First oatmeal stout, new to brewing (HELP)

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by dans1055, Jan 20, 2016.

Tags:
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. dans1055

    dans1055 Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2015 Massachusetts

    Hey guys, I just made my first oatmeal stout and am a little skeptical of how it came out. I have only brewed with extract so far and this recipe called for me to steep flaked oats, chocolate malt, english crystal malt, and black patent malt at 150 degrees for 30 minutes. After I cooled the wort I used a funnel with a filter to put the wort into my carboy. The filter was almost immediately clogged with all of the debris that was in there. Then after I topped my carboy off to 5 gallons, I mixed the water and took a gravity reading which read 1.062 while the recipe estimates that it should be around 1.051.

    For the record, I did check my muslin bags to make sure that none of them had opened up and let grain out

    Any ideas where I went wrong?

    Should I just dump this batch and start over?
     
  2. ssam

    ssam Pundit (997) Dec 2, 2008 California

    Don't dump it. RDWHAHB

    So you did whats called a partial mash or mini mash with those specialty grains-- which is good, you have to with oats, but you are supposed to have a base malt in there too, like 2-row. So that's your first mistake. Then did you pull the wort of the grains and add your extract? Because that's what you should have done. Usually people will do the partial mash in a grain bag and pull it from the kettle and let it drain before continuing with the boil.

    When you filter your wort, it's pretty common to get a clog-- especially when you use a lot of hops. It seems like you didn't use that much hops so what was clogging it, grains? That shouldn't happen if you had them in a grain bag or muslin bag.

    Now your OG is high.... That isn't very easy when you brew with extract unless:
    1)Your volume is not what the recipe intended.
    2)You didn't mix the wort with your top off water well enough.
    3) You got awesome efficiency from your mini mash. (unlikely given you used no base malt)

    None of those are drain pour problems. You'll most likely just end up with a stronger Oatmeal Stout than you planned for. Or if its not well mixed, hopefully it will reach an equilibrium after a while. Live and learn.

    Post your full recipe and process for a more detailed analysis.

    Btw, if you do end up dumping it, here is a link to the recipe you should have used, with (I think) foolproof instructions.
    http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/jamils-oatmeal-stout-partial-mash.185290/
     
    #2 ssam, Jan 20, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2016
    ChrisMyhre and inchrisin like this.
  3. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Possibly a factor for the difficulty of pouring your wort through the funnel could also have been that you need an air escape mechanism for the displaced air in the carboy to escape. If your funnel filled most of the carboy opening, it likely kept air from escaping. Next time, stick something like a large serving spoon handle (large enough that the spoon can't call into the carboy) in there with the funnel. That causes the funnel to become unstable, so get help from someone to hold it while you pour the wort.

    I think @ssam has the most likely reasons for your high OG in points 1 and 2 above. Another option is that you misread the quantity of DME needed for the recipe and pit in too much of it. But don't dump this batch! Go with what you have and follow the rest of the instructions. At worst you're going to have a beer with a higher level of alcohol.
     
    ChrisMyhre likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.