benthegrate
Active Member
Hey, folks! I'm on my second batch of homebrew now. First was a pumpkin ale that turned out spectacular. This one is a double chocolate oatmeal stout. Here's the recipe I used.
7# liquid pale extract
1# roasted barley
1# medium crystal malt (60L)
1/2# chocolate malt
1/2# black patent malt
1 pound quick oats
1/4# coffee ground coarse
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (added at end of boil)
1 oz GR Tradition (bittering)
1/2 Willamette (at 10 mins)
Irish Ale Yeast (I used White Labs)
OG was 1.063. I pitched right from the White Labs vial and 12 hours later I had such crazy activity that there airlock was a STREAM of air, not even individual bubbles. After 72 hours it had subsided to 1 bubble per minute, so I sampled the gravity and it was 1.023. I racked to a secondary, but ended up with only 4 gallons (from an original 5.5 gallons of liquid).
The trub on the bottom was 4 inches thick...WAY thicker than for my pumpkin ale. I'm assuming this is because of the oatmeal starches, but this is an uneducated guess.
The beer already tastes delicious, with a distinct coffee aftertaste and a creamy mouth feel.
But I'm worried that I've only got 4 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon carboy.
Is it normal to lose this much beer to trub?
Should I top up with a gallon of sterilized marbles? Or will it be okay with this much head space? Or can I top up with something else?
Thanks!
7# liquid pale extract
1# roasted barley
1# medium crystal malt (60L)
1/2# chocolate malt
1/2# black patent malt
1 pound quick oats
1/4# coffee ground coarse
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (added at end of boil)
1 oz GR Tradition (bittering)
1/2 Willamette (at 10 mins)
Irish Ale Yeast (I used White Labs)
OG was 1.063. I pitched right from the White Labs vial and 12 hours later I had such crazy activity that there airlock was a STREAM of air, not even individual bubbles. After 72 hours it had subsided to 1 bubble per minute, so I sampled the gravity and it was 1.023. I racked to a secondary, but ended up with only 4 gallons (from an original 5.5 gallons of liquid).
The trub on the bottom was 4 inches thick...WAY thicker than for my pumpkin ale. I'm assuming this is because of the oatmeal starches, but this is an uneducated guess.
The beer already tastes delicious, with a distinct coffee aftertaste and a creamy mouth feel.
But I'm worried that I've only got 4 gallons of beer in a 5 gallon carboy.
Is it normal to lose this much beer to trub?
Should I top up with a gallon of sterilized marbles? Or will it be okay with this much head space? Or can I top up with something else?
Thanks!