Thinking of getting stuck-in, some questions

BluePlanet

I have a of a bug for craft beer, stouts in particular.
Am thinking about getting stuck-in and am really eyeing up All Grain brewing.

Spent some time in USA and found my all time fav stout: NorthCoast Old Rasputin. While it's an amazing and beautiful Nitro stout on draught, it's hard to find; so Old Raspy in bottles are my 2nd fav .

It would be my goal to try and get something in the way of an Old Rasputin.
But i probably wouldn't buy a nitro setup.

The bottled Old Raspy is a lot more CO2 than the draught variety.
So i presume there's no nitrogen in the bottle. (is that a reasonable assumption?)
You can get a fair head from the bottle but it's not like a nitro pour.

Anyway, I can find a Old Rasputin clone recipe online: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/north-coast-old-rasputin-clone/

But obviously this is all imperial measurements and US ingredients.
Is it reasonable to acquire these ingredients here or is that silly?
Would substituting other malts, hops and yeast just be a total disaster?

BeerNut

Not silly at all, it's eminently doable and imperial stout is a very easy and forgiving style of beer to brew for a beginner. It might take a few goes to nail the Rasputin effect to your satisfaction but the attempts will still be worth drinking.

BluePlanet wrote: »

So i presume there's no nitrogen in the bottle. (is that a reasonable assumption?)

It is.

BluePlanet wrote: »

this is all imperial measurements

It's not, the metric measurements are there after the imperial ones. The ingredients look straightforward and available; you can always substitute if you can't get the precise ones.

BluePlanet

What's the best way to control Fermentation temperature?
I'm assuming i won't be using the hot press.
Recipe says 20°C.

I've read a little about ppl using an old frig and some temperature controller gizmo, but i don't understand how that could provide any heating.

Liamo08

BluePlanet wrote: »

What's the best way to control Fermentation temperature?
I'm assuming i won't be using the hot press.
Recipe says 20°C.

I've read a little about ppl using an old frig and some temperature controller gizmo, but i don't understand how that could provide any heating.

This time of year it should be around 20c in most peoples homes so you’re probably fine just leaving it in any room as long as it’s not too hot or cold - you can just cover your fermentor loosely with a black bag to avoid light getting at your beer.

If you want to get more complex you can use something like an Inkbird Itc1000 to control the temperature. It has a temp probe along connections for a heat source (heat belt or similar) and a cold source (your fridge) and there’s loads of guides to putting them together online. Effectively the inkbird is set to the desired temp and the fermentor sits in the fridge, if you need to cool down your wort the fridge turns on until you reach temp and if you need heat the heat source turns on until you get to temp. The fridge itself provides decent insulation so the temperature stays pretty stable.

sharingan

@BluePlanet:

The only ingredient that looks a bit odd to me is the carastan malt, I am not familiar with it, but its made in the UK and should be easily sourced from a UK online supplier if the local operations dont stock it.

I would also look into the clone recipes for the lovibond values of their brown malt, and try to source some that matches (brown malt varies widely in character from maltster to maltser).

Ferment it cool. And inkbird and a chest freezer. I would be tempted to maintain its temperature at 17C, those big beers can heat themselves up a lot

TomOnBoard

Have you selected a yeast yet?

Often overlooked, pairing the yeast profile to your desired flavour and ABV profile is at least as important as many of the equipment add-ons.

BluePlanet

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Have you selected a yeast yet?

Often overlooked, pairing the yeast profile to your desired flavour and ABV profile is at least as important as many of the equipment add-ons.

Haven't a clue.
But i don't have any equipment yet, just learning and scoping things out atm.
I'm sure i'll be back with more questions.

TomOnBoard

BluePlanet wrote: »

Haven't a clue.
But i don't have any equipment yet, just learning and scoping things out atm.
I'm sure i'll be back with more questions.

Sometimes a lad can over- analyse. I know I do that a lot and end up with loads of info in my head but nothing brewed. I'd start simple, learn from mistakes and become better from experience to build on the research/knowledge.

That recipe looks good. Watch the yeast, as high ABV wort is very hard on some yeasts. When they go in they can get very stressed and produce off- flavours early on. IMHO, you must make a starter with an OldRaspy. Get it started in a DME wort 24-48 hours before pitching.

You won't need heating at this time of year. When it starts fermenting its going to heat up a bit. At an ambient indoor temp of 17/18, it could go up to 20-23 in the initial phase. Make sure you get a yeast that can handle an Irish Summer range in comfort without producing off flavours.

Heres a good read on the subject:

https://beerandwinejournal.com/ris-yeast-pitch/