Oatmeal Stout Fermentation Stuck??

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HickoryMike

HickoryMike

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I'm brewing an oatmeal stout extract kit from Midwest. Starting gravity 1.040, fermented in a room that is 64-70 degrees. Target final gravity is 1.010.

After 10 hours my airlock was humming. After 36 hours it was bubbling once every 45 seconds. After 3.5 days, absolutely no activity in the airlock.

I just took a hydrometer reading and it's sitting at 1.020, so it appears far from finished.

Is this normal? Is the yeast still working? Should I be concerned? I am a newbie brewer and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Mike
 
Let it wait another week. Check it in a few days though. If the gravity hasn't changed, then it's done or stuck. I'd say stuck for sure, but it depends on the ingredients. Try warming it up a bit. Also, what yeast did you use?

I'm having the same issue with a breakfast stout I brewed 2 weeks ago. I'm wanting to move it to secondary, but I need to get it down a bit more. It started at 1.054 and it's at 1.017 now. Not too bad, but I'm hoping for more.

It'll get there. If not, it'll just be a little sweet.
 
Pitched a standard, dry Munton's ale yeast. I have moved it to a slightly warmer location and will test it again in a few days.

The kit said the final gravity should be around 1.010. So, I'm either overreacting to a nonactive airlock or the fermentation is stuck. We'll see...
 
First beer I did with a brew friend was an oatmeal stout kit. We had the same issue with the 1.020 curse.

We waited ~2weeks then pitched a dry yeast pack he had on it and waited another 2weeks for it to finish.

Moral: 1 month for oatmeal stouts is not unreasonable.
 
My friend is having the same issue with an oatmeal stout this week. It was humming along for a couple of days and then slowed down (9 bubbles per minute) after just 3 days. She's freaking out about the yeast and thinks she should pitch more, but I told her if it was rapidly fermentating for the first 2 days, her yeast (Wyeast liquid) was FINE and that it is not unusual for a beer to slow down after just a few days. Every beer is different. yadayadayada

She is particularly worried about the yeast because it shipped over the weekend and probably sat at ambient temps for about 4 days. Since it started pretty quickly, I don't see much reason for concern.

I also told her this about temperature:

Did you say you were going to turn the temp down cuz you thought that helps? FYI - that will not increase fermentation. Colder = slower. It's just like bread. It takes hours and hours and hours to rise if your kitchen is cold, but it will blow up on you if your kitchen is hot. Beer yeast are the same... too fast when it's too hot, too slow when it's too cold. If you keep your temps at the low end of optimal, you should give your beer more time to fully ferment.

I don't think she has taken a hydrometer reading yet, and she really wants to pitch more yeast. Would y'all agree with my advice? (Pitching more yeast in this situation doesn't make much sense.)

Thanks,
Jen

(She brewed on Sunday. Rapid fermentation on Mon and Tues. 9 bubbles per minute on Wednesday. Sounds pretty normal to me.)
 
Sounds familiar - I think its normal. I brewed a stout on Saturday and used 1968 ESB in half and 1084 Irish Ale in the other half. Sunday and Monday it went crazy but by Tuesday there wasn't much activity. Gravity of the 1968 was 1.026 and the 1084 was 1.020. I will check again tonight or tomorrow and let you know. I reckon after a week it probably won't go much further - assuming healthy yeast, temps etc.
BTW - you will hear a repeated theme here : airlock activity doesn't nescesarily relate to fermentation - take a gravity reading.
 
I think it is quite normal for extract kits to have a problem reaching low final gravities from what I have gathered. You don't have control over the temperture of the mash, so you can get inconsistent amounts of fermentables from batch to batch depending on the extract. For what it is worth, 1.020 sounds delicious for an oatmeal stout...maybe call it Oatmeal Breakfast Stout

I just did an AG oatmeal stout and my OG was 1.0615 and after 4 days with S-04 I was at 1.016 and that is exactly where I want to be. I like my oatmeal stout to have a little alcohol warmth/kick.
 
biojen said:
My friend is having the same issue with an oatmeal stout this week. It was humming along for a couple of days and then slowed down (9 bubbles per minute) after just 3 days. She's freaking out about the yeast and thinks she should pitch more, but I told her if it was rapidly fermentating for the first 2 days, her yeast (Wyeast liquid) was FINE and that it is not unusual for a beer to slow down after just a few days. Every beer is different. yadayadayada

She is particularly worried about the yeast because it shipped over the weekend and probably sat at ambient temps for about 4 days. Since it started pretty quickly, I don't see much reason for concern.

I also told her this about temperature:

Did you say you were going to turn the temp down cuz you thought that helps? FYI - that will not increase fermentation. Colder = slower. It's just like bread. It takes hours and hours and hours to rise if your kitchen is cold, but it will blow up on you if your kitchen is hot. Beer yeast are the same... too fast when it's too hot, too slow when it's too cold. If you keep your temps at the low end of optimal, you should give your beer more time to fully ferment.

I don't think she has taken a hydrometer reading yet, and she really wants to pitch more yeast. Would y'all agree with my advice? (Pitching more yeast in this situation doesn't make much sense.)

Thanks,
Jen

(She brewed on Sunday. Rapid fermentation on Mon and Tues. 9 bubbles per minute on Wednesday. Sounds pretty normal to me.)
Click to expand...

1) Definitely take a hydrometer reading

2) Definitely wait 3 days and take another hydrometer reading
a) If the reading has not changed, then move the primary to a warmer area of the house and give it a couple big swirls.
b) If the reading has changed, then you can either give it a swirl and let it be.

3) Wait another week before taking another hyrdrometer reading. At this point if the reading is above 1.020 then you could re-pitch or just live with it.


I actually have an Oatmeal Stout in primary that is stuck at 1.020 after two weeks. I used Muntons dry yeast which seems to be notorious for this problem. But, you know what? It's damn nice and I'm not going to tinker anymore. Will leave in primary for another two weeks before bottling.
 
To follow up:

After two weeks in the primary (and after stirring the yeast and increasing the temp a bit to wake the yeast) I was still sitting at 1.020. I racked to a secondary and re-pitched a liquid white labs yeast (can't remember which one, but a buddy of mine used it on an chocolate stout). After two additional weeks the gravity came down to 1.018, still quite far from the target gravity of 1.010. I just bottled the beer and am hoping for the best....but honestly I'm a bit bummed right now.

On the bright side, I have two AHS kits that have hit their target gravities on schedule and are sitting in secondaries. Needless to say, my business has been won by a different vendor.
 
1.018-1.020 is a perfect FG for an oatmeal stout. No reason to be disappointed.

An oatmeal stout is a full, richly flavored beer with a nice amount of residual sweetness. I believe mine finished at 1.020, too, which is perfect.
 
+1

1.018 - 1.020 is definitely just fine for an oatmeal stout, it should taste great. I wouldn't want my oatmeal stouts to come out near 1.010, that would be too dry in my opinion. My oatmeal milk stout usually finishes out ~1.020 - 1.022 and that's perfect for a nice rich stout.
 
Even with a starting gravity of 1.040? We're talking about a 3.5% alcohol beer.

I hope I'm proved wrong.
 
Actually, if you started at 1.040 and finished at 1.020, your abv is much lower than your guess. I calculate it at 2.62%.

(OG-FG) x 131 = ABV%

I know it's low alcohol, but trust me- a thin, dry oatmeal stout wouldn't be very good!

The recipe was pretty low on OG, as a typical starting OG for an oatmeal stout is 1.048-1.065. Maybe the recipe was at fault, or maybe you topped up with more water than the recipe was for? Regardless, if it tastes good that's what's important.
 
R2-D2 said:
1) Definitely take a hydrometer reading

2) Definitely wait 3 days and take another hydrometer reading
a) If the reading has not changed, then move the primary to a warmer area of the house and give it a couple big swirls.
b) If the reading has changed, then you can either give it a swirl and let it be.

3) Wait another week before taking another hyrdrometer reading. At this point if the reading is above 1.020 then you could re-pitch or just live with it.


I actually have an Oatmeal Stout in primary that is stuck at 1.020 after two weeks. I used Muntons dry yeast which seems to be notorious for this problem. But, you know what? It's damn nice and I'm not going to tinker anymore. Will leave in primary for another two weeks before bottling.
Click to expand...

FYI - I ended up leaving my Oatmeal Stout on primary for another two weeks before bottling. The final reading came down to 1.014. So, even though there were no visible signs of fermentation something was going on. The taste is definitely different. I think I preferred the sweeter taste at 1.020, but will with hold any judgement until the bottles are well carbed.
 
After thinking about this post for awhile...I don't recall ever having an oatmeal stout that finished low and dry. I can't imagine it would be something I would enjoy.
 
Hello all. My oatmeal stout from brewers best started at 1064 and its stuck at 1037. What would u guys do if it was your beer. My recipe says it should get done at 1016. I'm real bummed. I've been looking forward to this brew for so long and its the first one that's giving me problems

Thanks in advance

Edit: I would be blissfully happy if mine got to 1020 but my gravity is way too high. What do I do?

Partial mashed 1# flaked oats, 12oz 2-row pale, 6oz dark chocolate 4oz victory and 2oz caramel 120L in 1 gallon water for 45 min.

I then put another 1.5 gallons of water in and when it boiled I added...

3.3# dark LME, 3# dark DME, then 1# maltodextrin

After that I did my hop schedule, cooled, added to fermemter, topped up and pitched. As far as I can see I followed the directions perfect but I'm stuck
 

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