With summer starting to draw to a close it's time to turn from brewing the Summer Ales like Saison and fruity Pale Ales, those light tangy thirst quenchers and move to the heartier more robust Stouts, Double IPA's and Barley wines. Something to put a bit of fire in your belly and warm you up on those cold winter nights.
It may still be February but we are gearing up to brew a big Russian Imperial Stout which should come out at about 9% and have lots of roast caramel and coffee tastes and aromas. As the alcohol content is quite high it's going to need 6 - 8 weeks in the fermenter and a good 2 months at least in the bottle, may be longer if so it will be great for next year. We plan for this beer to be pitch black and to this end we will be using a good whack of chocolate malt and maybe some extra espresso coffee. As this is going to be a big beer we are looking for a final gravity of about 1.020, slightly high by some standards but it should leave a nice fullness to it.
Our name for this beer will be Siberian Crude (black as night and twice as thick).
After that we are looking for a good Oatmeal Stout to bring a bit more rich creamy texture with not so much alcohol as the Imperial and a shorter brewing time, something you can drink on a week night without feeling it too much the next day. We will still be brewing Hoptastic and the Meads, Hoptastic as it's such an easy drinker it never lasts long and the mead as it needs such a long lagering stage.
Autumn is a good time to get all your brew gear clean and ready for a full winters production as the colder weather keeps brew temps down and slows the ferment a bit, both will help to keep beer nicer as it won't develope the phenol / estery taste that comes with fermenting at high tenps (above 21 - 22*c). Now is also the time to plan out your brews and to add together the grain bills for all your recipes, this allows you to buy in bulk and save a bit of money you will just need some decent scales at home to break it back down.
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