Russian imperial stout – style description, recipes, technology

Most experienced homebrewers are familiar with the origin of this beer style, which was once delivered from England directly to the table of Catherine II. Perhaps if Emperor Nicholas had shared a few glasses of this heady, roasted nectar of the gods with Ilyich, they could have amicably resolved their differences, the Romanovs would have avoided a sad fate, and history would have turned in a completely different direction. How to know…

All the necessary ingredients for making a Russian imperial stout can be purchased at the MirBir store. Add “Rum Diary” to your order comment and get a 5% discount on malt, hops and yeast!

Russian imperial stout is shrouded in mysticism and, of course, is the brightest and most controversial representative of the legendary beer style. This is the drink that needs to be brewed on the darkest, darkest short winter days, so that, as beer craftsman and writer Horst Dornbusch put it in Brew Your Own magazine, to appeal to the “gloomy melancholy of the Russian soul” on chilly autumn evenings. later. Brewing this amazing stout, as well as tasting it, you get indescribable pleasure, but be prepared – it’s not easy at all!

Russian imperial stout as a style

Russian imperial stout (RIS) is a deep, complex, dark beer with a full and rich taste. It has a rich dark malt flavor that can range from dry chocolate to lightly roasted malt. A stout almost always has a distinct fruity profile, including complex dark fruits such as plums, raisins, or prunes. Like many other British beers, an imperial stout has a distinctive caramel or bready flavor.

The color of RICE varies from brown to pitch black (from 30 SRM to an incredible 200 SRM). The alcohol content is usually high – 8-12%. Initial density from 1.075 (18,75% hydrometer) to 1.115 (more than 25% hydrometer). Hop bitterness is high to balance the malt aroma (50-90 IBU), but the hop aroma should not be too pronounced.

How to cook the perfect rice

It’s not easy, but it’s possible. The bulk of the grist is almost always British-style pale pale ale malt, which makes up about 75% of the mash. To give the beer complexity, body, aroma and color, caramel, chocolate and roasted malts are added to the mash. Small portions of roasted barley and barley flakes are often added to increase the bready character and chewiness. This grain bill provides a thick consistency and a really dense body. Traditionally, classic English hops are used, such as Fuggles or BC Goldings. Hops are added mainly for bitterness, since the lingering flavor and aroma of hops is not needed here.

Since roasted malt provides a very acidic environment, it is best to use slightly alkaline water for brewing. An English or Irish ale yeast provides the fruity complexity needed for this beer style. Due to the high initial gravity, the yeast has a hard time in such an environment, so it is sometimes necessary to use a double batch and prepare the starter a few days before brewing. The brewed stout needs a long exposure, at least six months. However, it becomes much better only after 2 years or more.

To obtain a high initial density (OG above 1.080), a large mass of grist is required, which makes filtration painfully long, so it is recommended to carry out mashing in two stages. In a normal household setting with one mash tun, this might look like this:

1. Water is poured into the mash tun and half of the malt is poured.
2. Mashing is carried out, the bunker with grain is pulled out, the grain is washed.
3. The hopper is washed and returned to the wort.
4. The second part of the malt is poured in and the procedure is repeated.

In this case, you should always take measurements of the density of the wort to get into the OG, given that during a long boil (usually 90 minutes), the density of the wort will increase by about 2,5-3%. And most importantly, no extracts, only malt and hops!

An imperial stout is a clean canvas to write on with rapture and full dedication. Here is the raw material for your oils, which the guys from Mirbeer threw us: insist imperial on oak cubes soaked in rum or whiskey. Powerful!

To understand the style, we offer you a couple of time-tested recipes for Russian imperial stout. We remind you that you can buy all the necessary ingredients for making rice in the mirbeer.ru online store with a 5% discount, if you add the phrase “Rum Diary” to the order comment.

Cossack imperial stout

Infusion mashing with two temperature pauses. Protein break: 30 minutes at 50^оC. Saccharification: 30 minutes at 70^оC. Mash out: 10 minutes at 75,6^оC. Washing with water at a temperature of 75,6^оC. Volume before cooking – 22,7 liters. Boil 90 minutes. After boiling, immediately add Northern Brewer hops, after 60 minutes – Goldings, after 70 and 88 minutes – Fuggles. Ale fermentation, two-stage. Bottled carbonation with corn sugar. The volume of CO2 is 2,3. Storage temperature – 18,3^оC.

Imperial Stout “Old Rasputin”

This is a clone of one of the first “craft-age” imperial stouts from the 90s and 2000s, when the nascent craft brewing movement was just getting to know beer styles. This is a good example of the evolution of the Russian imperial stout from American breweries, as it is an old interpretation of the style. Compared to contemporary imperial stouts, Rasputin rarely exceeded 9% ABV. Thin body, more pronounced hop bitterness (to get closer to the style requirements, you can increase the amount of hops to get 50 IBU, this is enough for aggressive American hops). Roasted aromas are the cornerstone, supported by notes of dark fruits and berries. Classic!

Cooking according to the technology of the previous recipe, a protein pause is not required. Saccharification: 60 minutes at 67^оC. Mash out: 10 minutes at 70^оC. Rinse and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops immediately after boiling and 2 minutes before the end of the boil. Cool down to 21^оC before making starter and ensure good aeration. Ferment at 20^оC.

Origin of Russian Imperial Stout

It is known that the word “porter” was first used in 1721 to describe the dark beers that conquered the London market at that time. The strongest versions of this dark brown beer were called “stout porter” – the word “stout” (literally strong, dense, full) used to be used only to describe strong versions of various beers – “stout ale” (stout ale) and so on. .d. It is likely that the association between stouts and other strong dark ales developed naturally over the years.

And here we get the first false promises from beer producers, who intertwined the story with Peter I, who visited England in 1689 and allegedly fell in love with strong British porters. Obviously, this was problematic, because the style began to exist only after more than 30 years. However, the modernization of the Russian economy by Peter Alekseevich only contributed to the further unhindered import of English goods into the territory of the Empire, including British beer.

It is believed that the first real imperial stout was brewed by the London brewery Anchor Brewery in Southwark, which was founded in 1616 and lasted for several centuries after that, periodically changing owners. In 1729, the distillery was purchased by Ralph Thrale and was known as Thrale’s Anchor Brewery, which became the cradle of the first Russian imperial stout as a style. Fame for the new brainchild of the brewery came after it passed into the hands of Barclay Perkins & Co in 1781 and the stouts sent for export to Russia were tasted by Ekaterina Alekseevna, who regularly ordered large quantities of strong porter for herself and her subordinates.

Barclay Perkins & Co brewed the legendary stout until 1955, when they merged with the nearby Courage Brewery and changed their name to “classic Courage Imperial Russian Stout” and brewed until 1993, when they dropped it from the range. More recently, the brewery has relaunched it under the name Wells and Young.