A little oxidation isn't terrible for an imperial stout. The dark malts have anti-oxidant properties. Plus I stopped putting anything but a butt load of bittering hops in my imperial stout boil. Aroma/flavor hops contribute a lot of oxygen rich hop compounds which is why IPAs just don't last long on the shelf. So the thing you're trying to get so badly in an IPA is partly what makes the flavor and aroma fade because the aromatic oils are oxygen rich. Plus for me I age my stouts a long time and I've found that the late addition hops have very little to no discernable flavor by the time I'm drinking them. Other little trick I use for intensifying the roastiness of the imperial stout for the long haul is add a few grams ground up to a powder in my spice grinder, and add it directly to the kettle.
So my brewday went awesome on Friday. I nailed my gravity and ended up with a nice 13gal volume of wort. This is the lowest gravity wort I've ever intentionally brewed to date, 1.037. I figure with the lambic culture I pitched in the wort it will ferment nearly to nearly 100% apparent attenuation and that will net me somewhere near 4.4% abv. Plus I'm hoping the lower gravity will allow the beer to ferment slightly faster, but then again I'm at the mercy of unknown bacteria and yeast in the culture.
