has anyone tried the brewers best oatmeal stout kit

Ive ordered my supplies for a yeast starter as well, should be in in 2 or 3 days.

My gravity right now is stuck at 1.032, whats yours at?

If you can, try to let it go so it has at least 3 weeks in the primary. It will give the yeast a chance at cleaning up after themselves.

Edit: Disregard, it appears you were just updating the results of your previous restart attempt. I hope you get a few more points out of it!

Im also going to gently stir the bottom of the carboy tonight, try and get the yeast back in suspension, then I'll try the yeast starter later this week. I'll keep this updated.

daytonlawvol said:

Ive ordered my supplies for a yeast starter as well, should be in in 2 or 3 days.

My gravity right now is stuck at 1.032, whats yours at?

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My first batches Og was a little high. It stuck at1036. My second Og was spot on and its stuck at 1032.

If u find something that's works please let us know

daytonlawvol said:

Im also going to gently stir the bottom of the carboy tonight, try and get the yeast back in suspension, then I'll try the yeast starter later this week. I'll keep this updated.

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I also tried the swirling the carboy for about a week. I did it 3 or 4 times a day. I never got any more yeast activity.

My OG was stuck at 1.035. I haven't checked it since I added the yeast starter, but I am seeing activity, so I'm hoping it's going down. I probably won't have a chance to test a sample until this weekend to see by how much.

bstanf said:

I also tried the swirling the carboy for about a week. I did it 3 or 4 times a day. I never got any more yeast activity.

My OG was stuck at 1.035. I haven't checked it since I added the yeast starter, but I am seeing activity, so I'm hoping it's going down. I probably won't have a chance to test a sample until this weekend to see by how much.

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I do the same thing, just give the carboy a few good twists, in my mind i think it helps move things around, and lets the yeast do its job all the better. but i could be dead wrong. Just so you know, i did see activity in mine as well, all the way up to when i bottled it. There was always a very tiny ring of bubbles around the top of the brew when it was in the secondary. The gravity never changed

I really believe there is something wrong with the recipe. Theres just too many people having the same problem to be "operator error" do you guys agree too?

slicksmix said:

I do the same thing, just give the carboy a few good twists, in my mind i think it helps move things around, and lets the yeast do its job all the better. but i could be dead wrong. Just so you know, i did see activity in mine as well, all the way up to when i bottled it. There was always a very tiny ring of bubbles around the top of the brew when it was in the secondary. The gravity never changed

I really believe there is something wrong with the recipe. Theres just too many people having the same problem to be "operator error" do you guys agree too?

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I emailed brewers best about this and I got a quick response. Guy said the yeast purposefully cuts off quickly in order to preserve some sweetness in this oateal stout, but that at 1.032, it cut off too quick. Recommended a yeast starter to get it going again, which I will be doing later this week...and said he would talk to people at the company to try and see why this is happening.

Sure enough, mine got stuck as well. I modded the recipe slightly by changing the yeast to an activator pack of wyeast 1098.

Same as everyone else, OG was good at 1.056, stuck SG at 1.030. I tasted it before i apparently oxidized the crap out of my beer trying to rouse the yeast (ugh, idiot), and it was super dry tasting. i wonder if that was the malodextrin.

Super dry at that FG would indicate to me that it is way over-carbed. If you bottled it when it was that high and primed it with the usual 5 ozs of sugar that often comes in those prepackaged kits, the yeast probably went a little bonkers and went on a feeding frenzy- creating too much carbonation.

Now if you aggressively stirred the wort to rouse the yeast, then yes you probably oxidized it.

Update: Pitched a White Labs Irish Ale Yeast Starter last night in my batch that was stuck at 1.032. Started fermenting within an hour, airlock activity peaked at about 9-10 blips per minute, with a nice Krausen formed on the top. Checked it this morning, airlock activity has slowed, still nice Krausen on top. It looks like I should have dropped my gravity, not sure yet. Will keep updated,

daytonlawvol said:

Update: Pitched a White Labs Irish Ale Yeast Starter last night in my batch that was stuck at 1.032. Started fermenting within an hour, airlock activity peaked at about 9-10 blips per minute, with a nice Krausen formed on the top. Checked it this morning, airlock activity has slowed, still nice Krausen on top. It looks like I should have dropped my gravity, not sure yet. Will keep updated,

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any updates on this? been 5 days.

After letting it go a bit longer in the secondary than I intended, I bottled my first batch tonight. It finished at 1.028, so still pretty high. The sample I tasted was a little thin, surprisingly, but the flavors were nice and it wasn't too sweet. I'm hoping after a few weeks to get carbonated, it'll be a nice beer.

I checked OG last night and it seemed to have dropped to about 1.028-1.029. I gave it a taste and it actually tasted quite good. I think im going to bottle tonight and just deal with it as is. Should turn out just fine.

It sucks that this happened, but at least we have drinkable beer.

Thanks for the update

Cheers

I bottled mine 2 days ago. The FG got down to 1.022, yielding about 4.3 abv. I'm definitely satisfied with that result, considering how it started.

If you guys used all of the malto then an FG of 1.028 is just barely high and a 1.022 would be excellent. Brewer's Best FG range is unrealistic. As I stated earlier, I believe they omitted the malto in their calculations because it is mostly unfermentable and most software programs ignore it as well. Brewer's Best is no multi-billion dollar brewery- they are kit builders and likely rely on simple recipe software like Beersmith. Therefore, if you added about 8 points to their 1.013-1.018 range you would get 1.021-1.026.

I will be brewing this same kit today, but will be adding a pound of lactose in addition to all the kit ingredients...planning to add cocoa and coffee after the primary to make this a mocha latte oatmeal stout...I hope all turns out well..

One question..the addition of malto will raise FG, but doesn't it also raise OG? Let's say OG was 1050 and FG is 1028...without adding malto, would the OG be 1042 and FG 1020? if that is true, isn't the FG high because there are still fermentable sugars not being fermented, rather than the malto adding onto the FG? I hope that makes sense, and I hope someone can chime in before I start the batch...

Thanks!

Update: a Guy from bb emailed me about the recipe. He states that the conversion temp was too high and extracts too many unfermentables from the grains. Lowering the temp to 150 should help

What do u guys think

Silcks: Of course lowering the temp would help. But that wouldn't account for 15 points because the vast majority of fermentables are being provided by the extract.

Krazy: Yes the malto does add to the OG as well as the FG. But no, as was extensively discussed throughout this thread, an OG of 1.042 would not be accurate. See post #20 for example.

The OG started out at 1066 at 24C...36 hours later it was at 1038 at 24C(1 bubble per second)...24 hour hours after that, it was at 1037 at 24C(1 bubble per 5 seconds)...I really hope it's not stalling...I know it's only been a few days so I guess I'll wait it out and hope for the best... =) Oh yea, the yeast I used was a WYeast London Ale III smack pack(no starter)...

just took another reading and it is at 1036 at 20C...I am assuming it is a stalled fermentation since it dropped only 1 point in 5 days...I shook the fermenting container a bit to get the yeast roused up again so maybe that will help...

I did this same recipe and OG was at 1.070 - after couple weeks i was at 1.036 - i tried repitching with more alcohol tolerant yeast and it didn't budge.

Bottled yesterday, ABV is about 4.4. Taste decent but recipe has to be incorrect.

I was stuck at 1.030 with this kit for 3 weeks. Threw some Amylase Enzyme (should have it at your LHBS) in and a week later had it down to 1.021. Tastes decent but still a little sweet, definitely a huge improvement though.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/help-im-stuck-214122/

I brewed this kit last Saturday (my first brew) and am anticipating the same problems as everyone else since my OG was around 1.064. Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of adding a yeast energizing powder versus adding amylase enzyme? Would it hurt to add both?

Yeast energizer is just like a good dose of vitamins for the yeast to hopefully rouse their sluggish arses back to work (kind of like 5 hour Energy Drink for humans). Amylase enzyme will break down longer chain/complex carbohydrates into smaller bits that the yeast can eat. Amylase is often used when you want to dry out a beer. So it wouldn't hurt to add both.

Same general gravities here(1.055/1.03). Was my second brewing so I thought it was brewer error. Guess I didn't screw up as badly as I thought. I am enjoying the final product even though it ended up at only 3.28%. If anyone can make it work I would enjoy to hear how it was done.

I have added yeast energizer and yeast nutrient and neither helped. I truly believe the problem lies with the maltodextrin. I think they calculated it into their recipe thinking it would ferment. It makes sense.

I do have to admit that even though its low in alcohol, it tastes pretty damn good

If I would do this recipe again I would omit the maltodextrin and add alot more dark dme

slicksmix said:

Update: a Guy from bb emailed me about the recipe. He states that the conversion temp was too high and extracts too many unfermentables from the grains. Lowering the temp to 150 should help

What do u guys think

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The BB guy is definitely right on temp. I too have used amylase enzyme to fix a beer that I mashed too high and got stuck at 1.033. Dropped it down to 1.019. You add it straight to the fermenter, I used a teaspoon.

First, thanks to BigB for being a group counselor throughout this thread. You have been a great help to understand what is going on. Which is important when I explain my second comment..................

I had read this thread as it was happening. Seen how everyone was struggling. Went with my wife last weekend to pick out my starter equipment and a couple brew kits to get started brewing with after researching and reading HBT for over six months.

Any guesses what I brought home???? I am such an idiot!

lou2row said:

First, thanks to BigB for being a group counselor throughout this thread. You have been a great help to understand what is going on. Which is important when I explain my second comment..................

I had read this thread as it was happening. Seen how everyone was struggling. Went with my wife last weekend to pick out my starter equipment and a couple brew kits to get started brewing with after researching and reading HBT for over six months.

Any guesses what I brought home???? I am such an idiot!

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Dont beat yourself up lou lol... no really, the beer will turn out great (even with the low abv) I am about to do my third batch this week. I am going get it right eventually.

@big B... or anybody that would like to help. Like i said above, i am going to attempt this again, but i wanna sub dark dme for the pound of maltodextrin. question is how much dme should i add in place of the malto? i was thinking 3 pounds would be good. does this sound right? should i be using light dme instead?

I agree with slicksmix, It will still be a good beer- much better than BMC! So have fun with it, and don't stress about the FG. In general, I would say to just ignore BB's FG "range" because it is way off unless you omit the maltodextrine. But if you do that, you will lose some character of the beer- it will be dryer and have less body. Regardless, just have fun with the process!

slicksmix: why do you want to add DME instead of the malto? 3 pounds of DME will add a lot of fermentable sugars and drive up the OG by about .025! Plus it will ferment out equally with the other ingredients giving a MUCH higher ABV. Of course the recipe will be a dramatic change from the original in terms of flavor and body. Instead, why not try a different oatmeal stout recipe? By doing so, you will learn more about the style and give you an idea what different ingredients add to a recipe. Further, it helps people the think "outside the box".... in other words, to get away from the prepackaged kits and to see how the prepackaged kits are really not that much different than recipes you can get on this site. I have a fantastic recipe for Samuel Smiths Oatmeal Stout if you are interested in trying something different. The recipe comes in at about 5.5% ABV and is full of body and flavor. The only tough part might be finding the yeast, but I could help you find a suitable substitute.

lou2row said:

First, thanks to BigB for being a group counselor throughout this thread. You have been a great help to understand what is going on. Which is important when I explain my second comment..................

I had read this thread as it was happening. Seen how everyone was struggling. Went with my wife last weekend to pick out my starter equipment and a couple brew kits to get started brewing with after researching and reading HBT for over six months.

Any guesses what I brought home???? I am such an idiot!

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I wouldn't worry. I actually just bottled mine two days ago and when I took a sample it tasted pretty good. I ended up using amylase enzyme to cut down the longer sugars from the dextrins into shorter ones that would ferment. Did that after it sat in the carboy for about 2 or 3 weeks and it ended up getting down to about 1.020. If I were brewing this kit again I'd probably half the maltodextrin and, as someone suggested earlier, mash around 150 degrees. If you're not set on a traditional oatmeal stout, I threw some coffee into the secondary and that did a nice job of complementing the sweetness with some extra bitterness. Either way have fun! It's not a horrible kit, just a recipe that could use some tinkering.

I'm going to RDWHAHB myself and just enjoy the learning experience. I've read enough to know it will most likely end up beer, no matter what. Once I'm in a little farther, your stout and citrus wheat are saved to my favorites list for ones to make down the road ( I may hit you up on yeast suggestions if I can't find it).

Like you mentioned, I do have a red ale with Notty yeast I could make and rack over onto it's yeast cake if it is deemed necessary. I bought an extra 6 gallon better bottle for just such an emergency.

My only suggestion would be to mash low and slow. Other that that should be great!

This got brewed up yesterday. Brew day went really well. A couple little faux pas, but nothing of concern. It was bubbling away by morning. I cut the malto dextrin in half.

Checked the hydro today. Any guesses? 1.032. If anything, this kit is consistent. I took it down to the basement to continue at a little lower temp, and after a week or so if it hasn't changed then decide if I am going to brew up the red ale and then rack over to the nottingham cake.

lou2row said:

Checked the hydro today. Any guesses? 1.032. If anything, this kit is consistent. I took it down to the basement to continue at a little lower temp, and after a week or so if it hasn't changed then decide if I am going to brew up the red ale and then rack over to the nottingham cake.

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What temp did u mash at? Is halfing the malto the only mod u made?

mashed at 150 - 155 for one hour. I ran my cooled wort through a sanitized colander to help aerate more as well as poured half of each water bottle, then shook the rest of the bottles up hard to get more oxygen in as well as rock the fermentor. Didn't make a starter or do anything with the yeast other than pour it in the wort and stir.

If I were to do this kit again, I'd change out the yeast for some other variety. I think the issue is there. My grabbed hydro sample tasted like watered down Guinness.

You brewed on Sunday and checked the hydrometer on Wednesday???? Leave it alone for a few days and give the yeast a chance to work. Also, why are you cooling it down? Leave it in the warmer envirnment because yeast are more active in a warmer wort. If you cool it off too quickly, the yeast will drop out of suspension and it will be a beech to get them going again- especially Notty.

What are some other yeasts that would perform better or give a better result?

I guess you could do what another poster did and use that Beano stuff.

Man this is really strange...