Robust Porter Update

This is an update to the Robust Porter I brewed on January 11.

I checked the specific gravity today; it's a little high. It's been in the fermenter for 3 weeks now, and it the SG is 1.022. The target FG is 1.15. Maybe I didn't oxygenate enough? Maybe not enough yeast made it from the yeast bag into the narrow mouth of the carboy (there was some that got stuck on the funnel)? I think it tastes fine, though. Very dark, not much hoppiness. I don't know if that's a result of the partial boil, the high gravity, the altered hop schedule, the recipe itself, or what. I'm not experienced enough to know if it definitely tastes good, since right now it's flat and about 60 degrees, and when I drink it for real it will be carbonated and a bit colder. Conditioning should help it out as well. Good news, though: I don't think I can taste that I burned the wort.

I also measured the Brix of this beer even though I didn't have the refractometer in time to take an original brix measurement. Based on the OG of 1.064, the starting Brix would have been ~16.

Date	Gravity	Brix
1/11/2014	1.064	16*
2/1/2014	1.022	9.8
* Estimated

I can then pretend I didn't actually measure the specific gravity this time and calculate what it would be based on just the Brix. Since the ethanol in the solution affects the refraction differently than the sugar, a correction has to be applied. The formula is pretty long, but I used this online calculator to figure it out (16 and 9.8 °Brix works out to a SG of 1.0222). I also made a quick reference chart to print out. The Brix and the SG calculations were consistent, so I'll be confident using only the refractometer to measure my gravity as I'm brewing and waste a lot less beer. This'll be really helpful with when I start doing some small batches of all grain.

Finally, since what good is a post without a picture, here is the Kansas City Pale Ale going strong. It's a good thing we used a blowoff tube. It's been going for 6 days and it's still bubbling about once every 1 to 3 seconds.

Goals for the (Near) Future

• Bottle this batch
• Move the pale ale over to secondary and add hops (when it stops showing signs of active fermentation? that might be another week)
• Brew some small batches of all grain
• Get equipment to do full boils of at least 5 gallon batches - large kettle with valve/thermometer, propane burner, immersion chiller or counterflow wort chiller, figure out temperature control (and start pitching the yeast at the right temperature).