Adding cacoa nibs while increasing fermentation

[CPAbrewing]

Hi! I'm making a porter with an OG reading of 1.054 and a FG of 1.020 (after 2 weeks), which would give me 3.57% alcohol content. I was thinking that it should be a little higher so I was advised to add more yeast (brittish ale yeast) and try to get it to ferment more. I also forgot to add cacoa nibs originally. I wanted to make a chocolatey type of porter and was thinking about adding them now with the additional yeast. Right now the beer tastes good to me. It has a strong hint of coffee flavor. I don't want to mess up the flavor too much. Is this a good idea to add the cacoa nibs now or should I just forget about it? If so, what is the best way to add them? Thank you

 

[GuldTuborg]

Hi! I'm making a porter with an OG reading of 1.054 and a FG of 1.020 (after 2 weeks), which would give me 3.57% alcohol content

It's nearly 4.5% ABV. The 3.57% seems even a touch low for an ABW measurement.

If you want to add nibs, you can either just toss them in or soak in vodka for a while before adding (nibs and vodka). I prefer the latter route, but some just toss them in, perhaps in a sanitized bag. Either way works. Using the vodka cuts down on overall time spent, and alleviates any worries of contamination (small though they are), but gives a little less control over experimenting with flavor impact.

 

[chickypad]

I'm also getting 4.46% for your ABV. I don't know the details of your batch but I think it may be unlikely just throwing more yeast in will change anything. What was the recipe, and all grain or extract? What were/are the fermentation temps, and how much did you pitch? Do you aerate/oxygenate?

 

[RobertMuldoon]

Hi! I'm making a porter with an OG reading of 1.054 and a FG of 1.020 (after 2 weeks), which would give me 3.57% alcohol content.

Your math is off a bit. 1.054 - 1.020= .034 x 131 = 4.454%abv. It sounds like your beer is finished. Depending on your ingredients, 1.020 sounds about right for a porter. I don't think you should add more yeast.

As for the cocoa, you can certainly rack to a secondary and add it now, then give it a few weeks in there for some chocolatey deliciousness. However, you said it tastes great as is... maybe save the cocoa nibs for another batch?

 

[CPAbrewing]

i used a 7 lbs of light malt extract and just steeped the following grains (6 oz chocolate, 6 oz black, 8 oz of honey malt, 8 oz crystal 40L and 4 oz. Victory). I believe the temperature when I pitched the yeast was around 68 degrees F. I did add some claraferm to it. I did aerate it before adding the yeast.

I'm a little embarrassed, but I thought I was calculating the alcohol content correctly. I just subtracted them and multiplied by 105. So (1.054-1.020)X 105. Can you please tell me how i'm miscalculating? Thank you

So do you think 4.46% seems ok for a porter? Thanks again for all of the advice!

 

[GuldTuborg]

I'm a little embarrassed, but I thought I was calculating the alcohol content correctly. I just subtracted them and multiplied by 105. So (1.054-1.020)X 105. Can you please tell me how i'm miscalculating? Thank you

That's part of the equation.

ABV = ((1.05 * (Starting SG – Final SG)) / Final SG) / 0.79 * 100


What you had was an equation that gives you something slightly lower than ABW.

 

[chickypad]

i used a 7 lbs of light malt extract and just steeped the following grains (6 oz chocolate, 6 oz black, 8 oz of honey malt, 8 oz crystal 40L and 4 oz. Victory). I believe the temperature when I pitched the yeast was around 68 degrees F. I did add some claraferm to it. I did aerate it before adding the yeast.

So do you think 4.46% seems ok for a porter? Thanks again for all of the advice!

I think with that recipe it's likely just done. You're in perfect range for a brown porter, and if it tastes good that's really all that matters.