Mesozoic Imperial Stout

Ingredients:

7  Lbs English 2-row malt
1  Lb flaked barley
1  Lb roasted barley
1  Lb crystal malt 60 lv.
.5 Lb chocolate malt
.5 Lb black patent malt
2  Lb amber DME
2  oz Chinook 12.5% alpha (80 mins)
1  oz Cascade  5.4% alpha (20 mins)
1  oz Cascade  5.4% alpha (end)
1  cup dark molasses
.5 stick licorice
2  Tsp. Gypsum
1  Quart starter Wyeast 1084 Irish
1  Pack Doric Ale Yeast

Mash grains in 11 quarts of water straight infusion mash at 154-156F for 1.5
hours. Sparge with 5 gals 200F water (this will stop the mash and cool down
to the normal 170F for the rest of the sparge, a favorite short-cut of mine).
Set your sparge so it takes 70-80 minutes. 

Boil for 80 mins or until your propane runs out. Toss in your brewers
licorice in with the Chinook, molasses and DME at the beginning of the boil .
Cut it up to insure it melts and mixes in. Rack into your fermentor and let
her go. I got an OG of 1.090 and a FG of 1.038. Prime with 1/2 molasses
boiled with 1/2 cup corn sugar. I rehydrated a pack of Doric yeast and added
it to the priming bucket to make darn sure that it carbonated properly.

Comments:

This is a thick, tasty, complex Imperial Stout in the spirit of Samuel Smith
Imperial with hints of Old Peculiar. It is black in color with a dark brown
head. MIS tasted great after one week in the bottle, and I can see this
getting better with age. This my first attempt at a heavy stout and I am
overjoyed with the results. The name Mesozoic is derived from the appearance
of the boil to a bubbling tar pit. Enjoy!

Addendum-

After 3 months in the bottle Meso has mellowed out quite a bit and is a fine
drink to have with a quality cigar. There is a bit too much head for the
style and the roast flavor is so strong it overpowers some of the other
flavors. I figure that a couple of more months and this will balance out. 

The next time I do this I am going to fine-tune a few things-

- Reduce the roasted barley by .5lb and reduce the black patent by .25.
- Increase the pale malt by 1lb.
- Do a step mash.
- Reduce the primer to 1/2 cup Molasses and 1/4 cup corn sugar.

I have since discovered a technique outlined in Noonan's _Scotch Ale_ which
provides the unique flavor of Old Peculiar and others. The trick is to take
 a quart or two and boil it down until it caramelizes, then add the rest of
your wort. That it! I am going to try this technique the next time around.