Nihilist Stout

Today was perfect. Fed Ex attempted to ruin my day by changing the delivery date of my grains, yeast, and hops, thus preventing me from brewing beer. Consequently, I found a very cool homebrew shop here in town that far exceeded my expectations - Harrington's on Sheridan. They were able to supply everything I needed to brew my Russian Imperial Stout at a very reasonable price. They also carry a complete selection of keg accessories, so I can refurbish old kegs as needed.

This particular beer called for a larger than usual lauter tun because of the vast amounts of grain used. It is particularily difficult of find a 10 gallon Rubbermaid style cooler that can be fashioned into a serviceable tun. Thankfully, I was able to locate one last night at GFS and convert it to be used today. I brewed five gallons of the beer, and plan to brew five gallons of IPA within two weeks.

Anyway, after a long day of brewing, I am very pleased with the results. The Nihilist's OG was 1.074, which is larger than I expected, but kinda light for the style. I'm estimating that my efficiency with this system is about 80%. This beer should be about 7.5% ABV and cost approximately $.57 per pint.


Mashing the grains for 90 minutes.


Sparging.


Siphoning the wort into a fermentation bucket. Mmmmmm Black Gold