Russian imperial stout critical feedback required please

[Shanna]

Hi there

Just brewed a Russian imperial stout to add to the south Dublin barrel.
I ended up with too much wort in the kettle and I put it down to some mistakes that I made (adding extra 3 litres of hot water to try and get mash to strike temperature.  This I can fix by making sure the original water is hotter before adding the grain.

The additional wort left after the boil I put down to two things (would appreciate if others more experienced would comment whether my diagnosis is any way accurate? I stopped draining the kettle @25 litres and there was another lie and a half in the bottom of the kettle.

1. I used hop bags that hold the hops in place. I believe theses reduced the amount of wort lost to absorption. Previously I did the same recipe without hop bags (& without the extra water) and I had only 18 litres of wort
2. I covered the kettle meaning that I had very little steam compared to when it was uncovered where my garage was filled with steam.  I suspect this was a major cause of the extra wort as I was not really losing anything to evaporation.

Shanna

[Metattron]

Shouldn't you leave the lid off the brew kettle to let the dimethyl sulfides boil off?  I read somewhere that these can cause off flavours in your beer.

[Ciderhead]

The hop bag won't make any difference to the amount of water absobed as long as you didn't squeeze.
Metattron is right the lid on is the issue, what was your OG?

[Shanna]

Hi there

Og was around 1.082.

Shanna

[Shanna]

Was thinking that the hops in the bag would absorb less liquid than the loose  leaf hops as the previous effort the hops absorbed 3 to 4 litres of wort.

Shanna

[Ciderhead]

Hi there

Og was around 1.082.

Shanna

thats the lowest so far, have you pitched already if not reboil or consider dme or sugar.
Even your first one was 1.0 +

[Ciderhead]

Was thinking that the hops in the bag would absorb less liquid than the loose  leaf hops as the previous effort the hops absorbed 3 to 4 litres of wort.

Shanna

Once your bag is big enough and they had plenty of room to circulate that won't make a lot of difference and they will absorb the same, when it comes to hauling them out at the finish you probably do get a litre more as you let them drain but that would be it.
If you used 3 litres more to start and didn't take your lid off your gravity will be low, you need to contra that some other way.
One of the wickla lads boiled for 2 hours! others chucked in brewing sugar or DME to compensate for additional water vols.

[Shanna]

I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished.  Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.

Shanna

[beerfly]

Depending on what it finishes at it will probably be 7.5% - 8%.  And then it will only be about 10% the volume of the barrel so it's not going to have a massive impact on it

[Metattron]

It'll still have that dms though...

[Ciderhead]

I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished.  Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.

Shanna

two things, its not my call, I am only a contributor, I would be concerned if we were all like that, and as Beerfly says 1 in 10 won't be a problem, can use it as the topper upper in any case.
Metattron makes a valid point about the dms so we will have to see on tasting day :-(
Don't sweat it, RIS is a hell of a brew to lose your all grain virginity!

[Shanna]

Would adding dme boiled in water in the secondary be an option? The Lid was on for about 70 minutes as the Chiler was put n in with last twenty minutes.

Shanna

[Shanna]

Hi Ciderhead

This is the topper up beer that I did as a 2nd batch or at least a portion of it will be used for topping. I'd it does not b taste right then it will not go in

Shanna

I pitched anyway did not have the time Unfortunately to add extra sugar or dme as I was under serious time pressure to get finished.  Beginning to think your next post is going to tell me the gravity is to low and it will be no good to use. Hope this is not the case.

Shanna

two things, its not my call, I am only a contributor, I would be concerned if we were all like that, and as Beerfly says 1 in 10 won't be a problem, can use it as the topper upper in any case.
Metattron makes a valid point about the dms so we will have to see on tasting day :-(
Don't sweat it, RIS is a hell of a brew to lose your all grain virginity!

[Ciderhead]

Would adding dme boiled in water in the secondary be an option? The Lid was on for about 70 minutes as the Chiler was put n in with last twenty minutes.

Shanna

time to stop panicking, have a read of this and leave it alone, it'll be fine
http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/04/10/dimethyl-sulfides-dms-in-home-brewed-beer/

[Shanna]

Sanity in a world gone mad.  Thanks Ciderhead feel better now.  Beer is bubbling away in my kitchen as we speak

Shanna