Oatmeal Stout - no krausen/bubbles

[Crumbscrapings]

Hey everyone, I've run into a first time issue and wondered if someone could advise. On Monday, I made an all grain version of Founders Oatmeal Stout, based on a recipe I got on the forums (recipe below). I followed the recipe per the all grain instructions, but did add a bit more oatmeal, increasing to a full 32 oz.

The reason for my concern is that after 48 hours, I've seen very little bubbles and no krausen. Took a hydrometer reading and based on that, it seems to be fermenting - started at 1.070 and is now 1.025.

This is my eighth all grain batch, but I've never done an oatmeal stout before. Each batch I've done, fermentation was always very visible. Would the oatmeal or coffee/chocolate additions somehow reduce krausen or bubbles? Any cause for concern from the lack of these things?


From BYO
13.2 lbs 2-row pale malt
22 ozs flaked oats
1 lb Chocolate malt (350 L)
12 ozs roast barley malt (450 L)
9 ozs debittered black malt
7 ozs crystal malt (120 L)
2 ozs ground Sumatran coffee
2 ozs ground Kona coffee
2.5 ozs dark bittersweet bakers chocolate
1.5 ozs unsweetened chocolate baking nibs (no idea what this is exactly but I used 100% cacao unsweetened bakers chocolate which I would think would work and is in the grocery)
14.3 AAU Nugget pellet hops 60 min (1 oz @ 13% AA) (I used Yakima Magnum of the same AA)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops 30 min (1/2 oz @ 5% AA)
2.5 AAU Willamette pellet hops 0 min
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient 15 min
1/2 tsp Irish moss 15 min
WLP 001 or Wyeast 1056

OG 1.078 FG 1.020 ABV 7.5%

Single step infusion mash for 60 minutes at 155 F . They say to use 3.75 gallons of 172 degree water to stabilize at 155 but I did my own calculations and added a bit of mash water because with so much grain it was way too thick IMO @ 3.75 gallons.

Add the Sumatran coffee and the two kinds of chocolate at flameout, cool the wort and aerate well. Ferment at 68 F to completion and then add the Kona to a secondary and dry hop w/ coffee for one week. Bottle as usual.

 

[aiptasia]

Yep, it sure can. The fats in chocolate can be a real head/foam killer in beers. I brew a chocolate stout that I call "Headless" because of using powdered cocoa in the recipe. It wouldn't hold a head to save it's life and the krausening on it was very minimal to almost none. This post is a good example of why you can't trust bubbling and krausen activity as a sign of fermentation. The best way to make sure fermentation is happening is to always to use a hydrometer.

It might not hold a head either but very thin to no head is quite common for Imperial stouts. Kegging can help but the head tends to fade quickly. Next go around, you might add some carafoam if you don't like the head level. Switching to cacao nibs also helps because there's no supplemental fats in it.

 

[CUrchin]

Could also be that it just hasn't gotten going yet. Check out the epic 72 hour fermentation thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/
I did an IPA Saturday that tool until Tuesday to get going. Also, did you use a starter?

 

[Crumbscrapings]

Interesting information on the fat in chocolate being a potential cause of the lack of krausen. I'm learning stuff all the time and that I didn't know. The recipe called for 2.5 oz. of semisweet bakers chocolate and 1.5oz cacao nibs. I used 2 oz of the bakers chocolate and increased cacao nibs to about 2 oz. Doesn't seem like a lot of fat for the 7 gallons of wort I had right before I pumped into the fermenter, but good to know that chocolate can have that effect.

Thanks on the tip regarding carafoam - I'm unfamiliar with that but will have to research.

@CUrchin - Yes I did 1300 ml starter using the Wyeast 1056 smack pack. Everything looked good on the yeast end.

Hopefully the lack of krausen/bubbles does not signify a crappy beer as the end result. Crossing my fingers.

 

[eastoak]

a few people have experienced a krausen-less fermentation when using oats, i sure have. not saying it's not the chocolate but oats are also a suspect.

 

[eadavis80]

Resurrecting this ancient thread as I made NB's all-grain chocolate stout on Wednesday. I added 1/4 cup of dissolved Hershey's baker's cocoa in the last 5 minutes as well as 2 additional pounds of pale ale malt and a pound of oats to the mash. My O.G. was 1.072 and smelled and tasted great. I pitched 2 packets of rehydrated Safale-04 into the aerated wort and while the airlock went bonkers for the first 36 hours, it's dormant now - 3 days after brew day with no visible signs of fermentation in the Big Mouth Bubbler. I never really had any krausen either. I could see bubbles at the surface of the beer and stuff move on top, but no real krausen ever. I'll take a gravity reading on Wednesday and hope it's 1.025 or less. Recipe had a pound of lactose so I know that won't ferment out and I mashed around 154-155 for 70 minutes. Just hoping the beer didn't stop at 1.030 like my last one did.