Oatmeal Stout FG questions

[vtbrews1]

So I decided for my second batch to try my own recipe for an Oatmeal stout. I have had it in the fermenter for about a week now and have measured the SG twice getting 1.028 with the OG being 1.060. I am wondering if the gravity I am measuring is too high to bottle, but I have read that once the gravity stops moving downwards fermentation is complete. I am going to wait longer for bottling I think after researching a little on the forum, but compared to other beers mine seems like a small change in SG. Here is the recipe I used

6.8 # Muntons dark LME
3/4 # roasted barley
1/4 # crystal malt 40L
1/4 # black patent
1 # rolled oats
1 oz Brewers Gold hops (boiling)
1 oz East Kent hops (aroma)
1 packet safbrew s-33 yeast

 

[vtbrews1]

I forgot to add that I've been keeping the temperature at around 64 because I can't really keep it much warmer in my tiny apt. I pitched the yeast at around 84F and saw plenty of action through the airlock. Just adding because I know temps can affect yeast action.

 

[hotrodtrash]

I know dark lme has quite a bit of unfermentables in it but should finish a few points lower. Put in front of your heating register for a day and see what happens.

 

[storunner13]

I would keep it at 64. It's very possible it's still fermenting. If it's still at 1.028 in another week, then try (slowly) ramping it up to squeeze out some more points. Otherwise, if it stays at 1.028, bottle it, and hope it isn't too sweet!

In the future, it would be best to cool the wort closer to fermentation temperatures (~65&#730. You'll get a much cleaner flavor by doing so. Also, keep in mind that while the ambient temperature in the room is 64˚, fermentation is an exothermic process, meaning the beer in the bucket could be 5˚-10˚*warmer or more!

 

[vtbrews1]

Just checked the gravity again and its still sitting at 1.028. Guess it will be a little sweet. Any ideas besides fermentation temps as to why the FG didn't fall low enough? I ran the recipe through Beer Alchemy for Mac and it said the FG should have been 1.016.

 

[Yooper]

Just checked the gravity again and its still sitting at 1.028. Guess it will be a little sweet. Any ideas besides fermentation temps as to why the FG didn't fall low enough? I ran the recipe through Beer Alchemy for Mac and it said the FG should have been 1.016.

The FG calcuation is flawed, and isn't even close to what reality would be.

Remember that the calculator does just simple math- It's just giving you an average of 72% attenuation. Not actually looking at the ingredients and giving you a realistic FG.

That recipe has a ton of unfermentables- dark LME in particular.

The recipe is what's flawed, to be honest. Using dark LME is a bad idea as a rule- next time use light colored extract and add your own crystal/grains to get a good recipe.

 

[vtbrews1]

After looking at the recipe and doing research on HBT I realized thats what the problem is. I plan on a porter for the next recipe and using lighter malt extract. Guess that's part of the learning curve!

 

[jonmohno]

So I decided for my second batch to try my own recipe for an Oatmeal stout. I have had it in the fermenter for about a week now and have measured the SG twice getting 1.028 with the OG being 1.060. I am wondering if the gravity I am measuring is too high to bottle, but I have read that once the gravity stops moving downwards fermentation is complete. I am going to wait longer for bottling I think after researching a little on the forum, but compared to other beers mine seems like a small change in SG. Here is the recipe I used

6.8 # Muntons dark LME
3/4 # roasted barley
1/4 # crystal malt 40L
1/4 # black patent
1 # rolled oats
1 oz Brewers Gold hops (boiling)
1 oz East Kent hops (aroma)
1 packet safbrew s-33 yeast

Its probably at that gravity because its only been fermenting for a week.