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Imperial Stout
A huge, dark, roasty and warming stout of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit, brewed originally for the Russian imperial court.
About the Imperial Stout style
The Russian imperial stout was a strong, heavily hopped stout that English breweries exported to the imperial court of Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. The high strength and hopping helped it survive the journey and the cold.
Revived by craft brewers, it is now one of the flagship big beers, often aged in spirit barrels or brewed with coffee, vanilla and other additions. Beneath those it is a rich, warming beer of dark chocolate, espresso and dried fruit.
Grain, hops and yeast
Malt and grain: A large base of pale malt with generous roasted and chocolate malts for deep, layered dark-malt flavour.
Hop character: High bittering to balance the sweetness of the big malt bill, with hop flavour usually secondary to malt and alcohol.
Yeast and fermentation: An alcohol-tolerant ale yeast that can ferment the very high gravity while leaving some richness.
A typical Imperial Stout runs 8 to 12% alcohol by volume, with a bitterness of about 50 to 90 IBU and a colour of 30 to 40 SRM. It is traditionally served in a snifter. These figures describe the usual range for the style; a given example may sit a little outside them.
Yeast and fermentation notes
Pitch a large, healthy dose of an alcohol-tolerant ale yeast and oxygenate the wort well, because the very high gravity is stressful. Ferment in the high teens to low twenties Celsius and give it time and a long conditioning to smooth the alcohol.
Serving in brief
Serve an imperial stout warm, around 12 to 14 degrees Celsius, so its chocolate, coffee and dark-fruit layers open up, and pour small measures. It ages well, so unlike a hoppy beer it can sit on a keg or in the bottle for months and improve.
Classic examples
Well-known commercial examples of the style include North Coast Old Rasputin, Founders KBS and Courage Imperial Russian Stout. Tasting a benchmark example is the best way to understand what a style should be before brewing your own.
| Vital statistic | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Origin | England |
| Strength (ABV) | 8 to 12% |
| Bitterness (IBU) | 50 to 90 |
| Colour (SRM) | 30 to 40 |
| Traditional glass | Snifter |
Typical published ranges. Individual examples vary.
Pick the yeast for a Imperial Stout
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Sources: BJCP Beer Style Guidelines