Freetail Brewing Company’s La Muerta Imperial Stout clone
Freetail describes La Muerta as, “A big, lush imperial stout . . . full of roast, smoke and chocolate flavors from an array of specialty malts.”
Freetail Brewing Company: La Muerta Imperial Stout clone, All-Grain
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.092 FG = 1.029
IBU = 50 SRM = 66 ABV = 9.1%
Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
4.5 lbs. (2 kg) Weyermann smoked barley malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) chocolate malt (350 °L)
1.4 lbs. (0.62 kg) Munich malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) crystal malt (120 °L)
14 oz. (0.4 kg) roasted barley (450 °L)
15.8 AAU Summit™ hop pellets (60 min.) (0.9 oz./26 g at 17.5% alpha acids)
1⁄2 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrient (15 min.)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale), Wyeast 1335 (British Ale II), or Safale S-04 (English Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup (150 g) dextrose (if priming)
Step by Step
This is a single-step infusion mash. Mix all of the crushed grains with gallons (23 L) of 168 °F (76 °C) water to stabilize at 152 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Slowly sparge with 175 °F (79 °C) water. Collect approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort runoff to boil for 60 minutes. Add hops, Irish moss, and yeast nutrient as indicated.
Cool the wort to 75 °F (24 °C). Once cooled, pitch your yeast and aerate the wort heavily. Allow the beer to cool to 68 °F (20 °C). Hold at that temperature until fermentation is complete. Transfer to a secondary fermenter and allow the beer to condition for one week and then bottle or keg.
Partial mash option: Replace the entire malt bill in the all-grain version with 6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Briess, special dark, unhopped, liquid malt extract (90 °L), 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) traditional dark, dried malt extract (30 °L), 3 lbs. (1.36 kg) Weyermann smoked barley malt, 1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) chocolate malt, (350 °L), 4 oz. (113 g) Munich malt 2 oz. (57 g) crystal malt (120 °L), and 2 oz. (57 g) roasted barley (450 °L). Mash the crushed grain in 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water at 152 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Remove grains from the wort and rinse with 2 quarts (1.9 L) of hot water and bring your brew pot volume up to 5.5 gallons (21 L). Add the liquid and dried malt extracts and boil for 60 minutes. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.
