Muntons Gold Imperial Stout Hacks?

[Joe Rocket]

Hi guys...
Just got the above kit and hoping to get it on this week in prep for a big biking race/fest/session at the end of the month. Loving the St Peters IPA, so was hoping to go for a Cream stout but it was out of stock. I defo wanted a two can again so,muntons was the job! Any kits I've done before ( this'll be 7 or for the first time, I've left alone, and did too with the IPA....I'm thinking coffee and oatmeal with this one to try and up it a bit, in prep for public consumption but wondering if it's good enough as is? Any thoughts?

[LordEoin]

If it's for the public to drink, I wouldn't play with it too much. maybe adding some crystal/carapils for head retention and a dryhop

[Joe Rocket]

A fair point...but what do the public know!

Yep, I've been dry hopping ales and lagers for a bit of head retention, with success. What goes with stout though? Trying to remember what was in the Double Dark I liked so much!
When would Carapils go in? I haven't got much room for boiling at the mo...

[LordEoin]

The public are a fickle bunch of bollixes. if their first encounter with homebrew is some crazy chocolate and molasses peanut spiced ginger stout they'll just smile and pour it down the drain.

you can just steep the carapils in about 2 liters of water, then strain and bring it to a boil to kill any nasties. 200g should be good.
dryhopping wont help with head retention, just aroma. Something like fuggles or ekg would be nice and mellow.

[Joe Rocket]

Lol,  they are that. It's mainly for my own consumption with the odd share,  but good to stick to more mainstream anyway for now. Surprised to hear that the dry hopping won't help the head- I thought that it helped due to the oils? 
Will grab a bag of carapils and a few hops then so. Or maybe some chocolate malt?   
Cheers for the heads up! 

[Joe Rocket]

Well, that's the Muntons on. Serious stuff- dark and smelling good. Arse about face here, so Carapils steeping tonight for a late addition tomorrow, and some Styrian Goldings on standby for a 5 day dry hop near the end...

Normally coopers kits get the full 14 days, with a dry hop in the last 5. Just wondering what's  the best course of action here....?

[LordEoin]

Why didn't you add the carapils steep on day 1?

best course of action for your dryhop would be to wait until the krausen subsides a bit and the bubbles slow, then add it.

[Joe Rocket]

Lack of supplies regarding the Carapils! Couldn't get into town to get any before now...so pitched at 8 pm or so and the Malt will steep now and get thrown in at the same temp as the brew tomorrow night.

If I was dry hopping after krausen, would you say go for 5 days or so with it? Or leave it in for the rest of the time in the fv?

[LordEoin]

make sure to boil it to kill any nasties. You don't want to open your FV and introduce a load of germs.

regarding the dryhopping, 5-7 days should be fine.
I'd normally wait until the fermentation is finished, transfer off the trub, and dryhop in secondary. (unless i'm in a lazy mood)

[Joe Rocket]

Yep, boiled rolling for 2 mins, then covered and cooled. Interested to see the effect of this.

I'm just after a coopers Apa, and tried the secondary (petrified of infection!) turned out well but no appreciable difference in clarity or taste...are there benefits for a stout, do you think? Apart from disturbing the trub when hoisting out the hop bag....

I was planning to bottle with lactose for mouthfeel too.....

[Joe Rocket]

Well, it's day 11 for the stout, so I just tried a hydrometer reading- 1014-1012 or so. Hard to tell with the bubbles! More importantly though, the flavour is top notch! Will recheck on sun before transferring to the secondary and adding the dry hop. I don't think there'll be too much in the way of addition required, the flavour is grand, just a bit of aroma to boot and a bit of settling. Looking forward to this one in a big way already!

[auralabuse]

I just bought this one too,  gonna stick to the recipe,  keg it and force carbonate + serve with suremix through the stout tap for a proper pint feel.  Thinking of adding some cold brewed coffee as that worked out great in a previous stout.  Did you like this one in the end?