Noob Plan for Festa Brew Double Oatmeal Stout

Hi all!

I've been enjoying reading the forum and digging through old posts and trying to piece together a sure fire plan for my first batch based on the information overload I've been immersed in on here. I've read through the "Lead Pipe Lock" thread and the Palmer "How to Brew" web book, and think I'm ready to go tomorrow night. I'm going to be trying the Festa Brew Double Oatmeal Stout.

-I will be using a plastic bucket with sealed lid and a blow off tube for my primary, probably switching to an airlock at 10 days if action has stopped.

-Festa Brew instructions call for hydrating yeast and pitching, then stirring slurry into wort. After 2-4 days rack into secondary, then after 7-10 days in secondary you bottle.**I plan to leave in primary for 3 weeks, then bottle, and try very, very, very hard not to sample for 3-4 weeks. (My birthday falls on the Saturday after the 6 week mark from my planned start date, so if I can make it that long I'm doing well)

-Sanitation is key, so don't be skimpy.

-Bulk prime before bottling.

-For my first batch patience is the key and almost more important than any other variable aside from sanitation.

Am I off on the right track? Are there any red flags that jump out at any of you? There is so much contradictory information on here, but at the same time everyone seems to agree that there is no wrong way of going about brewing.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Sounds pretty right on to me, nothing too controversial there.

Here's to a very happy birthday in six weeks!

Not familiar with the Festa Brew kits, but it sounds like you have a solid foundation. Only advice I can give is sanitation and patience, but you seem to have those down pat already. Other than that, don't worry too much. Proper sanitation and following your kit directions practically ensure a successful brew.

P.S. You don't mention temp control. Any plans there? If you have access to a temperature controlled fridge or freezer, I would recommend that. Otherwise, search "swamp cooler" on the forum search tool. Real easy way to keep fermentation temps at around 10* less than ambient. Stouts aren't as affected by the off flavors that come from high ferm temps, but the better you can control that, the better your beers will be. Almost everyone on here will tell you that. Good luck and be sure to post a pic of your first pour!

Thanks fella's!

Hadn't worried about temp control, but will have a swamp cooler ready when I start. Daytime air temps here will be mid 60's and lower for the next month or so, so I should be good to hang on to that temp for the majority of this first batch.

On the swamp cooler, do I need to worry about sterilizing it?

Hey good luck on your 1st brew - looks like you are on the right track. I've actually brewed that kit about 6 months ago. I've still got a few bottles left - very smooth and tasty!

I say sanitize everything that touches the beer which you've probably already planned to do, but I wouldn't bother sanitizing the swamp cooler.

Good luck!!

My first beer was with this kit. A few pointers:

- It'll be a pain to open. Really. It will. They sell a tool to open the bag. A sanitized butter knife also works.

- Fermentation control is key. Keep it @ or below 68F.

- They package the beer with S-33. After brewing a few beers with it, I'm not a fan. I'd use S-04 if possible and keep the S-33 for something else. Or just use the S-33.

The fun with festa brew is that you are pretty much done in 5 minutes.

I've also done the oatmeal stout almost a year ago and although i've since moved to allgrain I have a few bottles of this still. It is a great tasting beer.

The main thing wrong with their instructions is the secondary as this is unnecessary but sounds like you know that already. Festa brews are good generally and got me started on the road to obsession. I now have a full 3 vessel (keggle) system doing 10 gallon batches.

All the best!

LTownLiquorPig said:

Thanks fella's!



On the swamp cooler, do I need to worry about sterilizing it?

Click to expand...

As long as your fermenter is sealed up, then nope.

The bit about stirring the yeast into your wort isn't really necessary. The yeast will be perfectly happy to distribute themselves appropriately throughout your beer, but as long as your spoon is sanitized, it's not going to hurt anything if it makes you feel better. With a kit like this, I would probably looking for extra steps to add too.

Thanks again guys. The plan is still to throw it all together tonight while my daughter sleeps and my wife is at work.

Daksin,I'll be honest, I got the idea to try this from a want/need for cheap decent beer with minimal effort. I bought my kit Sunday and have spent nearly every possible minute since planning what I'd do next, how to expand my operation.

And I've read the posts on these boards explaining that home brewing isn't "cheap". I have to disagree, I pay $4 now for a 650 ml bottle of Propeller Bitter or IPA at the NSLC, After my initial investment it looks like if I keep things simple and the 650ml bottle is gonna run me $1.25 or so. That being said, I'm already day dreaming of kegging and having multiple brews brewing at the same time.....

The argument is this: If you count your continuous expansion of equipment then you'll never get ahead; but this theory holds true for any business as well. If you only count your ingredients then you'll always come out ahead. Don't forget that commercial brews charge a labor fee built into the price as well. Not to mention logistics operations, taxation, advertisment budgets, etc. etc. Since homebrewers don't really have any of these worries they don't have to factor that into any calculation of per-pint costs.

I should try selling that line to my wife. Ha!!

Sanitization has begun. I'm using the pink chlorine cleaner/sanitizer so soaking for an hour or so while I get the kids in bed.

Not pleased with the hole I drilled in the bucket lid for the bung, jagged and a little small so I trimmed with a drywall knife......

Onward and Upward.

Zixxer,

That's the beauty of DIY though, I can put as much or little into it as I need. If I can't afford to expand, I'm my own customer base so there will be few complaints filed!

Did that cleaner come with the kit? I hear many on this forum advising against bleach-based sanitizers. Most will swear by either starsan or iodophor. These are no-rinse sanitizers that do a great job and have no adverse effects for your brew. Chlorine, however, can lead to some significant off-flavors and must be carefully removed from all your brewing/bottling equipment. I don't have personal experience, but I would be careful and/or seek more opinions with this sanitizer.

I think the pink stuff may actually be sodium metabisulphite

I'm too new to have any idea what that is. I just saw chlorine and sanitizer used together in a sentence and a red flag went up, due to possible chlorine-caused off flavors. If this is a widely-used and acceptible sanitizer, I withdraw my objection.

djfriesen: The little I'd read on here made me want the starsan, but the guy at the store talked me out of it. The pink stuff is legit I think, just have to rinse very very well.

The mistakes I know I've made are:
-forgot to take the OG before I pitched
-the lid wouldn't snap shut, so much for closed fermentation. Does this make my overflow tube set up worthless?
-didn't realize how unruly the 23L bag of wort would be and splashed a little on the kitchen floor. The wife was at work so no harm, no foul.....

Done my best to ignore the 23L of beer in my basement so far. My little girl was amazed by the bag when she saw it sitting on the table before she went to bed. "That's all beer Daddy? That's a lot of beer!"

LTownLiquorPig said:

djfriesen: The little I'd read on here made me want the starsan, but the guy at the store talked me out of it. The pink stuff is legit I think, just have to rinse very very well.

The mistakes I know I've made are:
-forgot to take the OG before I pitched
-the lid wouldn't snap shut, so much for closed fermentation. Does this make my overflow tube set up worthless?
-didn't realize how unruly the 23L bag of wort would be and splashed a little on the kitchen floor. The wife was at work so no harm, no foul.....

Done my best to ignore the 23L of beer in my basement so far. My little girl was amazed by the bag when she saw it sitting on the table before she went to bed. "That's all beer Daddy? That's a lot of beer!"

Click to expand...

Your OG should be in the range specified on their website : http://www.magnotta.com/festabrew/ProductDetail.aspx?productID=222.
OG: 1.0545 – 1.0550. You can use these as a guideline on abv once it's done.

Id say if the lid doesn't close during the first several days of fermentation, it's not a problem. After the first week, see if you can get the lid shut tight so you can use an airlock, or transfer to carboy for the remaining 2weeks.

Thanks Zilch.

My temps are holding strong at 68-70 degrees. Should I stick it in a swamp cooler or something to get it a little lower? I have one ready in case I see a spike in temperature.

I can smell something close to beer now, which means things are going as planned eh?

Thanks for all the advice!

LTownLiquorPig said:

Thanks Zilch.

My temps are holding strong at 68-70 degrees. Should I stick it in a swamp cooler or something to get it a little lower? I have one ready in case I see a spike in temperature.

I can smell something close to beer now, which means things are going as planned eh?

Thanks for all the advice!

Click to expand...

Sounds like you are good to go. If that is ambient temps, keep in mind that heavy fermentation can raise the temp a few degrees, but likely you are past that point now.

Start planning your next batch! If you are going to purchase another festa brew kit, try the pale ale.

1 week along, smells amazing. Scared to look under the lid. I put the pail in a swamp cooler and the temp of it's water is 65-68.

Going to try a cider for the wife next I believe.

2 weeks in now, haven't touched it but to check temperature in the swamp cooler. Going to pull out a sample to check gravity tomorrow and Saturday. Festa Brew directions say I should be in bottle now, we'll see.....

Most kits have those same silly suggestions. When I get the FB kits I primary for 3-4 weeks, then bottle or keg for another 2-3 weeks then... delicious. I have yet to find a FB kit that I don't like. I have been doing all grain lately, but will still use these kits at times - we're lucky that they are only $29 per kit here.

B

The pink stuff is a cleaner and a sanitizer, I clean my carboys with it. You just need to rinse it really well. I've used it for a long time, no worries.

Magnotta does a West Coast IPA as well that's a limited run. Try the Wine Kitz in New Minas as they may still have some. If they don't, Noble Grape probably does as they get more stock of it. You'll need to drive into Halifax though.

Hey Johnnyspade, I've seen your posts, was going to send you a message at some point because of how close you are.

I got my starter kit at the Noble Grape. The Pharmasave in Kingston has some home brew stuff, I'm going to check it out in the morning.

LTownLiquorPig said:

Hey Johnnyspade, I've seen your posts, was going to send you a message at some point because of how close you are.

I got my starter kit at the Noble Grape. The Pharmasave in Kingston has some home brew stuff, I'm going to check it out in the morning.

Click to expand...

The Pharmasave in Bridgetown has some homebrew stuff as well. I'm in Halifax every month or so and I'll always stop at the Noble Grape in Dartmouth to pick up things. I went in there once to pick up some bottles and left my girlfriend in the car for 20 minutes while I chatted with the guys in there about beer. Needless to say, she was not impressed. They sell Star San at Noble Grape as well, it's the only place I've been able to find it, thought somebody told me a while back they carried it at the homebrew place in Coldbrook but I can't confirm that.

Do you ever make cider? You and I are lucky enough to be living in the heart of apple country. I make quite a bit of it though nothing this Fall so far.

I throw in a little bit of bleach in my swamp cooler water just because i imagine mildew growing eventually.

johnnyspade said:

Do you ever make cider? You and I are lucky enough to be living in the heart of apple country. I make quite a bit of it though nothing this Fall so far.

Click to expand...

I think I'm going to try cider next, to keep my wife interested and asking few questions. Any good cider/juice suppliers you'd send me too??

Hoodweisen said:

I throw in a little bit of bleach in my swamp cooler water just because i imagine mildew growing eventually.

Click to expand...

Good idea, the water is getting a bit murky. A very swampish swamp cooler.

I just started this kit a few days ago and it's bubbling away in the primary right now. I've been looking ahead in the directions to bottling day. It says to add 1 to 1.5 cups of dextrose to it before bottling. I've only done Brewhouse kits where they give you the amount of dextrose that they want you to add, and since I'm a newbie I really don't know what level of carbonation a stout should have. So my question is how much dextrose should I add to this kit?

I really love this kit. I don't make kits anymore but never found one I liked as much as Festa's DOS. Made it with Wyeast 1084 (IIRC) the last time then used a bit of the S-33 at bottling. I've got a dozen or so bottles left--it's a treat!

DaveM7 said:

I just started this kit a few days ago and it's bubbling away in the primary right now. I've been looking ahead in the directions to bottling day. It says to add 1 to 1.5 cups of dextrose to it before bottling. I've only done Brewhouse kits where they give you the amount of dextrose that they want you to add, and since I'm a newbie I really don't know what level of carbonation a stout should have. So my question is how much dextrose should I add to this kit?

Click to expand...

This is where personal preference really comes into play. How fizzy do you like your stout? I tend to drink mine warm-ish and flat so keep the carbonation pretty light. Temperature will also play a role. The instructions that come with that kit won't make it too fizzy but if you want to adjust, try using this calculator.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

LTownLiquorPig said:

I think I'm going to try cider next, to keep my wife interested and asking few questions. Any good cider/juice suppliers you'd send me too??

Click to expand...

The problem with purchasing fresh cider here is that it's expensive. I have a guy just up the road that presses and sells it out of a cooler at the end of his driveway but it's about $3.50 for 2 litres. Noggins Farm out in Wolfville makes great hard and soft cider. If you've ever had Tideview Cider, that's them. Their soft cider isn't cheap either though.

If you like a still cider, try making Ed Wort's Apfelwin recipe. Just search for it in this forum. It's really easy to make but it will make a really dry cider. For that, any pure apple juice will do. I use the Oasis brand you but at Walmart for this. if you catch them on sale you can get about 23 litres for around $35.

johnnyspade said:

This is where personal preference really comes into play. How fizzy do you like your stout? I tend to drink mine warm-ish and flat so keep the carbonation pretty light. Temperature will also play a role. The instructions that come with that kit won't make it too fizzy but if you want to adjust, try using this calculator.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Click to expand...

Curious, what's the difference going to be in finished product if I use table sugar or molasses instead of dextrose?

Table sugar probably won't create any noticeable difference.

Molasses, on the other hand, can give a (sometimes very strong) rum-like flavor to the beer, so it's best to only use it when that's specifically what you're shooting for.

I find that molasses can impart some flavour that table sugar, dextrose or brown sugar do not. I don't find any difference between dextrose or a granular sugar but prefer dextrose as it disolves easier and quicker.

I'd like to hear back about the guys brewing the double oatmeal stout. Personally, I've made 2 festa stout kits and they were horrible. I've since moved my fermenter were it is a more ambient temp for beer. I've had success with all of their other styles after that.

I'm still not sure if it was my noob skills or if the double oatmeal stout is actually bad.

I have 2 west coast ipa fermenting right now. There was some left at my lhbs, is it so good that I have to get a couple more?

sebs said:

I'd like to hear back about the guys brewing the double oatmeal stout. Personally, I've made 2 festa stout kits and they were horrible. I've since moved my fermenter were it is a more ambient temp for beer. I've had success with all of their other styles after that.

I'm still not sure if it was my noob skills or if the double oatmeal stout is actually bad.

I have 2 west coast ipa fermenting right now. There was some left at my lhbs, is it so good that I have to get a couple more?

Click to expand...

That DOS is a pretty good beer. I suspect something went awry with your process, or maybe you just don't like stout? Can you describe what was bad? Is it sour? Too sweet? Too strong?

One of my favorite beers is St Ambroise double oatmeal stout.

I am not good at describing taste but lets just say it tasted what beer tastes when its fermented at 78F. Very strong and it did not mellow out over time.

It still wasn't as bad as the coopers stout I brewed with 100% corn sugar. I learned though and now make awesome beer.