7/26/2013 Robust Porter

7/26/2013 Robust Porter

Ingredients

FERMENTABLES

6.6 lb. Porter LME

SPECIALTY GRAINS

4 oz. De-bittered Black

4 oz. Caramel 120L

4 oz. Chocolate

HOPS

.5 oz. Brewer’s Gold

1 oz. Northern Brewer

.5 oz. Northern Brewer

YEAST

1 Sachet Nottingham Ale Yeast

SG- 1.051

FG- 1.020

4.07% ABV

Besides the cider brew I did the other day, my official beer making career has started. I ventured and made a Robust Porter from Brewers Choice. It was one of their ingredient packs. For now, this is what I will be brewing until I become a little more proficient at it. This batch had some pretty good reviews through the web and I am looking forward to cracking my first one!

I started with 2.5 gallons of water which I started to bring to a boil. 

Once the temp hit 160 degrees, I put in my "sock" of grains. These steep in the water for 20 minutes. At this time too, the batch goes from water to wort. it was interesting in the 20 minutes it was in. Went from clear to pitch black. At this point too, my kitchen began to smell awesome!

rolling boil started, and the malt was added along with the hops. This set had three sets of hops, added in at different times. 

After the third set, it was time to take the 212 degree wort and cool it down to 70 degrees! I had a sink full of cold water and ice. It took about 20 minutes, and I was able to get the temp down to 78 degrees before it evened out. I then transferred the wort to a fermenter. I then added in an additional 2.5 gallons of water to make the 5 gallon batch. I checked the specific gravity which was 1.051 and was within the specified range. I then pitched my yeast, stirred it in and placed the top on the fermenter and added the airlock. From here, it was transferred to a cool dark area in an undisclosed location for fermenting!

See ya in a few days!

7/27/2013

Fermentation is well under way. I just checked the fermenter around 1500hrs and there were a number of bubbles observed in the air lock! 

7/30/2013

Fermentation has really slowed down. Checked tonight and I am down to approx one bubble every 30 seconds. Will probably trasnfer to a secondary on Friday!

8/2/2013

Transfer to secondary fermenter..... the bubbles became much more infrequent, so I decided today would be the day to transfer the brew to a secondary fermenter into a glass carboy. It had slowed down considerably for probably about 48 hours.

8/17/2013 BOTTLING DAY!

    2 weeks in the secondary fermenter, and it was time to bottle! I sanitized all equipment (man, that was a lot of beer bottles!) I boiled up the priming sugar and then dumped it into the bottler bucket. From there, I transferred the beer from the carboy to the bottling bucket and stirred gentle to mix the priming sugar throughout. Then, it was time to bottle!

Finished Product (A Mix of 12oz, 20oz and 22oz bottles):

-Corey