Oatmeal Stout Yooper's Oatmeal Stout

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Is this anything like Guiness? I am looking to create a stout similar to Guiness but with Oatmeal that I can put on my Nitro tap.
 
So to continue on this. I love the Guiness that comes in a can with the widget, NOT the one in bottle. I have never been able to find a clone recipe. Anyone know one?
 
so... ive brewed yooper's stout twice now. the first batch never carbonated in the bottle, so about half of it got dumped (I will not drink flat beer). I used the priming sugar & 2 cups of water + boil for 5 minutes and it never carbonated (yes, I put the priming solution in first and then racked the stout on top of it in the bottling bucket). this method of carbonation has always worked for me.

I currently have the second batch in secondary on some coffee beans. I am worried this will not carbonate again.. I now have the little drops and plan to use those for the second time. Does anyone know why it didn't carbonate the first time? Is it the yeast? Do you think I am going to have better results with the drops (vs the priming sugar solution)?

Any advise would be appreciated.
 
so... ive brewed yooper's stout twice now. the first batch never carbonated in the bottle, so about half of it got dumped (I will not drink flat beer). I used the priming sugar & 2 cups of water + boil for 5 minutes and it never carbonated (yes, I put the priming solution in first and then racked the stout on top of it in the bottling bucket). this method of carbonation has always worked for me.

I currently have the second batch in secondary on some coffee beans. I am worried this will not carbonate again.. I now have the little drops and plan to use those for the second time. Does anyone know why it didn't carbonate the first time? Is it the yeast? Do you think I am going to have better results with the drops (vs the priming sugar solution)?

Any advise would be appreciated.

How long did you let them condition before you dumped them and did you mix the priming solution into the beer in the priming bucket?
 
so... ive brewed yooper's stout twice now. the first batch never carbonated in the bottle, so about half of it got dumped (I will not drink flat beer). I used the priming sugar & 2 cups of water + boil for 5 minutes and it never carbonated (yes, I put the priming solution in first and then racked the stout on top of it in the bottling bucket). this method of carbonation has always worked for me.

I currently have the second batch in secondary on some coffee beans. I am worried this will not carbonate again.. I now have the little drops and plan to use those for the second time. Does anyone know why it didn't carbonate the first time? Is it the yeast? Do you think I am going to have better results with the drops (vs the priming sugar solution)?

Any advise would be appreciated.

How much priming sugar did you use?
 
How long did you let them condition before you dumped them and did you mix the priming solution into the beer in the priming bucket?

I bottled this on 10/16 and dumped the rest last night (12/15) after giving it one final chance. A day shy of 2 months.

I took the priming solution/mix, tossed into the bottling bucket before I rack the beer on top of it. It mixed jus fine and this has always worked just fine for me in the past. I know it all mixed will because it all had the same lack of carbonation. Very tiny hiss when opening; very little head that disappears no matter how I pour. It tasted extremely thin (no mouthfeel or body). I think a little bit of carbonaution could have helped that...?
 
How much priming sugar did you use?

I used the northern brewer calc, it's always worked well for me.

It was 4.5 gallons of beer at 74 to 75 F. The calc tells me to use around 90 grams for 2.1 levels of carb, thats what I used (I might have even rounded up to 95).

Any ideas? I have this on some coffee beans and I really do not want this to happen again, because it will all go back down the drain. :(
 
I used the northern brewer calc, it's always worked well for me.

It was 4.5 gallons of beer at 74 to 75 F. The calc tells me to use around 90 grams for 2.1 levels of carb, thats what I used (I might have even rounded up to 95).

Any ideas? I have this on some coffee beans and I really do not want this to happen again, because it will all go back down the drain. :(

hmmm, 2.1 volumes is pretty flat, at least to me. Maybe it worked just fine, but was at 2.1 volumes? Although 90 grams is 3 ounces, so it shouldn't be totally flat. Was your beer really 75 degrees? That seems so warm for beer to me, but that's not the reason it was undercarbed.
 
2.1 is what I have seen on more than one calc (or very close to it). Heres an example; 2.0-2.4 for oatmeal stout: http://tastybrew.mobify.me/calculators/priming.html

I believe it was around 75. I now have a Ferm chamber, but this brew I had to take a large ball bucket, fill up a third with water, put fermentor in bucket and add 4 frozen water bottles (changed out every 12 hours).

When I bottle, the first thing I do is move the fermentor to the kitchen counter. I do this because I know I am stirring crap up when I move it. I'm trying to give it more time to settle down before I rack into the bottling bucket.

Even if it was slightly colder than 75, that means that I used approx 3 grams too much. Which would have aided in slightly more carbonation.

The thing I am trying to wrap my head around is the fact that it never actually seem to carb up more than at the 2 week mark. I had 1 at the two week mark, it wasn't carbd. I waited another 2 weeks (1 month total), same thing. Last night was 1 day short of 8 weeks and it did the same thing as the two week bottle did.

Process of elimination would point to the fact that I could have possibly skipped the whole priming solution stage. I know I didn't, because after I move the fermentor, the next thing I do is measure out the dextrose with my handy little 'drug scale' and then boil the priming solution. I do this, so it has time to cool down before I start bottling. I figure a 100+ F priming solution is not something you would want to mix in with your 70ish F beer. I also remember watching g the stout mix with the priming sugar solution and thinking to myself 'that's pretty neat'.

So, I don't know what my problem is. Is there any possibility there was very little yeast in suspension left when I racked to the bottling bucket? There was no yeast to be found at the top, it was all on the bottom when i racked into the bottling bucket. Same with the second batch I brewed that is currently secondary-ing on the coffee beans.
 
I'm at a loss. You primed to 2.1 vols, in the range for stouts. Mid-70s is right for bottle-carbing. You gave it ample time.

I wouldn't expect the yeast to poop out, as this stout isn't that high in alcohol content. Re-priming is usually needed for big beers that have bulk-aged a long time. Even though you cannot see the yeast in the beer above the cake, it's there, and should be in sufficient quantity to eat the priming sugar.

Still...for lack of a better solution, you could re-pitch 1/2 packet of some dry yeast at bottling next time.
 
so... ive brewed yooper's stout twice now. the first batch never carbonated in the bottle, so about half of it got dumped (I will not drink flat beer). I used the priming sugar & 2 cups of water + boil for 5 minutes and it never carbonated (yes, I put the priming solution in first and then racked the stout on top of it in the bottling bucket). this method of carbonation has always worked for me.

I currently have the second batch in secondary on some coffee beans. I am worried this will not carbonate again.. I now have the little drops and plan to use those for the second time. Does anyone know why it didn't carbonate the first time? Is it the yeast? Do you think I am going to have better results with the drops (vs the priming sugar solution)?

Any advise would be appreciated.

I too have suffered from EXACTLY what you are experiencing. I used to rack my home brew to a secondary to let it clear, or add flavors etc... Those beers were excruciating slow to carbonate.

I decided to stop racking my beer to a secondary as an experiment, and guess what? That's right NO more issues with flat beers! Everything, and I mean every single brew since I started leaving it in the primary carbs up beautifully now! Even this recipe started carbing up in just a few days ( ;

So, give just the primary fermentation a try, heck you can even add flavoring in there as well. I've done it and it works for dry hops, oak barrel flavor, vanilla flavor, etc...

It's really a win/win because you won't be spending the TIME to transfer then cleaning up equipment AND your beers will carb up the way you expect them to. :mug:
 
I'm at a loss. You primed to 2.1 vols, in the range for stouts. Mid-70s is right for bottle-carbing. You gave it ample time.

I wouldn't expect the yeast to poop out, as this stout isn't that high in alcohol content. Re-priming is usually needed for big beers that have bulk-aged a long time. Even though you cannot see the yeast in the beer above the cake, it's there, and should be in sufficient quantity to eat the priming sugar.

Still...for lack of a better solution, you could re-pitch 1/2 packet of some dry yeast at bottling next time.

That makes two of us. Thank you for the help.

I'd prefer not to go the adding more yeast option, as I'm sure at some point in time I'd get a bottle bomb. Although it has been something that crossed my mind. I may have to do it with the second batch that is currently in secondary though.. if I do, should I let it condition at room temp? I know S04 doesn't like room temps..

With that said, this is the only recipe that I have used S04 with. This will probably be the last time I use it due to all of the trouble it's giving me..
 
I too have suffered from EXACTLY what you are experiencing. I used to rack my home brew to a secondary to let it clear, or add flavors etc... Those beers were excruciating slow to carbonate.

I decided to stop racking my beer to a secondary as an experiment, and guess what? That's right NO more issues with flat beers! Everything, and I mean every single brew since I started leaving it in the primary carbs up beautifully now! Even this recipe started carbing up in just a few days ( ;

So, give just the primary fermentation a try, heck you can even add flavoring in there as well. I've done it and it works for dry hops, oak barrel flavor, vanilla flavor, etc...

It's really a win/win because you won't be spending the TIME to transfer then cleaning up equipment AND your beers will carb up the way you expect them to. :mug:

This beer wasn't ever secondary'd. I think you are confusing it with the second batch that I currently have in secondary on some coffee beans.

For the second batch, I wanted to slow the fermentation down as much as possible since it Fermented 4 points over. (1.012 FG versus the 1.016 the recipe calls for). So secondary seemed like the way to go. (Someone please tell me if this was the right thing to do)

I will probably take @MaxStout 's suggestion and re-pitch some s04.

If I do re-pitch some s04, do I still need to add the priming sugar solution or the drops??

With that said, I have keg setup coming to me via snail mail. I just wanted to figure out why it never bottle carbd. The second batch will be bottled, so I don't want to make the same mistake again.
 
That makes two of us. Thank you for the help.

I'd prefer not to go the adding more yeast option, as I'm sure at some point in time I'd get a bottle bomb. Although it has been something that crossed my mind. I may have to do it with the second batch that is currently in secondary though.. if I do, should I let it condition at room temp? I know S04 doesn't like room temps..

With that said, this is the only recipe that I have used S04 with. This will probably be the last time I use it due to all of the trouble it's giving me..

Bottle bombs are not caused by re-pitching yeast. It's caused by overpriming and/or beer not reaching final gravity prior to bottling. Adding more yeast at bottling only increases the cell count to ensure that the priming sugar will be fermented and CO2 generated. The yeast doesn't go beyond that. When it runs out of sugar it goes dormant.
 
I hope you don't mind me copyrighting your logo @Yooper

YoopersOatmealStoutYoopLogo.jpg
 
2.1 is what I have seen on more than one calc (or very close to it). Heres an example; 2.0-2.4 for oatmeal stout: http://tastybrew.mobify.me/calculators/priming.html

I believe it was around 75. I now have a Ferm chamber, but this brew I had to take a large ball bucket, fill up a third with water, put fermentor in bucket and add 4 frozen water bottles (changed out every 12 hours).

When I bottle, the first thing I do is move the fermentor to the kitchen counter. I do this because I know I am stirring crap up when I move it. I'm trying to give it more time to settle down before I rack into the bottling bucket.

Even if it was slightly colder than 75, that means that I used approx 3 grams too much. Which would have aided in slightly more carbonation.

The thing I am trying to wrap my head around is the fact that it never actually seem to carb up more than at the 2 week mark. I had 1 at the two week mark, it wasn't carbd. I waited another 2 weeks (1 month total), same thing. Last night was 1 day short of 8 weeks and it did the same thing as the two week bottle did.

Process of elimination would point to the fact that I could have possibly skipped the whole priming solution stage. I know I didn't, because after I move the fermentor, the next thing I do is measure out the dextrose with my handy little 'drug scale' and then boil the priming solution. I do this, so it has time to cool down before I start bottling. I figure a 100+ F priming solution is not something you would want to mix in with your 70ish F beer. I also remember watching g the stout mix with the priming sugar solution and thinking to myself 'that's pretty neat'.

So, I don't know what my problem is. Is there any possibility there was very little yeast in suspension left when I racked to the bottling bucket? There was no yeast to be found at the top, it was all on the bottom when i racked into the bottling bucket. Same with the second batch I brewed that is currently secondary-ing on the coffee beans.

I would also lean towards not racking into a secondary. It seems to me that you dont quite have enough yeasties in suspension anymore and they are really slow to carb. It was also stated that repitching some yeast will not cause bottle bombs, this is true. If the yeast eat all the sugars then they go dormant and settle.

I have a question about equipment/bottles. What kind/size bottles are you using and how full are you leaving the bottles. My experience is that the larger bottles tend to take more time/sugar to carb correctly. I learned this when using old 2L soda bottles for bottling beer. They take more time. Also I have read that some people have had good luck with the swirl method when bottle carbing. Meaning that they swirl the bottle and remix the yeast into suspension again. This my help this beer due to it being very thick and all the sugars may stratify at the top and the sleepy yeast settle to the bottom. This making it slow to carb.

My 2 cents and good luck to you!
 
Bottle bombs are not caused by re-pitching yeast. It's caused by overpriming and/or beer not reaching final gravity prior to bottling. Adding more yeast at bottling only increases the cell count to ensure that the priming sugar will be fermented and CO2 generated. The yeast doesn't go beyond that. When it runs out of sugar it goes dormant.

Good to know, thank you. When this gets bottled tonight or tomorrow, I will pitch half a packet of s04 and make sure it gets mixed in thoroughly.
 
I would also lean towards not racking into a secondary. It seems to me that you dont quite have enough yeasties in suspension anymore and they are really slow to carb. It was also stated that repitching some yeast will not cause bottle bombs, this is true. If the yeast eat all the sugars then they go dormant and settle.

I have a question about equipment/bottles. What kind/size bottles are you using and how full are you leaving the bottles. My experience is that the larger bottles tend to take more time/sugar to carb correctly. I learned this when using old 2L soda bottles for bottling beer. They take more time. Also I have read that some people have had good luck with the swirl method when bottle carbing. Meaning that they swirl the bottle and remix the yeast into suspension again. This my help this beer due to it being very thick and all the sugars may stratify at the top and the sleepy yeast settle to the bottom. This making it slow to carb.

My 2 cents and good luck to you!

for this brew I had no choice but to rack into a secondary and get it off the cake due to the fact that it already fermented 4 points over (I brew at my parents house, and work M-F, so im only down on the weekends; hence why it fermented 4 points over). I will add half a packet of s04 at bottling and make sure that it is mixed in well.

as for bottles, I only use bombers for standard brews (12oz for sours). I know you said they carb slower. but I waited 8 weeks for this last batch of stout to carb. there was no difference in carbonation from the 2 week bottle I had compared to the 8 week bottle I had, all flat, no head.
 
Yes. I get a nice little hiss when I crack every bottle. I also check and verify the cap does not spin and is on nice and tight.

That hiss suggests that you have some CO2 in the headspace. But the beer is sort of flat? How long are you refrigerating the bottles before serving? Giving them a couple days in the fridge will allow more of that CO2 to dissolve in the beer.
 
for this brew I had no choice but to rack into a secondary and get it off the cake due to the fact that it already fermented 4 points over

not following the reasoning here. no reason to slow it down, you want it to finish

For the second batch, I wanted to slow the fermentation down as much as possible since it Fermented 4 points over. (1.012 FG versus the 1.016 the recipe calls for). So secondary seemed like the way to go. (Someone please tell me if this was the right thing to do)

4 points UNDER what the recipe says is not a bad thing, the yeast just did a better job than expected.

you can secondary, but there is much debate whether they're necessary for a batch of normal-sized beer which is not having additional sugars added (a secondary fermentation, hence the name)

bottle when gravity does not change between successive readings over several days, not when one reading reaches the recipe's stated goal.

I bottled my Grodziskie to 3.5 volumes with no gushers or bottle bombs, don't be afraid to prime on the high side. you just have to make absolutely sure primary fermentation is done.
 
That hiss suggests that you have some CO2 in the headspace. But the beer is sort of flat? How long are you refrigerating the bottles before serving? Giving them a couple days in the fridge will allow more of that CO2 to dissolve in the beer.

Yep. There is a bit of a white 'haze' in the neck of the bottle prior to pouring. I am assuming this is co2.

I have had this batch sit in the fridge anywhere from 1 day to a week. I actually have one left in the fridge (it's been in there for about 2 weeks). I might crack it this weekend, although I know it's still going to be flat.

Glad that I have seemed to found the culprit here. I 'helped' someone brew an oktoberfest on his fancy system, he recommended that I keg it. Well I am not ready for kegging yet. It's currently lagering in bottle in the fridge. I will try and warm it up a couple of degrees and see if that does anything. If not, I may add some dry lager yeast and re cap.

Thanks for the help everyone. Love this forum!
 
not following the reasoning here. no reason to slow it down, you want it to finish



4 points UNDER what the recipe says is not a bad thing, the yeast just did a better job than expected.

you can secondary, but there is much debate whether they're necessary for a batch of normal-sized beer which is not having additional sugars added (a secondary fermentation, hence the name)

bottle when gravity does not change between successive readings over several days, not when one reading reaches the recipe's stated goal.

I bottled my Grodziskie to 3.5 volumes with no gushers or bottle bombs, don't be afraid to prime on the high side. you just have to make absolutely sure primary fermentation is done.

Correct me if I I am wrong, but if I ferment 4 points over that makes a dryer beer, correct? What if I don't want a dryer beer? What if I am trying to be consistent with the recipe? As a rookie, I am trying to get my numbers as close as possible to the recipe. Getting it off the cake seemed like the smart thing to do, since I wanted the bulk of fermentation to cease.

If that's a stupid idea, please tell me how I can get most of the fermentation to stop without secondarying.
 
you don't want to stop fermentation, you want it to finish.

can you really tell how much drier one beer is over another that finished .004 gravity points higher? I'm sure some of the others on this board could, Yooper included, but I know I couldn't

consistency with a recipe is great, practice will help. but is it worth dumping your batches because you insist on consistency above all else? work on process first, consistency should follow

Check the accuracy of your thermometer, it might be off. Mash higher for lower attenuation
 
Correct me if I I am wrong, but if I ferment 4 points over that makes a dryer beer, correct? What if I don't want a dryer beer? What if I am trying to be consistent with the recipe? As a rookie, I am trying to get my numbers as close as possible to the recipe. Getting it off the cake seemed like the smart thing to do, since I wanted the bulk of fermentation to cease.

If that's a stupid idea, please tell me how I can get most of the fermentation to stop without secondarying.

You do not control FG by stopping fermentation. You control FG by controlling mash temperature. Higher mash temp = less fermentable wort = higher FG.

Stopping fermentation is how you make overcarbonated beer, bottle bombs and gushers.
 
This thread has taken a turn, but I want to bring it back and comment on how awesome this recipe is. I kegged (for the first time ever) this recipe, Yooper's Oatmeal Stout, and since I am amongst the impatient on this forum, I have only had it force carb'ing for 24 hours @ 25 PSI / 40 degrees, which means, it is not yet carbonated..but I pulled a sample anyway and...well....MIND = BLOWN!

I am thinking a lot came together when I brewed this....water chemistry especially...but not to discount how well put together the grain bill / hop additions are. @Yooper, you nailed this one!

The aroma is roasty and sweet, the taste/mouthfeel is creamy, sweet, malty, and roasty..hints of chocolate, coffee, and caramel....BLISS.

Nothing else to say except that this will be a holiday (maybe more) tradition from now on.
 
you don't want to stop fermentation, you want it to finish.

can you really tell how much drier one beer is over another that finished .004 gravity points higher? I'm sure some of the others on this board could, Yooper included, but I know I couldn't

consistency with a recipe is great, practice will help. but is it worth dumping your batches because you insist on consistency above all else? work on process first, consistency should follow

Check the accuracy of your thermometer, it might be off. Mash higher for lower attenuation
Not trying to be an ass, I am looking for knowledge; why would I want to let it finish?

No, I cannot tell the difference, you are correct. But I am trying to improve my process and be more consistant. I don't have anyone locally who can help me on my system, so I really only have this forum and Google (which sometimes can be bad because I will read two different things). I dont care for the other forums. Thank you for your help. :)
 
You do not control FG by stopping fermentation. You control FG by controlling mash temperature. Higher mash temp = less fermentable wort = higher FG.

Stopping fermentation is how you make overcarbonated beer, bottle bombs and gushers.

Can you please elaborate on the overcabonated/bomb/gusher comment? If I 'secondary' and leave most of the yeast behind, I am curious how it could over carbonate in the bottle with the lack of yeast.
 
Can you please elaborate on the overcabonated/bomb/gusher comment? If I 'secondary' and leave most of the yeast behind, I am curious how it could over carbonate in the bottle with the lack of yeast.

You need yeast to carbonate. Yeast carbonate the beer by fermenting sugars to produce alcohol and co2, just like they do during normal fermentation. If you try to stop fermentation early, you leave those fermentable sugars in the beer. So, later when the beer is carbonating in the bottle, there is more sugar available, which means more co2. Even if you secondary, you will still have some yeast in the beer, which is good since you need it to carbonate.

Since this really isn't related to this recipe at all, you might want to create a thread to discuss this over in the bottling or beginner forum instead.
 
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