Anastasia’s Dark Heart Russian Imperial Stout

Mash at 150°F (66°C) for 60 minutes. Boil for 120 minutes. Add the molasses in the last 10 minutes of the boil. Caramelize the table sugar on the stovetop, cool it to room temperature, break it into chunks, and add it to the primary before you pitch the yeast. Ferment in the high 60s to low 70s Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius) for 30 days. Move it to secondary fermentation for 90 days.

This recipe goes nuts when fermenting. I typically lose 15–20 percent of the batch out of the blow-off tube when it’s in the primary fermenter. I force carbonate and then bottle with a counter-pressure filler. I’ve had mash efficiency as low as 35 percent on this, so make sure you’re adjusting for your own system.

First brewed as a 2.5 gallon batch 7-28-23. Halved all the fermentables. Changed yeast to Safeale 04. Did not halve the hops.

Preboil gravity was 1046. After 2 hours, after molasses, gravity was 1056, so added 1.8lb of DME. Post boil gravity was 1081, added 1 lb 4 oz of solid cooked sugar to the fermenter, per instructions so original gravity around 1095.

Cooled to 66 and added 2 packets of dry S04.

After 2 weeks let temp rise to 68. It finished at 1026 FG. Put into a keg after 4 weeks and put in kegerator for storage at 45 degrees.