Oatmeal Stout - did I make a HUGE mistake?

Over the weekend, I brewed an Oatmeal Stout along with a Belgian Strong. My less experienced friend was over brewing with me - and quite naturally, drinking with me as well. We had both brew pots going at once - mashing at the same time, etc... Well, after about ten minutes into the boil, I realize that when he handed me all the grains for the stout, he only handed me the bag with the crushed specialty grains (i.e. flaked oatmeal, roasted barley, chocolate malt, carapils, crystal malt, etc...). It should be noted that I had already added 3 1/2 pounds of light DME. Now I should have realized that the 2 lbs. of pale 2 row was still in the bag - but I did not....dammit! So after being pissed for a few minutes, I poured in another 1/2 lb. of light DME - and I happed to find 1 lb. of wheat DME, and a pound of malto-dextrine. I know malto-dextrine does not ferment, but I thought it might help to make up for the anticipated lost body.

So all in all I ended up using - 4 lbs. of light DME, one pound of wheat DME, and a pound of malto-dextrine. Also - any sugars that may have been extracted from the oatmeal and specialty grains.

What should I expect out of this beer?

Sounds thick. The biggest potential problem would be the unconverted starches from the oatmeal. But I doubt you'll be able to see a starch haze in a stout. The final gravity will be higher than you might like, but I doubt the flavor will be impacted.

How knows, you may have just invented the holy brew-ail.

What do you think the total ABV will be - it is a 5 gallon batch?

Ol' Grog said:

How knows, you may have just invented the holy brew-ail.

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Dude - I had to improvise. Now I have 2 lbs. of pale 2 row sitting in my food cabinet ready for the next brew day.

Hey, it's the mother of all inventions!!!! Brew on, Daddy-O!!!!!

Fuggles said:

What should I expect out of this beer?

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With a whole pound of maltodextrin (I've never used more than 8 oz), you should be prepared for a higher-than-normal FG. I brewed an imperial stout recently that had 8oz of MD, and even though fermentation was great, and it tastes fantastic, it still finished out at 1.038 at bottling time. Vis. Cu. Ous. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just giving you the heads up.