Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout Question?

I currently have some of the mentioned brew going in my primary chugging along fine after a few days. I've poked around a bit and was wondering if I should let this one sit a bit longer. I'm using the AHS recipe and with most of them, they tend to recommend 4-7 days in a primary and rack to secondary for 7 more days, total of 14 in all.

For some reason, I've seen people doing oatmeal stouts at about 3-4 weeks total in the primary or primary/secondary and was wondering if there was a reason why. I have never done anything with oatmeal or choclates, so I don't know if that is what is different. I can't recall the OG & final off the top of my head, but if I recall it wasn't necessarily a big beer.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has done an oatmeal stout at 2 weeks verse 3-4 in the fermenter and if it really makes much difference. Obviously its black has coffee and clarity wouldn't be an issue...

I think you will find that a lot of us leave all beers in the primary for 3 or 4 weeks as standard procedure - I always do 4 weeks (or more).

The yeast do a great job of cleaning up any by-products of fermentation. After 4 weeks, I cold crash the primary for a couple of days, then rack straight to kegs for carbing. I do go to secondary if I want to dry-hop, or do bulk aging on a really big beer. Although I think I'm gonna try dry-hopping in the primary on my next IPA.

4-7 days in the primary is simply not enough time. I tend to push mine through faster than I should sometimes and I bottle or transfer after only two weeks, but that's the earliest I would ever touch a primary......the yeast continue to clean up your beer for a good while after all that krausen falls.

Depends on the yeast for me... Some keep chugging for two weeks-- like wyeasts belgian wit... Others are done with visual activity in a week. With Irish ale yeast-- I assume with sammy smiths thats what you are using. i would rack it after the cake forms. Irish yeast isn't very flocculant and there is plently of yeast in suspension to finish off the fermentation/condition the beer.

Once a cake forms they all get racked off it for me... Room temperature and dormant yeast in alcohol doesn't have a long shelf life.

After a month -- being refrigerated -- you're down to less then 50% viability according to white labs.

"Yeast that is harvested after a brewery fermentation will typically have a viability of less then 50% after 30 days." http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_FAQ.html

I can't imagine viability being very good at a few weeks at room temperature. Alcohol is poison to yeast and autolyzed yeast doesn't taste good!

IME experience there is plenty of yeast in suspension -- actually still working-- when fermentation slows and a cake forms. By raking then you rouse that yeast -- encouraging activity to finish/condition the beer quickly with the healthy active yeast in suspension still working.

If I am working with a highly flocculant yeast like saf 04 and the gravity is higher then I want after fermentation slows then I may rouse some of the caked yeast and make sure it goes into the secondary. Then agitate the yeast every day until it stops working and hopefully gets down to the gravity I want. If ain't where I want it then I krausen with a cleaner fermenter like wyeast 1056/saf 05. Maybe even champagne yeast if its a real big beer i want drier.

The added benefit of racking when fermentation slows is that you can harvest the yeast at a state of high viability and use it immediately or refrigerate it to preserve it as long easily possible.

Also by racking with some fermentation going on you easily avoid oxygenating the beer as Co2 from fermentation blankets the racking beer.

This is one of those things I wish I had learned earlier in my brewing "career." I seem to remember the Papazian book even saying more than two weeks in the primary is bad. One of the best things this site has taught me is to be patient. And always do a hydrometer reading and all beers/yeasts are different.

susitna4--

Heard arctic brewing supply moved up there? Where did they go? Is the store bigger now? Pete still giving out samples of beer when it's busy?

Hi droopy - they did move. They are off Dimond just East of the new seward hwy. Store is bigger - more staff also. I've never had the honor of any free samples from Pete. Maybe I need to start loitering more.

Ok..so I bottled this batch months ago and tasted a bottle about once a month. It has a pretty strong 'green apple' flavor. I figured with aging it would mellow a bit, but it doesn't seem like its changed much.

In the meantime I did an AHS TX Kolsch kit because the tunaround on this one is a bit quicker. I bottled it about 2 weeks ago...same 'green apple' flavor. Could be that its just green and needs time, but it tasted nice day of bottling.

The only difference in the last 2 batches was that I didn't secondary and both were primaried for 3 weeks. Am I missing something? My previous 2 batches came out great. I have all new glass carboys and fermented at a steady 72 degrees without temp changes. I have sterile technique from years of lab experience and am probably overly careful than most.

I know green apple flavor can be from infection, but i just dont think its that. Seem to recall the kolsch tasted really nice the day of bottling. I dunno..any ideas??

I leave them in primary for 4 weeks + purely out of laziness.