It’s been a long time since I posted to this blog. To be honest, we’ve had a glut of beer that was brewed before Christmas and are only just starting to think it’s time to make more.
But the reason for this post is to update you on the Rushton Imperial Stout that we brewed back in 2013.
We’ve held off trying it for well over a year but decided the time had finally come. I have to say we were not disappointed. You can read my initial tasting notes made at the time of bottling by following the link above.
Since then it has carbonated well and softened/mellowed. It is still highly viscous, but the carbonation turns that into a kind of mousse in your mouth. It has deep coffee and roasty flavours, but has also retained a firm bitterness. This is a good job – it cuts through the sweetness to give what I think is a fairly balanced beer.
We were so pleased with it that we have decided to make another batch in the next month or two. For that we are going to need a lot of yeast, so the plan is to make a brew of Scottish 70/- (using Jamil Zainasheff’s recipe from Brewing Classic Styles – you do have a copy don’t you?). This will produce a yeast cake that we can use to ferment both the Imperial Stout brew and also a “second beer” made from the second runnings.
Hopefully that brew will be next week – that’s only our second brew this year.
