The Black Heart - Imperial Stout

This being my first beer I have made that is this dark, I decided to go with an Imperial Stout rather than a basic Stout or Porter; the darker the beer is, the more I like it! Once again, Home Brew Mart provided the recipe, but I made no variations to it this go-round.

• 11# Coopers LME
• 1/2# 60L Crystal Malt
• 1/2# Roasted Barley
• 1/2# Chocolate Malt
• 1/2# Caravienne
• 1/4# Black Malt

2 oz. Galena hops (11.6% AA, 60 mins)
2 oz. Fuggles hops (4.8% AA, last 2 mins of boil)

Fermented with White Labs California Ale Yeast

OG: 1.080; FG: TBD --> ABV: TBD

Not being used to brewing such a dark beer, this was an even more enjoyable experience than the usual batch. The entire surrounding area starts smelling like espresso, dark chocolate, and once the hops go in, it becomes decidedly more piney, thanks to the high alpha acid percentage of the Galena hops.

The initial flavor is very promising: the use of roasted barley, chocolate malt and black malt gives it a deep and roasty flavor, which to some comes off as a bitter, burned-grain flavor, but that's part of what gives this style of beer its intensity. Again, the Galena hops provide more than enough bitterness to counterbalance what will become a slightly sweet (and very high ABV) beer that will get better over time.

More posts to come when this beer gets bottled!