Marcus Baskerville’s Homebrewed Imperial Stout

Marcus Baskerville, Weathered Souls

The head brewer, cofounder, and “mad scientist” of Weathered Souls in San Antonio, Texas, shares this homebrew recipe that was an award-winner for him before he went pro.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)

Brewhouse efficiency: 72% OG: 1.100

FG: 1.030

IBUS: 35

ABV: 9.2%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

14.9 lb (6.8 kg) two-row pale 1.8 lb (816 g) crystal 120L

1.1 lb (499 g) black patent

1 lb (454 g) rice hulls

14.5 oz (411 g) black barley 14.5 oz (411 g) chocolate malt 7.5 oz (213 g) flaked oats

HOPS SCHEDULE

1.2 oz (34 g) Cascade [5.5% AA] at 60 minutes 3 oz (85 g) Cascade [5.5% AA] at 30 minutes

YEAST

White Labs WLP001 California Ale

DIRECTIONS

Mill the grains and mash at 155°F (68°C), at a ratio of 1.1 qt/lb (2.3 l/kg), for 1 hour. Raise the temperature to 168°F (76°C) and mash out. Lauter and sparge to obtain about 6.5 gallons (24.6 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil 60 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, chill the wort to 65°F (18°C), aerate well, and pitch plenty of yeast or a healthy starter. Ferment at 68°F (20°C). When fermentation is complete, cold crash, package, and carbonate to 2 volumes.

Another tool he’s been using to impart flavors to stouts is barrel-aging—but again, not in the way most breweries are doing it. Weathered Souls is about a year and a half into its single-barrel program, which rests beers in one-ofa-kind barrels that were “store picks” (private barrels selected by a restaurant, bar, or liquor store). These barrels are said to display different flavor characteristics from those that produce a standard-release bourbon. His favorite beer so far: BA #BIL, an English-style barleywine rested in a four-year-old New Riff bourbon barrel chosen by a local whiskey enthusiast group.

“The overall experience of the bourbon within the physical beer wasn’t hot; it was very mellow,” Baskerville says. “We had it in the barrel for 13 months, and the barleywine’s dark fruit character, the prune and fig, did well in there. Plus, it’s fun to say you have this long-aged barrel that no one else has.”

Widening the Welcome

Baskerville says he’s confident that San Antonio drinkers are ready for a new guard. That goes not just for the styles of beer or their ingredients, but for the people making that beer. He says Weathered Souls and fellow San Antonio brewery Islla Street Brewing—whose beers and taproom celebrate the owners’ Hispanic culture—are helping to welcome more minorities to the craft-beer scene.

“Beer’s never been marketed to people of color,” Baskerville says. “People are deterred from even wanting to pursue it because they think it’s not inclusive,” he says.

He knows that firsthand: Until his brother invited him to try different beers, Baskerville was solely a liquor drinker. He hopes that the lasting legacy of Black Is Beautiful is not just the money raised by the beer releases, but the conversations that it starts—about why minorities are underrepresented among beer drinkers and brewers. He wants brewers to think hard about how they can better welcome people of color into the industry.

“We want breweries and communities to understand that the beer is only one aspect of it. It’s what you do in the long haul,” he says. “We know inequality and racism aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

In a thin silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baskerville says that because events are now happening virtually, the online format could make them accessible to more people beyond beer’s traditional bubble. He’s planning a virtual anniversary party for Weathered Souls this November. He hopes it’ll draw a diverse group of drinkers from across the country.

“Hopefully, we’ll get a lot of people who normally can’t come,” he says. “Now everyone gets to join in.”