more. Sounds pretty good to me. I think your thought on more hops is a good idea. This brew will probably need the extra bitterness to off-set the intense malt-molasses. I'd shoot for 60 or 70 IBUs, personally. I don't know the Alpha Acid percentage of your hops...

In any case, Good luck, have fun, and send us all a bottle!

What do you suggest in order to get closer to Imperial Stout territory?

Plugging it into Promash, the max starting SG for Imperial Stout is 1.114. If you drop your DME to about six pounds, that should give you right around 1.100. This should leave with a brew over 11%. I am basing this on a mash system efficiency of 78%, if you get more or less than that, take that into account.

Also, assuming your nugget hops are around 13% aa, I'd bump them up to 1.5oz to give you IBU's of around 65-70. Trust me, in this monster, it won't taste "hoppy".

This is a brew I would put away for at least six months. Otherwise it'll be a little rough. I bet, though, after enough time it'll be some really special.

After all that, I say: Homebrewing is about making what you like, not about conforming to the style (unless you're competing). Experimenting is the fun part. "Relax, don't worry, and have a homebrew!"

After fermentation stops, I plan to age this on Medium Toast American Oak cubes that have been soaking on Templeton Rye (Iowa small batch whiskey) until about November - I am brewing this weekend.

It sounds great! Keep us posted on everything. I'd love to hear about the end product. Or drink it. Now I'm in the mood for an Imperial Stout!

I will post results

edited for some updates

Hit an OG of 1.121 (16.1) everything went pretty smooth with the exception of my electric probe thermometer deciding to stop working for this sesh - not to sure at what temp I ended up mashing at (had to use a candy thermometer in the kettle, then dumped to my cooler).

pulled a reading today - 1.038 (4.9)

I will have to say I am really pleased where this is, having only been fermenting for 4 days. The cocoa comes through really well and the rest of the stout seems pretty complex, obviously it is a little boozy at this point. I will probably rack to secondary in a week or so.