Fire up the pot and let’s brew something. There was a sad day this summer of 2012! The last two bottles of my Imperial Stout that I lovingly brewed in December of 2012 was consumed….oh it was so good and I was able to share the heavenly experience with my son-in-law. Tayna does not normally drink stouts, but unless he was lying to me…and he knows better than to do that, he complimented me on this beer. It aged incredibly well.

The original batch was an all extract kit from Williams Brewing in California. The kit came with oak chips to add in the secondary and the final product was awesome…..it took a few, but once it got to that right age….about six months from brew date, it was very drinkable. I was going to order the same kit but decided to buy local. I have been encouraging readers to drink local beers so why not brew with ingredients from the local folks.

I went down to “Backyard Home Brewers Education Center” in downtown Humble yesterday and with the helpful folks there, searched for and found a good-looking partial extract recipe for an Imperial Stout. Now here is another plus of this local store…..cost difference. The Williams Brewing kit would have set me back about $46.00 plus shipping, here, the grain, extract, hops and yeast total cost was a bit over $26.00. I saved some money and got to build my own recipe! Oh yes, they had an Oatmeal Stout on tap in the store that was very tasty. Tomorrow, Saturday, they are having an all grain education brewing class…I wish I could make it but I am off to watch my youngest play soccer.

I will keep all y’all posted on the progress of this batch. I think I will saturate my oak additions in a good bourbon before adding them to the secondary. Yum! Check out the store and education opportunities if you live in the area.

http://www.backyardhomebrewers.com/home.html

A glass of my old stout, so dense that no light can penetrate its murky and tasty depths!

A glass of the previous batch…..just a wee bit heavy and oh so good!

Recipe will be posted soon.

TTFN

Bishop