I'm not allowed to go to the beer store alone anymore...

Went to pick up some supplies on Friday for yesterday's brew session, and also to get some feedback on a couple brews. After sitting around for an hour and sampling both my beers and a few others, I finally got around to gathering the ingredients I needed for the Milk Stout I was brewing. Here's the kicker: I forgot both the Flaked Oats and the Lactose. Not a huge deal, the beer will still turn out fine, just not what I wanted.

Here's the original recipe for a 5 gallon batch:

11.0 lbs Maris Otter
1.25 lbs Chocolate Malt
0.50 lbs Debittered Black Malt
0.50 lbs Roasted Barley
0.50 lbs Crystal 80L
1.00 lb Flaked Oats
1.00 lb Lactose

1.00 oz Chinook @ 60min
1.00 oz Northern Brewer @ 30min

1 pkg White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

2.00 oz Cocoa Nibs in secondary

OG ended up being 1.076 and I mashed at 154* (originally planned 150*) for a little extra mouth feel and sweetness since I didn't have the oats and lactose.

Lesson learned: double check the list before leaving. Still, I'm excited to see how this turns out. It will be my first time using the Cocoa Nibs, so here goes!

 

I would imagine you could boil the lactose and add it prior to bottling/kegging.

When I first read this thread I thought you wee going to have the same problem I do; Getting more stuff than you planned on buying. your 30 dollar batch magically turns into 50 snaps. Looks like a prettygood recipe though should turn out well.

 

That is what I thought too. I still have yet to have a batch of beer come in under $60 even though my ingredient average is $40.

 

Well, I did pick up an oxygen stone and regulator, so out of $100 total, only $40 was ingredients. I just tend to lose my mind in there.

 

And then I always complain about trying to save up for an expensive piece of equipment because I spend too much on random crap

 

I'm still doing extract kit brews and can't do one for under $50. $7 for bottled water, $10 on ice to cool the wort, plus the cost of the kit...but i bought a wort chiller today, so that'll save cash in the long run.

 

I know it's after the fact, but isn't plain jane Oatmeal the same thing as flaked oats?

Just wondering if that could have been subbed.

 

Holy crap this is exactly how I am. :rockin: I beach and complain because I still don't have a wort chiller or kegging system but I pick up all these nic-nacs that are either backups or just seem like cool crap to have.

 

They are pretty much the same thing and yes instant oatmeal, quick oats can be subbed as well as rolled oats that are non-instant/quick oats. The good thing about the instant or quick oats is they don't need to be cooked before brewing with them.

 

I thought about using them, and tried to look up whether I could, but I found conflicting information. So, I figured better safe than sorry. I'd rather have a good Stout than risk screwing up on something I haven't done before or read enough about.

I will, however, read up on this before next brew session, so that I have a back up if needed.

Love the picture of your boxers, by the way Hernando. Best dogs in the world!

 

I think that is the case with any information is conflicting data. One person does it and yay it works the other does it (perhaps screwing something up along the way) and it doesn't work out. Trial and error are the only real ways to know for sure; perhaps a small 1 gal. batch of oatmeal stout is in order. Here is some inforamtion for you. http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/34-grains/498-cookie-in-a-glass-grouters-unite

The mutts say thanks! they are awesome dogs. they are hyper but well behaved and damn good around kids. I have to agree that they are the best dogs in the world.

 

I've recently purchased a grain mill and started buying 50 lbs sacks of base malt for around $37 a sack. I was sure this would bring my batch price way down...but noooo, still seem to spend 30-40 bucks on the other random ingredients...who knows?

 

Oh man that's disheartening. I was looking at going this route by the years end; for that exact reason. Are you making bigger beers now that youhave the grain handy?

 

Lol, yes. I have a Belgian golden strong and a Belgian dark strong in fermenters that are both over 10% and a Scotch Wee Heavy that's almost 9%...Guess that's why I'm not saving money!!! Might be time to real it in just a bit.

 

Flaked oats = instant oats, FYI.

 

Grab a mill...I love mine. I would mill my own grain even if it didn't save me a dime. It's almost like one more step towards doing the whole thing yourself...growing my own hops is next for me I think.

 

I definitely will once I get the other crap I need. I still need to make myself a wort Chiller, Fermentation control chamber, not sure If I should go mill after those two things or start buying pieces for a kegging system. So much to make and buy it can make my head spin.

 

A fermentation control chamber is in the books for me as well...Not sure if I want to go with a typical chest freezer, or try to convert one of the mini fridges. I'd like to stick with something as small as possible, but the chest freezers are so cheap, its hard to decide.

 

I keep going back and forth,; I will occassionally see a freezer or something on CL for under 30 dollars. I don't know if they work or not but then I still need a controller,power switch and the juice to run it. I also like to build things so I have been toying with the idea of getting the supplies and building the son of fermentor fermentation chamber. in reality, It's probably not much cheaper than a freezer build but to say I made the thing is what I like about the idea. I do think I am going to be building my wort chiller here before the fermentation because that is the one aspect of brewing that I get impatient with is chilling the wort to pitching temps. so many decisions so little funds.

 

Just get a 6 gallon container and go to one of those $0.25/gal machines. Or invest the 50ish bucks in a home water filter.

$10 on ICE?!?!? Invest in a wort chiller buddy, 6 batches at $17 for ice and water youre already at the cost of a wort chiller and a 6 gallon better bottle.

 

rule of thumb:

pick up your ingredients and pay extra for ice for your yeast and put them in your vehicle or bag by the door before having beer

 

I purchased a solid state relay from eBay for $30.00. It comes with a water proof probe that I just pass through the hole on the stopper along side of the bubbler, down into the wort. I use it to run a fan for a "swamp cooler" set up at the moment, but will use it for the chamber at some point. The guy who sells them is out of Canada I think. The relay runs up to 10 amps I think, so it would be worth checking the fridge first. The wort chiller would be first on my list too I think.

 

I also like steel cut. It's essentially the same thing as adding raw wheat or rye . . . just oats. As long as you're all-grain you can mash them in with the rest.

I used them in my Guinness clone and got a nice texture that comes a little closer to putting it on nitro.