Berube05734
Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2022
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 18
I brewed my first porter on Tuesday. As like all my beers before, it happily took off without delay and appeared to be fully active within 9-10 hours. As this was my first time using Imperial Darkness yeast and not really finding much information online about how it acts during ferment, I erred on the side of caution and hooked up a blow-off tube assuming it'd be needed as it's been on most, if not all, my past brews. Well, I didn't need it. About 15 hours later I had 2" of foam and everything looked good, but by 30 hours, the foam had subsided and signs of activity quickly subsided. My SG at 30 hours was 1.024 (OG 1.054). I took another reading today (Thursday) and I'm still at 1.024. Full fermentation should have it around 1.018.
The yeast - I began a yeast starter on Monday as I was working with a yeast that had a June date stamp on the package. Beersmith and my favorite calculator "yeaststarter.com" indicated I'd have sufficient yeast count with a single starter (2L).
Below is my grain bill from BeerSmith - BIAB. I pitched at 68 degrees and fermentation has been kept between 66-68 degrees. Imperial Darkness indicates 62-72 for temps, so I don't see an issue with my temperature. OG was 1.054. It should have been 1.057 and I think that was because, for the first time, I didn't open the bag and rinse the grains when mashing was complete. I normally do and my OG is customarily right on target.
It smells like a porter...well, correction, it smells like a porter in the making. I don't detect any hydrogen sulfide order. I don't have yeast energizer...only yeast nutrient.
I can raise the temp a bit and I have S04 & S05 on hand, so I can add more yeast.
However, I wanted to get some thoughts about porters and issues with porters, before I go tampering with it...and if there's anything in the grain bill to suggest that could be the issue.
Mash Ingredients
The yeast - I began a yeast starter on Monday as I was working with a yeast that had a June date stamp on the package. Beersmith and my favorite calculator "yeaststarter.com" indicated I'd have sufficient yeast count with a single starter (2L).
Below is my grain bill from BeerSmith - BIAB. I pitched at 68 degrees and fermentation has been kept between 66-68 degrees. Imperial Darkness indicates 62-72 for temps, so I don't see an issue with my temperature. OG was 1.054. It should have been 1.057 and I think that was because, for the first time, I didn't open the bag and rinse the grains when mashing was complete. I normally do and my OG is customarily right on target.
It smells like a porter...well, correction, it smells like a porter in the making. I don't detect any hydrogen sulfide order. I don't have yeast energizer...only yeast nutrient.
I can raise the temp a bit and I have S04 & S05 on hand, so I can add more yeast.
However, I wanted to get some thoughts about porters and issues with porters, before I go tampering with it...and if there's anything in the grain bill to suggest that could be the issue.
Mash Ingredients
- 7 lb 10.5 oz - Pale Ale, Finest Maris Otter (Simpsons)
- 1 lb 3.1 oz - Chocolate Malt (Bairds)
- 13.6 oz - Munich I (Weyermann)
- 9.6 oz - Carapils Malt (Briess)
- 5.6 oz - Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess)
- 4.0 oz - Roasted Barley (Bairds)
- 15.7 oz - Oats, Flaked