Be Patient

Review by James D. on 4/19/2011

I brewed this beer/stout on December 20, 2010. I sampled a bottle in mid February, mid March and again today April 19th, 2011. It is now ready to drink. I am sure it will continue to age and improve but it is very nice now. The February and March tastings were a bit too sweet and did not have that wonderful smooth feel on the tongue that it has now. My only advice is to be prepared to wait months after brewing to enjoy this beer/stout. Nothing to complain about..... the only drawback is my lack of patience!!!!!

Imperial Stout

Review by Peter G. on 5/7/2010

Pros: Easy to brew

Cons: non

Imperial Stout

Review by TERRY F. on 5/7/2010

Pros: As good as stout gets. But, as with William's Stout and William's Double Stout, patience is the key. A minimum of four months aging is needed. Six would be better. You can't go wrong with a William's stout, unless you are one of those masochists who enjoys bitter Irish stouts. Or one of those people who puts a sack over their head and buys Bud Lite.

Cons: Waiting for it to mature. A real test of discipline.

Good - but watch out for chips

Review by Michael B. on 4/23/2010

Pros: This is a great imperial stout - as they should be. Be patient with it - it'll take an extra month in the tank to reach its gravity.

Cons: Yes, use a strainer bag for the chips, because they'll just go along for the ride. I had to use a sieve when pouring my brew - small price to pay.

Steeping Bag needed!

Review by NADE S. on 4/18/2010

Pros: My wife is not a beer drinker and it takes a lot to impress her. She really likes this one a lot.

Cons: I didn’t use a steeping bag for the wood chips. That was a big mistake. I had wood chips at every step. A steeping bag would have kept me from my bottle filler valve getting clogged. I even have a stray wood chip in bottles. My fermentation stopped after my secondary. I stirred, wrapped my tank, and ended up adding yeast and fermentation restarted. My starting gravity was 1.092 and after three months I got to 1.033. It stayed there for a week and I thought I was done. I waited a month after bottling to try my first. It is way over carbonated, so I guess it wasn’t finished when I bottled.