Imperial Stout 2010

grain:
- 20 pounds Maris Otter Pale Ale malt
- 2 1/2 pounds Briess Roasted Barley
- 1 pound Dingemans Special B
- 1 pound Briess Chocolate malt
- 1 pound Briess Black Malt

hop:
- 2 ounce Columbus whole hops (60 minutes)
- 1 ounces Columbus whole hops (30 minutes)

yeast: White Labs California Ale from Black IPA via Harvest Ale

comments:
More roasted barley and darker crystal should produce a more flavorful Imperial Stout compared to last years (which was decent). The roast should be obvious this year.

batch size: 5 gallon

ambient outdoor temperature: 60 degrees Fahrenheit
ambient basement temperature: 66 degrees Fahrenheit

mash notes:
- (10:45 AM) mash start @ 152 degrees Fahrenheit
- (12:15 PM) mash end @ 146 degrees Fahrenheit
- first sparge reading @ 21 1/2 degrees Brix
- preboil reading: 17 degrees Brix

boil notes:
- 60 minute boil
- post boil Brix reading: 21 degrees

brew date: 10/23/2010
secondary date: 11/16/2010 (24 days in primary)
bottle date: 7/2/2011 (128 days in primary); powerful brew at bottling sample. Very coarse, dry, strong, bitter; Only time will tell. A strong imperial stout.

notes:
- another Fall image from the brewery

- dark rolling brew

- Fermenation started slowly the next morning gradually growing more and more active through the day. At the end of the night one bubble per 3 or 5 seconds. The second morning fermentation is strong with constant bubbling. Smells like fruit in the basement. Krausen reaching the top of the carboy afixed with a blow off hose.
- Transfered into secondary with about 1/4 ounces Cascade. Flat, unconditioned beer with streaks of harsh roastiness. Fruit flavors in there somewhere ... alchohol flavors.
- priming solution ... more fermentables for the yeast to consume and carbonate the bottles.

- fermenter and bottles to be filled ... imposing dark brew.

- transfering from fermenter to bottling bucket

- bottled: