Russian Imperial Stout is the style homebrewers save for their tenth or twentieth batch, not their first. It is a big beer in every sense: a grain bill north of 20 pounds, a boil that fills the whole kettle with black malt aroma, and a fermentation that keeps working long after most ales have finished.
This is written as an all-grain recipe for a 5-gallon batch, and it assumes a mash tun big enough to handle 18+ pounds of grain. If yours is not, swap out several pounds of the 2-row for light dry malt extract added after the sparge, and adjust your water accordingly.
Recipe at a Glance
Recipe at a Glance
| Style | Russian Imperial Stout (BJCP 20C) |
| Batch Size | 5 gallons (19 L) |
| Boil Time | 75 minutes |
| Original Gravity | 1.098-1.102 |
| Final Gravity | 1.022-1.026 |
| ABV | 9.5-10.2% |
| IBU | 65 |
| SRM | 45+ (opaque black) |
| Difficulty | Advanced (all-grain) |
Brew Day, Step by Step
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1
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Mash · 60-75 min Mash the crushed grain bill at 152F to build a body that can carry this much malt without turning cloying. Sparge slowly, this grain bed is deep and channels easily if you rush it. |
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2
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Boil · 90 min A longer boil than most styles, both to hit your target gravity through evaporation and to drive off harsh compounds from that much dark malt. Bittering hops go in at the start, flavor hops with 15 minutes left. |
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3
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Ferment · 10-14 days primary Pitch a healthy, appropriately sized yeast starter, this gravity will stall an underpitched batch fast. Expect a slow, steady fermentation rather than a violent one; that’s normal for a beer this big. 
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4
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Condition · 4-6 weeks secondary Rack to secondary and leave it alone in a cool, dark spot. This is where the alcohol heat fades and the chocolate and dried fruit notes actually develop. Skipping or shortening this step is the most common reason a homebrewed Imperial Stout tastes harsh. |
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5
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Package · 1 day, then wait Prime and bottle (or keg and force-carbonate) once gravity has been stable for three consecutive days. Bottle conditioning benefits this style more than most, give it at least a month before your first taste. |
That’s the shape of brew day and the weeks after it. For the exact grain bill, hop schedule, water chemistry, and full step-by-step instructions with amounts, use the recipe card below.
What You Will Need
Sourcing your own ingredients locally is always fine, but if you want to skip a homebrew store trip, here is what’s in stock in our shop right now:
- Base and specialty grain: Grains & Adjuncts (e.g. Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt – 10 LB, Crushed)
- Bittering and aroma hops: Brewing Hops (e.g. Chinook Hop Pellets 8 oz)
- English ale yeast: Brewing Yeast (e.g. LalBrew Nottingham Brewing Yeast (2 Pack) – Make Beer at Home)
- Secondary fermenter for conditioning: Fermenters & Carboys (e.g. 3 Gallon Clear Glass Italian Carboy)
- Priming sugar for bottling: Priming Sugar (e.g. Dextrose 50 Lb)
- General kit and tools: Homebrew Equipment (e.g. Deluxe Bottling Kit Craft a Brew Homebrew Bottler Equipment Home Bre)
- Pour it right when it’s ready: a tulip glass traps the aroma a lot better than a pint glass for a beer this rich
Full Recipe: Grain Bill, Hops, and Instructions
Russian Imperial Stout (All-Grain, 5 Gallon Batch)
Equipment
- 8-10 gallon brew kettle
- Mash tun sized for an 18+ lb grain bill (or split the mash and combine runnings)
- Wort chiller
- Primary fermenter and a secondary carboy for conditioning
- Hydrometer or refractometer
- Bottling bucket and capper, or a keg and CO2 setup
Ingredients
Grain Bill
- 18 lb Maris Otter or 2-row pale malt
- 1.5 lb Munich malt
- 1 lb flaked oats
- 1 lb chocolate malt
- 1 lb roasted barley
- 12 oz black patent malt
- 8 oz Crystal 120L malt
Hops
- 2 oz Magnum hops – 60 min
- 1 oz East Kent Goldings – 15 min
- 1 oz East Kent Goldings – 5 min
Yeast & Water
- 2 packs English ale yeast (Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale or WLP007 Dry English Ale), or a 3-4 liter starter
- 7 gallons brewing water for mash and sparge (adjust for your system’s efficiency)
For Bottling (skip if kegging)
- 5 oz corn sugar (priming sugar), boiled in 2 cups water
Instructions
Mash
- Mill the grain bill and mash in at 152F (67C) using about 6.5 gallons of strike water heated to 163F, aiming for a 1.3 quarts per pound ratio. Stir well to break up dough balls.
- Hold the mash at 152F for 75 minutes (a higher-than-usual grain bill this size loses heat slower, but check at the 30 minute mark and add a splash of near-boiling water if it has drifted below 148F).
- Mash out at 168F for 10 minutes, then vorlauf until the runnings are clear.
Boil
- Sparge with 170F water to collect roughly 7 gallons of wort in the kettle. This grain bill is dense, expect a slower runoff than a normal-gravity beer.
- Bring to a boil and add the 2 oz of Magnum hops. Boil for 75 minutes total.
- At the 60-minute mark of the boil (15 minutes remaining), add 1 oz East Kent Goldings.
- With 5 minutes left, add the second 1 oz of East Kent Goldings.
- At flameout, whirlpool for 15 minutes to settle trub, then chill the wort to 66F as fast as your setup allows.
Fermentation
- Transfer to a sanitized fermenter, aerate heavily (this beer needs more oxygen than a standard-gravity ale, shake or use an aeration stone for a full 60-90 seconds), and pitch your yeast starter.
- Ferment at 66-68F for 2 weeks. Expect a slow, vigorous fermentation given the starting gravity, don’t panic if the airlock is still bubbling gently after day 10.
- Rack to a secondary vessel and condition at 55-60F for a minimum of 4 weeks, 6 is better. This is where the alcohol heat fades and the roast and dark fruit notes come together.
Packaging
- If bottling, boil 5 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water, cool, and rack the beer on top of it before bottling. If kegging, force carbonate to 2.2-2.4 volumes of CO2, this style doesn’t want to be fizzy.
- Age bottles or kegs for at least 4 weeks after packaging before your first pour. This beer keeps improving for 6-12 months and some brewers age it a full year.
Notes
Patience is the one ingredient you cannot buy more of at the homebrew store. Everything else on this list is easier to get right than the wait.
What Makes a Russian Imperial Stout an Imperial Stout
Catherine the Great is the usual name attached to its origin story: English brewers shipping high-gravity stout to the Russian imperial court in the 1700s, strong enough in alcohol and hops to survive the trip north without spoiling. Whatever you think of the legend, the beer that carries the name today is defined by scale, more malt, more hops, more alcohol, and a lot more patience than a standard stout asks for.
What you get for the extra effort is a beer that tastes like dark chocolate, dried fig, and a little bit of char, with enough warmth from the alcohol to notice but not enough to overpower everything else. It is a slow build: a week or two of vigorous primary fermentation, then a long stretch in secondary where the roughest edges round off. Rush that second half and you will taste it. A young Imperial Stout drinks hot and one-dimensional. Give it six weeks in the cold and dark and the fig and chocolate notes actually show up.
Style Characteristics at a Glance
- Color: opaque black, no light passes through even a thin pour
- Head: tan to dark brown, dense, should hang around for several minutes
- Aroma: dark chocolate, roasted coffee, dried dark fruit (fig, raisin, plum), a whisper of alcohol
- Mouthfeel: full-bodied and chewy, low-to-moderate carbonation so it does not feel fizzy against the malt
- Food pairings: aged cheddar, dark chocolate desserts, smoked meats, or on its own as a nightcap
- Serving temp: 50-55F (10-13C), too cold and you lose the roast and fruit notes
A young Imperial Stout drinks hot and one-dimensional. Give it six weeks in the cold and dark and the fig and chocolate notes actually show up.
Common Questions
Can I make this with extract instead of all-grain?
Yes, with adjustments. Replace roughly 12 pounds of the 2-row with about 8 pounds of light dry malt extract, added after your specialty grain steep. You will lose a little control over the final gravity, but it is a workable substitute.
Why is my fermentation still going after two weeks?
Normal for this style. A starting gravity over 1.095 gives the yeast a lot to work through. Check gravity readings two days apart instead of watching the airlock; if the number has stopped moving, it is done regardless of what the airlock is doing.
How long can I age it?
Russian Imperial Stout is one of the few homebrew styles that improves for a year or more in the bottle. If you can set aside a six-pack and forget about it for six months, do it.
What yeast strain works best?
An English ale strain with a healthy attenuation range handles the gravity well without leaving it cloyingly sweet. Whatever you pick, pitch a proportionally larger starter than you would for a standard-gravity ale, an underpitched batch stalls out and finishes too sweet.
Do I need to worry about oxidation with such a long conditioning time?
Yes, more than with lighter styles. Minimize splashing during transfers, keep headspace low in your secondary vessel, and avoid opening the fermenter more than necessary. Oxidation shows up as a sherry-like or papery off-flavor after a few months, which is the opposite of the fig-and-chocolate development you are aiming for.
Can I barrel-age or add bourbon character at home?
Yes, this is one of the more popular styles to experiment with. Adding oak cubes soaked in bourbon to the secondary for one to two weeks is the easiest home version of a barrel-aged stout, start with a small amount and taste every few days since it is easy to overdo.
This recipe is for adults of legal drinking age. Please brew and drink responsibly, and always sanitize your equipment thoroughly to avoid infection.
