BeerBorg

Mya, aka Big Fuzzy was a hound mix that that I had the pleasure of having in my life for 12 years. She was larger than life so I felt a RIS was a fitting beer to toast her with.
I brewed this on May 3rd, National Home Brew Day. Couldn't stand it any more and had a taste earlier in the week. WOW, I just hope it will last till the cooler months.

Sorry, BeerSmith is not on this computer so I'll list it the hard way, by typing.

A Toast to Big Fuzzy RIS
Batch size 5.5 gallons
Mash temperature 153*
OG 1.105
FG 1.028

Maris Otter 41.5%
2-Row 29%
Special B 5.4%
Chocolate Malt 4.1%
Roasted Barley 4.1%
Pale Chocolate 3.3%
Amber DME 3lbs


Challenger (7.5%) 4oz at 60
EKG (5%) 2oz at 20
EKG (5%) 2oz at 5

Fermented at 65* with a huge step starter of White Labs WLP002, about 550 billion cells.

Looks like a great beer Jeff.
<tips glass of dark beer to Mya>

Hey look what my computer challanged brain was able to do. I also managed to load it to The Cloud.
To bad Ron wouldn't like it, maybe one day.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: A Toast to Big Fuzzy RIS
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.27 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.120 SG
Estimated Color: 50.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 69.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 89.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.55 oz Burton Water Salts (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 1 -
10 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.5 %
7 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 29.0 %
1 lbs 4.8 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.4 %
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.1 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.1 %
12.8 oz Pale Chocolate (225.0 SRM) Grain 7 3.3 %
3 lbs Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract 8 12.4 %
4.00 oz Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 54.8 IBUs
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 20.0 Hop 10 11.1 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 11 -
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop 12 3.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [35.49 Yeast 13 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 24 lbs 1.6 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 39.26 qt of water at 161.3 F 152.1 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Cheers, to big fuzzy!

This is a style of beer I'm starting to enjoy (as long as it's sweet and not dry or even acidic like I know Guinness can be). I may have to try and brew this up.

I'll drink to Big Fuzzy! (Just not that beer)

Gonna go open one up and toast Fuzzy!!

This beer was brewed last May and entered into two competitions this March and scored 38.5 and 40. The judges said "more complexity/fruit notes would make this beer outstanding". What can I change in the recipe to achieve this?

Swap out a pound of 2 row for some 120 or Dark Candi sugar? Swap out 2lbs for one of each? Thanks for the help.

120L or Special B would be good if you want dark fruit with some extra caramel and stronger sugar plum like sweetness. D-90L or D-180L candi syrup or some Brun Foncé soft candi sugar if you want dark fruit with a drier finish. Or a mix of the two would "balance each other out" perhaps. When you see me use the syrup/sugar vs. a grain in any of my brews, it's specifically because I want the flavor without extra sweetness/maltyness beyond what's already in the grain bill.

Since you already have some Special B, I would recommend some Munich in the base malt. Maybe a touch of Caramunich. A few times now I have found Caramunich to help big beers like this.

Congrats with such a great beer.

Thanks for the input guys. This gives me some ideas to play with in BeerSmith this week. Think I might start with subbing 3 lbs Munich for 2 Row, add one half to one pound of 120 and/or Caramunich and up the boil time to 90 minutes and see what it looks like.

There's always some Marris Otter Malt, it's pretty typical for a RIS.

Also, I know the darker Crystal Malts, (80, 120, 150) etc usually get recommended for darker beers but I usually add Crystal 40 to my dark beers, especially Brown Ales and Porters. It seems to help bring out the richness in the other specialty grains. It makes Chocolate Malt more Chocolate and Roasted Malts less acrid. Some lighter Crystal could help build some complexity by highlighting those other malts.

I had another thought - you could try using Wyeast West Yorkshire instead of WLP002. It throws stronger stone fruit esters that WLP002/London ESB, etc.

I like it a lot in darker British beers. It can do 9% abv. (but it is wicked in milds and bitters and ESBs too)