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Your Brew Breakdown

Everything you need to craft your perfect brew

STORY

Overview: Rusky Business is a simplified take on a classic Russian Imperial Stout, built for big flavor, high gravity, and bold dark-beer character. With three cans of stout extract, Booster, and a serious hop bill, this recipe delivers a strong, complex stout that means business.

PROFILE

Tasting Notes: Expect a deep black pour with roasted malt intensity, firm bitterness, dark malt depth, and a warming high-ABV finish. Nugget, Centennial, and Northern Brewer hops add enough bite to balance the rich stout base without taking away from the beer's bold malt character.

IMPORTANT BREWING NOTE

Fermentation Note: This recipe has a lot of fermentables. Place your fermenter somewhere safe in case it leaks during fermentation.

WHAT YOU GET

  • Ingredient: 3 Cans St. Patrick's Irish Stout Brewing Extract (HME)
  • Ingredient: 3 Packets Dry Brewing Yeast under the lids, not used for this recipe
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet BrewMax Booster
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet Centennial Hops
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet Northern Brewer Hops
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet Nugget Hops
  • Ingredient: 2 Muslin Hop Sacks
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet Safale S-04 Dry Ale Yeast
  • Ingredient: 1 Packet No-Rinse Cleanser

FOR FANS OF

Beer: North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Beer Style: Russian Imperial Stouts

Beer Style: High-ABV dark ales

Beer Style: Bold, bitter stouts

BREW SPECS

Style: Stouts & Porters
Flavor: Bold, malty, roasty, and bitter
Original Gravity: 1.094
Final Gravity: 1.023
ABV: 9.25%
SRM (Color): 40
IBU (Bitterness): 60
Batch Size: 8 liters / about 2 gallons

BREW TIME

Total Time: Ready to enjoy in about 5–6 weeks
Fermentation: 3 weeks
Carbonation: 2 weeks
Conditioning Note: Additional conditioning is strongly recommended for a high-ABV stout like this and can help smooth the roast, bitterness, and warming finish.

WHY THIS RECIPE

Why Brew It: This recipe is perfect for brewers who want a big imperial stout without overcomplicating the process. It is dark, strong, bitter, and rich, with enough complexity to satisfy fans of classic Russian Imperial Stouts.

Step-by-step brewing guide

How to Brew Rusky Business

DETAILED

Brew Day Guide

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Detailed Instructions
4.2
Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars
Based on 10 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 6 Total 4 star reviews: 2 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 1
80%would recommend this product
Slide 1 selected
10 reviews
  • A
    Anonymous
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    5 years ago
    Thick and Rich

    I was a bit intimidated by the three extracts all the and a 9.25 ABV. I was concerned the hops flavor would be too strong as well as a heavy alcohol taste. I was wrong. It came out so good. Nice rich thick texture. It has a perfect bitterness. This is now on the top of my stout list.I don't see it in the instructions but they had warned about the fermentation. It does foam a lot during the process. My batched oozed out the barrel a little for a few days. Not much to impact the end volume (ended with twenty-one 12 oz bottles) but did make a little mess. Keep your fermenter on top of something you can wipe clean. I kept mine on the tile floor.I don't see myself ever going back to commercial beers. Mr. Beer has spoiled me.Happy Brewing

  • A
    Anonymous
    Verified Buyer
    I do not recommend this product
    Rated 1 out of 5 stars
    1 year ago
    Disappointed

    Tried to reach customer service 2 separate ways and crickets. Had questions about my order.

  • A
    Anonymous
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    1 year ago
    Great beer with high ABV

    I just completed a batch of this and after three weeks of fermentation and three more to carbonate it's delicious!

  • A
    Anonymous
    Verified Buyer
    I recommend this product
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    2 years ago
    Strong kick your butt stout

    Strong sipping stout. Doesn’t get any better than this one.

  • A
    Anonymous
    Rated 3 out of 5 stars
    3 years ago
    I'm trying to like this one but ...

    First YMMV on this one. Second I do like stouts enjoying the likes of Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout to Dragon's Milk to Young's Double Chocolate. I had high hopes for this one and brewed per instructions. It fermented aggressively and audibly and after 3+ weeks in the fermenter the initial sample when bottling was promising. However the results after 3+ weeks bottle conditioning have not met expectations. There is no head and not much carbonation to my pours. The taste is strong but hard to define; it has a heavy mouth feel. All of my Mr Beer brews to date have been consumed quickly; RB will be around for months. I may update if it improves with age and as I stated above YMMV. (BTW I am now 2+ months past the initial brew date).

    mr.beer1
    3 years ago

    Your yeast may be struggling to condition within the high alcohol content. You may try moving the bottles to a slightly warmer location. Let us know if it does not improve. Cheers!

Homebrewing Made Easy

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MIX

MIX

Add water and ingredients — that’s it

BREW

BREW

Let your beer ferment and develop flavor

BOTTLE

BOTTLE

Transfer to bottles and seal in carbonation

ENJOY

ENJOY

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