Dilution of Dark Grains Via Mixing!! Worth a try?

[CoreyG]

K so long story short, overdid my oatmeal stout ( like 8% of roasted barley and 8% chocolate malt) I feel like its OVERLY burnt, coffee-ish, and all the characteristics of the dark grain....

Two questions:
1) will that die down with age?
2) if no, has anyone experimented with mixing. I have 8 gallons of the stout and was thinking of brewing the EXACT same beer without any of the dark grains... maybe 4-5 gallons... then mixing the two together to get 12 gallons of a less dark/burnt beer. The 8 gallon batch is about 4-5 weeks in the fermenter, so the blonde batch would be 6 weeks younger than the original? Any opinions

Thanks in advance for any input. I would hate to loose this batch

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Yes, it will mellow with time. Not sure if it will mellow enough to your liking. You could give it a few months and see, but get it off the yeast and into secondary if you haven't already. If not, then yes, you could also blend it with another brew.

 

[pdxal]

You should try blending your stout in a glass with a similar commercial beer to get an idea how well it works before brewing the blonde. Also, you could figure out proportion of blonde beer to stout to achieve the balance you are looking for, it might not be at 50/50.

 

[RM-MN]

When brewing stouts, patience is a true virtue because the flavors will be harsh at bottling time but with some months in the bottle the flavors really smooth out. I like to give my stouts about 6 months before I taste test. They continue to improve even more with more time.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

stout season is always 365.

 

[Invertalon]

I just brewed a big imperial stout with 8.2% chocolate and 8.2% roasted barley (patagonia perla negra) as well, along with some other base malts (Pale, Munich, Vicotry and also Oatmeal). I wanted a robust, roasty stout and that is exactly what I got.

At bottling, it was maybe a tad bit harsh... But overall, just a really nice stout. Supposedly that perla negra roasted barley is supposed to be a bit less harsh and avoid tannins and such, as it is de-husked or something (recommended to me by the LHBS). I just bottled it last weekend, so it will be conditioning in the bottle at least until December for the first round of bottles. I do have some small pilot bottles to check along the way though to see how it mellows out.

From what I have heard with big stouts, as mentioned above, time will mellow it... Sometimes you just need to wait a few months before it hits it's prime.

 

[CoreyG]

Thanks for the advice gang. Ill just let it sit for a couple months and leave the stress aside. Am I better leaving it in the fermenter or kegging/bottling it and aging in that?

 

[MaddBaggins]

stout season is always 365.

There's an F-in reason I like you BK. :rockin:

 

[andrewmaixner]

Brew a kolsh or blond ale, mix in 10-15% stout to it, while adding 30% of it to the stout. You now have a more balanced stout, and a nice dark mild.

That's a nice thing of having a lot of variety on tap, you can make some styles you don't actually brew, and experiment with variations, on-the-fly

 

[CoreyG]

new question I will add to the discussion, I'll retest this weekend and if its way too much ill steal Andrewmaixners Idea but for now It think ill just age it.

Its been in primary for 3.5 weeks and if I want to age it, am I better kegging/bottling it and aging it sealed or switching it to a secondary for 4+ more weeks before bottling/kegging it.

Any opinions - thanks for the insight!

 

[RM-MN]

new question I will add to the discussion, I'll retest this weekend and if its way too much ill steal Andrewmaixners Idea but for now It think ill just age it.

Its been in primary for 3.5 weeks and if I want to age it, am I better kegging/bottling it and aging it sealed or switching it to a secondary for 4+ more weeks before bottling/kegging it.

Any opinions - thanks for the insight!

If it has only been in the primary for 3.5 weeks, just leave it there for another 4 to 6 weeks. No real good reason to move it and it can do much of its maturation or aging there. Then bottle it and leave if for another 3 to 6 weeks. Try a taste (one bottle) then and if it isn't what you like, leave it longer.

 

[CoreyG]

Any downside if I switch it to a keg? I'm guessing it'll age slower as there will be less suspended yeast?

I only ask as I've got a few empty kegs and 0 empty fermenters so it'll avoid me having to buy more fermenters (obviously NOT brewing for a month is not an option )

 

[andrewmaixner]

Any downside if I switch it to a keg? I'm guessing it'll age slower as there will be less suspended yeast?

I only ask as I've got a few empty kegs and 0 empty fermenters so it'll avoid me having to buy more fermenters (obviously NOT brewing for a month is not an option )

not at all! Kegs are even better than carboys for bulk aging -- they don't break, do block light, and can be used to prime/carbonate the beer also!
Purge with CO2 first and last, make sure it's sealed with a shot of 30PSI.