Hi there, last night we brewed an oatmeal stout (i got the recipe from this site but for some reason can't find it right now).
I know i started with 7lbs of amber LME, and there were 1.75 lbs of specialty grains including the 0.5 lbs of quick oats. i steeped the grains in 4 q at 160*. As far as i can tell everything went really well with the boil. we transfered the wort to the primary after we cooled it, topped up with water and took the OG...1.074 @ 70*. while everything was boiling away the liquid yeast packet was swelling up, so i know the yeasties were working when i pitched them into the primary at about 10 pm. I was expecting a huge explosion so i attached a blow-off tube to be safe....this morning there is still no activity.
I called the LHBS to see what could be the problem and he said firstly: i must have read the OG wrong because it's impossible to be so high. and secondly: if the yeast was working when i pitched it, and temp was ok (which is was) there should be no problem. He doesn't seem to think that a starter was necessary, but i've read here that for a beer with so many.
the last beer i made with a high OG was an IPA that started with 10 lbs of extract and it barfed all over my floor over night (using coopers dry). so i don't know what to do now. I've read here that liquid yeast can take a while to get started and not to worry. how long should i realistically wait before dumping a pack of dry yeast in to get things going?? or should i try something else before that?
I'm gonna keep searching for this recipe and post it as an edit cuz that will probably help
Edit*
7lbs Pale LME
.5 - oats
.5 - chocolate
.5 - crystal
.25 - roasted barley
2oz - EKG
wyeast 1056 (LHBS ran out of 1084)
I know i started with 7lbs of amber LME, and there were 1.75 lbs of specialty grains including the 0.5 lbs of quick oats. i steeped the grains in 4 q at 160*. As far as i can tell everything went really well with the boil. we transfered the wort to the primary after we cooled it, topped up with water and took the OG...1.074 @ 70*. while everything was boiling away the liquid yeast packet was swelling up, so i know the yeasties were working when i pitched them into the primary at about 10 pm. I was expecting a huge explosion so i attached a blow-off tube to be safe....this morning there is still no activity.
I called the LHBS to see what could be the problem and he said firstly: i must have read the OG wrong because it's impossible to be so high. and secondly: if the yeast was working when i pitched it, and temp was ok (which is was) there should be no problem. He doesn't seem to think that a starter was necessary, but i've read here that for a beer with so many.
the last beer i made with a high OG was an IPA that started with 10 lbs of extract and it barfed all over my floor over night (using coopers dry). so i don't know what to do now. I've read here that liquid yeast can take a while to get started and not to worry. how long should i realistically wait before dumping a pack of dry yeast in to get things going?? or should i try something else before that?
I'm gonna keep searching for this recipe and post it as an edit cuz that will probably help
Edit*
7lbs Pale LME
.5 - oats
.5 - chocolate
.5 - crystal
.25 - roasted barley
2oz - EKG
wyeast 1056 (LHBS ran out of 1084)