Will this ever be possible, or should I move on?

That seems like a lot of specialty malts for a one gallon batch to me. That will greatly impact the fermentability of the wort. Also, how are oxygenating the wort before you pitch the yeast?

 

I dunno if I agree with the specialty amounts comment above, in a 5 gal batch that would be about 1.5# crystal, ~2.25# roasted grains and .75# smoked, so not totally out of line for an impy stout

Your OG seems a bit out off though, even at 100% eff, with those grains at 1gal you can only get 1095.

As to getting a lower FG, couple things not mentioned

1. In your PM, I would include some base malt to get adequate amounts of enzymes in your mash, the smoked malt does have a decent amount but its a relatively minor component of your mash. Everything else will not be able to convert starches, however limited they may be

2. A bit of sugar might be useful to you in drying the beer out

3. when you measure your FG do you degas the sample? If you dont shake the hell out of it to remove CO2 you get elevated readings

4. Why not do a mash for the whole grain bill?? Its pretty small after all

Why not try
3# Pale malt
4oz Choco
4oz 90L
2oz RB
2oz Smoked
4oz Sugar

at 65% eff you'd get 1098 and you could mash low to get your low FG

 

Gallon growlers cost a few bucks. Buy another, make another batch, and blend them together. The next one needs to be very dry. Lots of RB and maybe some simple sugar.

 

What were your refractometer readings and are you adjusting for alcohol? If you had initial reading of ~24 and final reading of ~12, that would mean an FG of ~1.017 per the BrewCipher calculator. But an unadjusted reading of ~12 would appear to be ~1.047.

If you have been adjusting and final reading was ~15, then fermentation would indeed appear to be stuck.

 

Can you explain why you are still using enough O2 for a 5 gallon batch in a 1 gallon batch?

 

It will be interesting to see the response to @MarriedAtGI query. It just may be there really is no problem here with the beer; perhaps the beer did reach a final gravity around 1.017.

Cheers!

 

Are you rehydrating your yeast in water prior to pitching? Rehydration in wort creates osmotic stress on the cells. Rehydration in high gravity wort cannot be good.

 

Are you throwing our beer only based on the gravity? You got to taste it, man!

 

These last two batches read like "success" to me.

Cheers!

 

Perhaps you should use a hydrometer to do final gravity for a few batches. I know it is a substantial volume sacrifice if you are only brewing 1 gallon batches, but if you check your hydrometer FG against your refractometer fg, it may give you the peace of mind to move forward with reliance on the refrac. Just a thought.

 

That's why I use a high resolution hydrometer to check FG. I'd rather calculate minor temperature density offsets.

 

I don't sacrifice my wort when I test. I sanitize everything and use a thief with valve on the bottom.

 

The good news is that you now know how to properly use your refractometer?

Cheers!

 

I think you're replying to the wrong person.

 

I was suggesting that the OP compare his refrac samples to a hydrometer sample. I guess you were suggesting that an alternative is to sanitize everything, use a thief to pull a hydrometer sample, check gravity, and than pour it back? Sure, it could be done this way. I think there is some additional exposure to oxygen, but maybe not a big deal if it is a small batch that will be consumed relatively quickly. In the long run, if he continues to small batch, I think using the refrac is the way to go, easy to do, minimizes exposure of the beer. He just needs to learn whether or not he is making the best corrections to his FG reading.

Or maybe I don't understand why you are explaining that you use a thief...

 

I was just commenting on your relative volume loss statement and how I avoid that.