Help! Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

[NWMushroom]

Beginner here, so go easy on me!

I picked up the Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout Brewing Kit a while ago and have just discovered that I've lost the instructions.

Here's the kit:
http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shopping...espeare-Oatmeal-Stout-%2d-Ingredient-Kit.html

Has anyone here brewed this? I'd appreciate some simple instructions - only been an extract brewer up until now.

Included in the pack:

Specialty Grain - 100037
Spray Dried Malt - 100100
Specialty Extracts - 100052
Bittering Hops - 100039
Aroma Hops - 100038

On another note, I purchased this kit around 6 months ago. It's been kept in my cool basement and everything appears to be vacuum packed. Should this still be good to go?

Thanks!

 

[fuhmon]

i had a bohemian pils kit for 3 years. the hops and dry yeast pack was always fridged.
it fermented... came out 3%, had a noticable oxidized flavor but still drinkable after some 2 months of cold conditioning in bottle. looking back i would have gotten a new yeast pack.

 

[mcwilcr]

from what I can tell it is an extract + steeping grains kit.

my suggestion would be to steep the grains in 2.5 gal. of water at 150-155 for 30min, mix in the extract, bring to a rolling boil, boil the bittering hops for 60 min and add the aroma hops in the last 5 min of the boil. pitch yeast at 70 deg, shake the pi$$ out of your fermenter, apply airlock and wait.

 

[NWMushroom]

from what I can tell it is an extract + steeping grains kit.

my suggestion would be to steep the grains in 2.5 gal. of water at 150-155 for 30min, mix in the extract, bring to a rolling boil, boil the bittering hops for 60 min and add the aroma hops in the last 5 min of the boil. pitch yeast at 70 deg, shake the pi$$ out of your fermenter, apply airlock and wait.

When you say mix in the extract, is that BOTH the extract AND the malt at the same time?

I forgot to mention that of course I got a packet of priming sugar for the bottling. I purchased some fresh Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast last week for this kit (currently sitting in the fridge). Was that a reasonable choice?

 

[mcwilcr]

When you say mix in the extract, is that BOTH the extract AND the malt at the same time?

Malting is a process of germinating and drying grains so I'm not sure I understand the question but I'll take a stab at it anyway. if the "malt" is is course ground grains, steep it, if it is a honey like liquid or a white to caramel color fine powder then mix it in with the extract because it is dry malt extract.

I'm home now so here are some more detailed universal instructions.
0) Clean and sterillize
1) bring 2.5 gal. water to 150 degrees. add steeping grains (use a mulsen bag if you have one or strain them out at the end) and maintain temperature as best you can for 30 min.
2) mix in your extract. be very thorough here and careful not to let it burn on the bottom of the pan. if you are using liquid I find it easiest to take the pot off the flame. if dry extract, just stir it in nice and slow and you should be fine.
3) bring your pot to a rolling boil and start keeping track of time
4) add bittering hops and boil for 60 min.
5) add aroma hops at last 5 min of boil.
6) cool the wort as quick as you can
7) add 2 gal. cold water to your fermenter
8) add your word once it cools down to about 75 deg.
9) top off fermenter to 5 gal.
10) take gravity reading if you have equipment (highly recommended) and record the value.
11) pitch yeast and shake fermenter to aerate.
12) close your fermenter and set up airlock
13) rack to secondary after about 7-10 days (take another reading here if you are doing it)
14) bottle after fermentation activity stops determined either by consecutive hydrometer readings with no change or no more airlock activity.
15) boil priming sugar, rack your wort on top of it and bottle.
16) oatmeal stouts are pretty heavy and in my experience take a longer time to carbinate so I would say dont even bother trying it for 4 weeks (3 at a minimum).

I purchased some fresh Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast last week for this kit (currently sitting in the fridge). Was that a reasonable choice?

1084 is my favorite for porters and stouts. should be good!

Good luck!

 

[NWMushroom]

Malting is a process of germinating and drying grains so I'm not sure I understand the question but I'll take a stab at it anyway. if the "malt" is is course ground grains, steep it, if it is a honey like liquid or a white to caramel color fine powder then mix it in with the extract because it is dry malt extract.

Thanks for your help.

Basically, I have two bags in addition to the grain:

1 x Spray Dried Malt - 100100
1 x Specialty Extracts - 100052

Both are dry white powder - so do I add them together at the extract addition stage?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for your help.

Basically, I have two bags in addition to the grain:

1 x Spray Dried Malt - 100100
1 x Specialty Extracts - 100052

Both are dry white powder - so do I add them together at the extract addition stage?

Yes. When you are done steeping the grains, remove them and bring the liquid to a boil. Take it off the heat, and add the extracts. Bring back to a boil, add your bittering hops, and start your timer at 60 minutes. When you have 5 minutes left on the timer, add your aroma hops. At 0 minutes, turn off the flame and chill the wort.

 

[mcwilcr]

Thanks for your help.

Basically, I have two bags in addition to the grain:

1 x Spray Dried Malt - 100100
1 x Specialty Extracts - 100052

Both are dry white powder - so do I add them together at the extract addition stage?

Yep

 

[NWMushroom]

Great. I have an ESB in the fermenter right now, but will be picking up another bucket next week to start the stout.

I'd read about the basic recipe but the separate bags of dried malt and specialty extracts in addition to the grains had me confused.

 

[Creston24]

This was a great write up/help for a new brewer. As it turns out, I am doing the same beer, just not a kit. I actually had the ingredients list and went to the LBS and got what I needed. Have been doing lots of reading and putting together my brew equipment and decided it was time to make the plunge. I hope to start mine this afternoon.

 

[NWMushroom]

A blast from the past, this brew! It came out great - I'm sure you'll be happy with the results. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Creston24]

Well, i haven't started it yet. I made a big mistake and went with an all grain recipe. So i am using one of the recipes from beersmith. It is all grains and hops. Really bot the best plan for a rook. Alas, I shall prevail. I have been reading about BIAB variations for all grain brewing, and think thst might be my best option, especially since I don't have a lot of the fancy equipment described by folks who brew all grain using other methods like sparging. Basically from what i read it involves using a large muslin bag and seeping all your grains at once, the removing and using the lliquid as wort. The normal process for boiling and adding hops. I am still researching and trying to come up with my process and amounts of water, ect. Id like to brew this weekend. Just gona have too see what happens.

 

[Creston24]

I guess i should add....this is the recipe i am using...http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/883078/rogue-shakespeare-stout