Admiral's Reserve Russian Imperial Stout

Inspiration can come from a lot of places for homebrewers, but sometimes it is as simple as the favorite beer or beer style of a colleague or family member. Over the years it has always brought me a lot of joy to craft a recipe after someone's favorite style or commercial beer and see just how close (or better in some cases) the beer is for them personally. This recipe is just one example of that. A mentor of mine was being promoted to Admiral and to mark that occasion I couldn't think of a better tribute than a personalized brew. Luckily it coincided with the Winter months, so when he suggested an Imperial Stout it was a natural fit. My take on the style is rich but relatively approachable (*for 10+%), and can be enjoyed within the same brewing season. Be sure to pitch plenty of yeast for a behemoth like this. You may also want to try out a technique for big beers called Parti-Gyle which allows you to take the second runnings for a high gravity beer like this and make a lower gravity beer from the residual sugars. And don't forget to reserve a bottle of this year's vintage to compare with next years....

Admiral's Reserve Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) (10 gl Final, 90-Minute boil):Grain (~65% Efficiency, Mash @ 149F for 75 min+ 165 Mashout +15min Recirculation, Chlorine Filtered H2O w/ 2Tblsp CaCl2)

• 30# (75%) British Maris Otter (Crisp)
• 2# (5%) Flaked Oats
• 1.5# (3.8%) Weyermann CaraAroma (Crystal 130)

Dark Grains added at Re-circulation Step

• 1.5# (3.8%) Roasted Barley
• 1.5# (3.8%) Chocolate Rye
• 1# (2.5%) Carafa II

Hops (45IBU, Quantities for 10 gl)

• 2.5oz, Comet, 11.3% AA, 75 min BKO (Before Knock Out)
• 3oz, East Kent Golding, 5% AA, 15 min BKO

Extra: Irish Moss, Wyeast Nutrient, 1# Clover Honey and 1.5# Brown Sugar at 15 min BKO

Yeast: WLP002 English Ale Yeast w/ 2L Starter (Primary for at least 2 weeks)

O.G. 1.095, F.G. 1.024, ~10.2%abv