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PDF version #50:  Ivan the Great (Russian Imperial Stout)

• Named for our black cat Ivan. It's my 50th beer, so I figured I should make something special.

Chris Swingley 
5-Nov-2005

Recipe (for 5 gallons final volume)

12	pounds	(60%)	Crisp Maris Otter Pale Malt
2	pounds	(10%)	Dark Munich Malt 30L
2	pounds	(10%)	Crisp Brown Malt
2	pounds	(10%)	Briess Caramel Malt 60L
2	pound	(10%)	Roasted Barley
3	ounces		Chinook pellet hops, 13.2% AA (120 minutes)
1.0	ounce		U.S. Goldings whole hops, 5.0% AA (10 minutes)

• White Labs WLP017 Whitbread Ale Yeast, pitched at 68°F
• Starter: Pitched onto yeast cake from previous recipe (winter ale)
• Aeration: Drill aerator for three minutes after pitching

Water

• Fairbanks city water
• 51 quarts  water treated with:
• •  1 Campden tablet. removes chlorine ion and chloramine, reduces oxidation
• 30 quarts mash water treated with:
• • 2.5 teaspoons Baking Soda. Adds 121 ppm Sodium, 309 ppm Bicarbonate to lower acidity of mash

Mash

• 30 quarts water @ 158°F, grist ratio of 1.5 quarts:pound @ 149°F (Held 90 minutes)

Sparge

• 11 quarts water @ 194°F, drain
• 10 quarts water @ 168°F, drain
• Mash drained before adding first charge of sparge water

Boil

• Boiled 10 gallons for 180 minutes to yield 5.5 gallons wort
• Friggin' chiller plugged up after about a gallon was collected. The remainder was cooled outside (5 hours @ -10 F), poured through a strainer into bucket, aerated again

Fermentation

• Primary: bucket, 7 days, 66°F, Temperature range 70 - 66 F., 1.044 at transfer to secondary (54% apparent attenuation!)
• Secondary: keg, 21 days, 66°F

Packaging

• Kegged at 8 psi, 50°F (1.8 volumes CO₂)
• Conditioned for 16 weeks
• Ready to drink on 25-Mar-2006

Properties

Starting Gravity: 1.100	Final Gravity: 1.025
Original Extract: 23.8°plato	Apparent Extract: 6.32°plato
	Real Extract: 9.75°plato
Alcohol: 10.0% by volume	(7.7% by weight)
Apparent Attenuation: 73.4%	Mash Efficiency: 79%
Bitterness: 115 IBU	Color: 80 SRM
BU:SG: 1.15	BV: 2.42

Tasting Notes

• 4-Apr-2006 -- Good beer. Bitterness nicely balances the really high gravity and under-attenuation. I probably wouldn't make it again, at least not in a keg, but it was a good 50th beer.