Oatmeal Stout

[JordanMoore631]

Hey all! I am pretty new to home brewing but for my second batch I decided to try a toasted oatmeal stout. I toasted the oatmeal for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. I didn't want to overdo it so I stopped when I could tell that the color was changing and I could smell the cookie aroma. I've used 6lbs of Amber LME and 1lb extra dark DME, plus a mixture of specialty grains. After about 15 days in the primary fermenter I moved it to secondary. How long would you recommend letting it sit in secondary before bottling? I was guessing 6 weeks. What do y'all think?


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[thadass]

6 weeks? That's quite a long time! Most of us don't even use a secondary unless we need to (specific fining procedure, dry hopping before bottling, cocoa nibs, fruit, etc).

If you are able to take a gravity measurement of the beer and it has stabilized (no change in measurements made a few days apart) then technically you are ready to bottle. If you want to institute a waiting period past this point for some reason, I'd say a week would be all you would really need for something like an oatmeal stout.

I have made a few oatmeal stouts and none of them got a secondary treatment, and all were at their final gravity within 3 weeks of brewday.

 

[JordanMoore631]

Haha, well I guess I am closer than I thought! I appreciate the advice. It also brings up another question though...when do you recommend a secondary fermentation? Maybe for only higher gravity beers that need another dose of fresh yeast?


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