Subscriber Exclusive
Recipe: Big Friendly Oil Boom
Oklahoma City’s Big Friendly is a two-time Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, in 2022 and 2023. Here’s a recipe for the imperial stout—no adjuncts, not yet barrel-aged—that serves as the base for Vanilla Boom, one of our Best 20 Beers in 2024.
This big, rich stout serves as the base for Vanilla Boom—bourbon barrel–aged, with vanillas from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Uganda—a beer that scored 99/100 with our blind panel and went on to become one of our Best 20 Beers in 2024.
Joe Quinlan, cofounder of the Big Friendly in Oklahoma City, describes it as “our favorite base imperial stout recipe, designed to give creamy notes of vanilla, toffee, and caramel, with a whisper of roasted malt.”
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.140 (32.2°P)
FG: 1.048 (11.9°P)
IBUs: 22
ABV: 12%
Make & Drink Better Beer
Subscribe today to access all of the premium brewing content available (including this article). With thousands of reviews, our subscribers call it "the perfect beer magazine" and "worth every penny." Your subscription is protected by a 100% money back guarantee.
This big, rich stout serves as the base for Vanilla Boom—bourbon barrel–aged, with vanillas from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Uganda—a beer that scored 99/100 with our blind panel and went on to become one of our Best 20 Beers in 2024.
Joe Quinlan, cofounder of the Big Friendly in Oklahoma City, describes it as “our favorite base imperial stout recipe, designed to give creamy notes of vanilla, toffee, and caramel, with a whisper of roasted malt.”
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.140 (32.2°P)
FG: 1.048 (11.9°P)
IBUs: 22
ABV: 12%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
16 lb (7.3 kg) pale two-row
2.8 lb (1.3 kg) wheat malt
2.5 lb (1.1 kg) flaked oats
1.8 lb (816 g) crystal 40°L
1.4 lb (635 g) debittered black
1.4 lb (635 g) flaked barley
1.4 lb (635 g) roasted barley
HOPS SCHEDULE
1 oz (28 g) Simcoe at 60 minutes [22 IBUs]
YEAST
Fermentis SafAle US-05 or similar
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 154°F (68°C) for 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear of particles, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil 2–3 hours, or until you reach target gravity; add the hops when you estimate you’re about 60 minutes from reaching the target. After the boil, chill to about 64°F (18°C). Aerate the wort vigorously, then pitch a generous, healthy, and happy yeast starter. Ferment at 67°F (19°C) until just before the end of fermentation, then allow to rise to 72°F (22°C). Once fermentation is complete and gravity has stabilized, crash to 35°F (2°C), package, and carbonate to about 2.3–2.4 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Gravity: Be patient on brew day and expect a long boil. As an option, be prepared with some dry malt extract (DME) to help achieve target gravity, in case of mash inefficiency or time limitations.
Joe Quinlin is cofounder and brewer at the Big Friendly in Oklahoma City.
