first attempt at a clone: Obsidian Stout

Found a recipe on here (linked to a different site) for an extract brew of a favorite beer of mine that unfortunately is not sold near me: Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery.

Here is the recipe that I used:

Obsidian Stout
A Northwest favorite from Deschutes Brewing. It's not too robust in dark malt character but just the right balance. The hop character is mellow, not bitter, not sweet. Although it's not a traditional oatmeal stout, the oats give it more body, head retention, and creamy texture. Expect a higher OG (about 1.065) and a higher finish (1.025).
7 lbs Amber Malt Extract
1 lbs Amber Dry Malt Extract
1 lb Flaked Oats
1/2 lb Munich Malt
1/2 lb Roasted Barley
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt
1 oz Centennial Hops 12 HBUs (Boiling)
1/2 oz Fuggles Hops (15 min)
1/2 oz Fuggles Hops (2 min)
Wyeast Irish Ale Yeast
For Bottling:
1 1/4 cup Dry Malt Extract Or 3/4 cup Corn sugar


I used 6 lbs of malt extract and 2 pounds of dry malt extra (minus 1 1/4 cups to use for bottling).

My OG was 1.070 and I just checked the gravity today after 2 weeks in primary and its right at 1.025.

I am not used to brewing with such a high start and high finish, so I am sure I can do things differently in the future (maybe a starter, or use liquid yeast), but I just used the wyeast dry yeast (one pack) and it seems to have brought me right to my FG.

Attenuation: given those numbers, seems pretty low (even though I am right where I should be). I've never taken notice of past brews attentuation, but with extracts (and considering the ingrediants i've used), should I be concerned at all with being around 51% for a "real" attentuation? Is that low for extract brews?

The attenuation does seem kind of low but
I'd say if the recipe calls for 1.025 and you hit 1.025
and it's done fermenting you did pretty good.
Does it taste too sweet?

dzlater said:

The attenuation does seem kind of low but
I'd say if the recipe calls for 1.025 and you hit 1.025
and it's done fermenting you did pretty good.
Does it taste too sweet?

Click to expand...

No, the sample tasted quite fine though. Its still in the primary bucket, as I have been too lazy to transfer it to the carboy for a secondary. I might just keep it in the primary another week and bottle it up after that. I did notice a bit more activity though on the airlock today, so I will check gravity in another day or two and see where it is at. I don't believe it will drop down much, but a few points might be left. I guess I will just wait and see what the yeast have planned for it.

Not sure if you found this thread or not but heres the "can you brew it" clone.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/can-you-brew-recipe-deschutes-obsidian-stout-175379/. Those recipes are pretty on point.

fatinma said:

No, the sample tasted quite fine though. Its still in the primary bucket, as I have been too lazy to transfer it to the carboy for a secondary. I might just keep it in the primary another week and bottle it up after that. I did notice a bit more activity though on the airlock today, so I will check gravity in another day or two and see where it is at. I don't believe it will drop down much, but a few points might be left. I guess I will just wait and see what the yeast have planned for it.

Click to expand...

Good thing I left it in primary. Not sure if temps are cooler in my house, or opening the bucket shook it up a bit, but since Saturday the airlock has been bubbling pretty consistently again. I think I will wait a few more days and see what the hydrometer reads at.

question: when a recipe gives an "expected' final gravity, is it any concern to go below that FG? I would imagine anything lower is better, right?

It just means you got more attenuation or that your OG was slightly off. I wouldn't say that it's better per se, just different, unless you get something crazy like 10 points below the expected FG (then I would be concerned about adding a bunch of water during my sleep ).

ok, here we are at about 3 weeks after I started primary and there is STILL activity in my airlock. Tested gravity last week and it was spot on, and it has continued to bubble ever since.

I can say that when I first started primary, temps in our house were around 70-73 but now they are around 67-70. can the lower temps cause the yeast to somehow kick it up a notch and continue doing their thing?

The smell coming from the airlock doesn't smell bad at all, in fact it smells very good. I haven't opened it up since last time, but will do so later today to check for gravity, but I figure what is the point if its still active, right?

Any concern for primary to be continuing after 3 weeks?

**edit**

I went ahead and tested gravity of it. 1.018 (target said around 1.025) and it has a alcoholic flavor to it (closest that I can describe). Last week it had a nice sweet, malty flavor to it.

i plan on checking in 3 days and if its still at 1.018 i will bottle (skip secondary as I think primary for over 3 weeks is enough).

Anyone with thoughts on primary taking longer than 3 weeks?