Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

This robust imperial stout brewed with honey is very malty and has intense coffee and roasted barley notes with strong hoppy bitterness and subtle orange and vanilla undertones.

Mill your grains to a coarse consistency (cracked, not flour). Heat strike water to reach a mash-in temperature that will settle at 152°F (67°C) when grains are added. Use roughly 1.25–1.5 qts water per lb of grain for a medium-bodied imperial stout (target mash thickness ~1.25 qts/lb).

Mill and Heat

Add the crushed grains (Maris Otter, flaked barley, roasted barley, chocolate malt, crystal 80L) to the strike water and stir to eliminate dry pockets. Hold temperature at 152°F (67°C) for 60 minutes. Maintain good thermal control to avoid temperature drift; perform a gentle stir at 20 and 40 minutes.

Mash

Raise the mash to 168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes (mash-out) by applying direct heat or adding hot water. This helps stop enzymatic activity and improves wort flow for lautering.

Mash Out

Lauter and sparge with 170°F (77°C) water until you collect enough wort to reach a pre-boil volume of ~6.5–7.0 gallons (target wort gravity before boil ~1.070–1.080 depending on system losses). Aim to collect ~6.5 gallons into the boil kettle.

Sparge

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. When the wort reaches a rolling boil, add Northern Brewer bittering hops (1.25 oz) and start a 90-minute boil for an imperial stout to allow dark, complex flavors to develop and to drive off dimethyl sulfide (DMS).

Bring to Boil and Bittering Hop

At 60 minutes remaining (30 minutes into the boil), add the Whirlfloc tablet (or Irish moss) to help clarify. At 15 minutes remaining, add the Simcoe hops (1 oz), Cascade hops (0.5 oz) and the orange zest (2 tbsp). Remove from heat at end of 90 minutes, then let the wort rest uncovered for 5 minutes to allow hop particles to settle.

90-Minute Boil Schedule

Cool a small portion (about 1–2 cups) of boiled wort to ~160–170°F, then dissolve the 1.5 lbs honey into it. Add the honey to the kettle in the last 5 minutes of the boil or at flameout (many brewers prefer late addition to preserve honey aromatics and avoid over-fermentation of simple sugars). For a subtle honey backbone without excessive attenuation, add at flameout or after kettle cooling but before chilling to yeast pitch temperature.

Honey Addition

Cool the wort quickly to yeast-pitching temperature (around 66–68°F / 19–20°C) using an immersion or plate chiller. Ensure the chiller and transfer lines are sanitized. Aim to chill to target temperature within 20–30 minutes to minimize infection risk and DMS issues.

Chill Wort

Transfer the chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter and top up with pre-boiled and cooled water to reach 5.5 gallons final volume (accounting for trub losses). Oxygenate well (either shake vigorously for 2–3 minutes or use pure oxygen and a diffuser for 60–90 seconds). Rehydrate or prepare yeast according to manufacturer instructions and pitch generous yeast quantity (2 packs or a healthy 1.5–2 L starter of liquid yeast) to ensure a strong fermentation for an imperial stout.

Aerate and Pitch

Add the split and scraped vanilla beans (both pod and scraped seeds) to the fermenter at high krausen (24–72 hours after active fermentation begins) or after primary fermentation (secondary) for a more subtle vanilla. Sanitize the outside of the beans and add them in a sanitized muslin bag to the fermenter to avoid excessive extraction of tannins.

Add Vanilla

Ferment at 66–68°F (19–20°C) for the first 5–7 days to encourage a clean but robust fermentation, then allow the temperature to rise slowly to 70–72°F (21–22°C) for 2–4 days to finish and attenuate fully. Total primary fermentation time ~10–14 days depending on gravity and yeast health.

Fermentation Schedule

After primary fermentation has slowed and gravity is stable (typically after 10–14 days), rack to a secondary vessel for conditioning if desired. Add the sanitized orange zest if not added in the boil — adding in secondary will preserve brighter orange aromatics. Condition for 2–4 weeks to allow flavors to meld and harsh roast bitterness to round.

Secondary Conditioning (Optional)

Cold crash the beer to near 35–40°F (2–4°C) for 48–72 hours before packaging to drop yeast and cold-break. This improves clarity and accentuates the stout’s roasty and coffee notes.

Cold Crash and Clarify

If bottling: dissolve priming sugar (3.5 oz) in 1 cup boiling water, cool, and gently mix into the bottling bucket then fill bottles. Prime for ~2–3 weeks at 68°F to carbonate to 2.2–2.4 volumes CO2 (a typical stout carbonation). If kegging: force-carbonate to 2.2–2.6 volumes. Age packaged beer for at least 2–4 weeks; imperial stouts improve significantly with additional aging (2–6 months) to mellow and let honey, vanilla, and orange integrate with roast and hopped bitterness.

Carbonation & Packaging

For a robust, roasty imperial stout, use slightly minerally water with added gypsum and a touch of calcium chloride to accentuate bitterness and mouthfeel. Add gypsum (1 tsp) and calcium chloride (1/2 tsp) to the mash or strike water if your source is very soft; dissolve thoroughly before mashing. Adjustments are optional and should be based on water test and target profile.

Water Profile

Sanitize all equipment that contacts cooled wort or beer using a no-rinse sanitizer. Maintain sanitary handling during transfer, pitching, and packaging to avoid infections. Clean and sanitize chillers, hoses, fermenters, and bottling gear prior to use.

Sanitation

Maris Otter pale malt (2-row equivalent)

Flaked barley

Roasted barley

Chocolate malt (450–500L)

Crystal/Caramel 80L

Honey (light, runny — for late addition / fermentable)

Vanilla beans (split and scraped)

Fresh orange zest (from about 2 medium oranges)

Northern Brewer hops (approx. 9–10% AA) — bittering

Simcoe hops (10–14% AA) — late flavor/aroma

Cascade hops (5–7% AA) — late aroma (optional for citrus lift)

Whirlfloc tablet (or Irish moss)

Imperial/English Ale yeast (Wyeast 1728, White Labs WLP002 or Safale US-05 slurry/pack)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) — water adjustment (optional)

Calcium chloride — water adjustment (optional)

Priming sugar (if bottling) or corn sugar (if kegging/force-carbonating; optional)

Chilled, sterile water (for top-up, sparge, and final volume)

Sanitizer (POWDER or no-rinse)

Swinehart Stout

Make Swinehart Stout Recipe in just 10h . This robust imperial stout brewed with honey is very malty and has intense coffee and roasted barley notes with strong hoppy bitterness and subtle orange and vanilla undertones.

Swinehart Stout

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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