Sludgy partial boil, low water volume

[AnCapJake]

Yesterday was my second brew day and it didn't quite go as smoothly as the first. This was my first internet/my own recipe, a milk oatmeal stout. This recipe had a decent amount of specialty grains and my inexperienced self did not account for the insane amount of water the oats would absorb during steeping.

Following my boil after beginning with about 3 or so gallons I was left with a 2 or probably less gallon slurry of hops, lactose, dme, and grains that may have escaped from the muslin bags. When I say slurry I mean this stuff was curiously thick.I started by filtering it through a strainer but realized my yield would be preposterously low if I were to do it with the entire amount of concentrated wort, so instead I simply started pouring almost the whole mess into my carboy only leaving the extra thick stuff in the kettle. At this point I'm left with probably a gallon and a half of thick sludge in my carboy. This left me to top off my wort with probably around 3.5 (maybe more) gallons of water.

Additionally, no I have not invested in a hydrometer at this point, as of now that's next on my list, especially now. Shouldn't it be alright given that all of the fermentables were still in the boil, albeit just in a really concentrated boil volume?

Should I be at all worried? I know given this is only my second brew I'm probably unnecessarily concerned but given my first brew was nothing like this I thought I may as well ask. Should the thick wort I began with significantly (really really significantly) clear out and settle to the bottom of my fermenter? Will the exceptionally low amount of boiled wort cause for a diluted finished product? Thank you guys in advance for your help.

 

[Token]

It should clear out real well. It may be a smaller beer than you intended with the 3.5 gal of water added.

It's fine that you didn't try to strain it; it'll settle. It probably won't be what you intended, but you'll have beer.

 

[FreddyMar3]

Without a hydrometer it is really tough to tell but you should be ok. The specialty grains are removed before adding the extract so you aren't losing any fermentables there. Fortunately you did a stout so color is not an issue because I'm sure you got a ton of carmelization with such a small amount of water. With all the particulate matter in the primary it would be beneficial for you if you have the equipment to do a secondary fermentation for clarifying purposes and to get the beer off of the sludge. When you rack for bottling, be sure to keep the cane or autosiphon off the bottom of the fermenter so you don't get too much crap in your bottles.

Bottom line, I think you'll be fine.

 

[AnCapJake]

I do have a secondary fermenter and I was planning on doing it anyway to add a vanilla flavor. The original recipe said OG should be around 1.056 so I'm gonna take a wild guess and say my final product may be around 3.5% given what went awry.

I will just have to conduct my patent pending "let's see how fast this makes me drunk" test when it's all said and done.

Color is certainly not an issue at least at this point, it's a pretty black stout. Black patent and chocolate malt certainly helped in this respect.

 

[FreddyMar3]

Well it might not be the most accurate type of ABV testing but it is certainly the most fun.
-Cheers
P.S. If you live near Philly, I have an extra hydrometer.

 

[AnCapJake]

Well it might not be the most accurate type of ABV testing but it is certainly the most fun.
-Cheers
P.S. If you live near Philly, I have an extra hydrometer.

Definitely the most fun. I would take you up on that offer if I weren't all the way down in Oklahoma. I really appreciate the thought though. This forum is a wealth of information full of extraordinarily helpful people, thanks for the help!