imperial or robust?

i have tweaked it as far as i am going to at this point, after i brew it then i will see what i need to do different.

currently it is estimated @
1.067 OG
1.017 FG
37.7 SRM
54.6 IBU's
6.53 abv
304 cal/pint

so i guess it is a bit over but i will still call it a robust. plus the is assuming my efficiency is dead on to my calculations. i will see how it turns out. if it is too roasty, bitter or something i am not happy i will rethink the grain bill.

"Robust" in porter terms usually refers to the the style called, Robust Porter.
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style12.php#1b

This is the typical porter from an American craft brewer, like Anchor Porter, Bell's Porter, Sierra Nevada, Porter, etc. and its original gravity can range up to 1.065. Brown Porters are a bit lighter and not as assertive. Examples of Brown Porters are your English examples, Fuller's London Porter, Samuel Smith Taddy Porter, etc.

The third subcategory of porter is Baltic Porter which is more common, along the Baltic Sea region and is sometimes called Imperial Porter. These are bigger beers than the others with an Original Gravity up to 1.090 and are comparable to a Russian Imperial Stout without the roastyness.

So how big is your porter? That will help you determine if it falls more in the Robust or Imperial (Baltic) guidlines.

agreed but, i like to know what folks are talking about, and always want to know how i can improve my recipes. i think calling them what they are helps in that process when disscussing with true beer nerds. helps them to know you are listening:) plus i wanted to know where my porter fits, i am calling it robust, but it might be imperial. i think it might just be a high alcohol robust vanilla porter. i can see all you great beer nerds kringing at the thought!

i love that beer nerds are the few who love being called nerds! excuse me beer nerds!

I say.."Make beer, drink beer".

You're welcome!

FYI, I stole that nice little description from Beer Advocate. They've got a pretty good list of terminology.

nice, thanks randi!

Session Beer is any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish - a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of a session beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication.

sessionable huh, meaning you can drink more of them? what would constitute a session? sorry if it is too many questions, just trying to learn the lingo and i have heard that one before!

I think "Robust" beers are still considered sessionable (most being 5% – 6.5% ABV), but have a more pronounced flavor than their counterparts (ie. porter or stout).

"Imperials" tend to just have more of everything, so they're more potent (anywhere from 8% to 12% ABV).
*Typically brewers making an Imperial build recipes to allow for double the ABV and IBU of what the style would normally be.

I think these are terms that are what you make them to be. There's really no rule book for them... that I'm aware of.

ok attention all beer geeks! i can seem to find this answer, at least not easily (always like easy hehe).

what makes a beer robust or an imperial? i have noticed imperial seems to have a high grain bill, and associated of course alcohol content. is robust the use of aromatics? they seem to be higher in alochol too? imperials seem to have a broad range too, could have hops through the rear, or grains. please let me know, it is probably going to come down to how they choose to name it or something!

thanks in advance

dennis