what would YOU do with your ruined oatmeal stout

[slicksmix]

Hello all. What I would like to ask you fellow home brewers is...

If you were a jerk like me and messed up your first attempt at mashing flaked oats, would you bottle or dump

I think I got a bunch of unfermentables in my wort. Og was 1064, and its stuck at 1038, which gives about 3&1/2 percent abv

This is the first batch that has given me problems and I don't know what to do

Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

How did you mess it up, how long has it been stuck and what was your recipe?

 

[slicksmix]

Well, this is what I did...

Steeped 1# flaked oats (in one bag) and 12oz 2-row pale malt, 6oz dark chocolate, 4oz victory, and 2oz caramel 120L in 1 gallon and a quart of water at 158 degrees for 1 hr.

Topped to 2.5 gallons

Then I raised to a gentle boil and added 3.3 lbs dark lme, 3lbs smell, and 1 lb maltodextrin

When it boiled again I added 1oz bittering hops (45 min) then 1oz flavoring (15 min)

But when I was doing my mash my oats kinda clumped together really bad. I tried to break the clump with my spoon the best I could. But as I have very short fermentation I think. I screwed it up

 

[manoaction]

Are you nuts? Bottle and drink that.

Low ABV is no reason to pour it out.

How does it taste? Is undrinkable vinegar sour or something?

I messed up one of my first batches by mashing at way too high a temp and wound up with a ABV of less than 2.5%.

I bottled it, and then drank it. I enjoyed it, and I bet you'll enjoy your batch too.

Also, I would suggest mashing at closer to 155 degrees, you'll attenuate a lot better.

 

[509inc]

Go ahead and dump it if you like wasting beer and money.

 

[slicksmix]

Yes I'm a little nuts

But I will take your advise and bottle. I was just a little bummed about the mistake. It doesn't taste bad, but its no Sammy smiths if u catch my drift.

Thanks for the mash advise. I will definitely try this recipe again soon

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

Well, you didn't use enough 2-row to get good conversion, you mashed high, you used dark lme and you added maltodextrin, so you were probably left with a lot of unfermentable sugars in your wort.

You didn't say how long it's been in the fermentor, but if it's been a while and you're sure it's done, you could try adding amylase enzyme, but results with that are unpredictable. I've never used it because of that.

If it were me, I'd just bottle it and let it carb. It'll be a heavy beer, but it could still be awesome. Plenty of stouts finish at 3.5% abv.

 

[DodginBUIs]

could add some coffee if the flavor is off (im no expert, i just got the idea because a friend fornicated up an oatmeal stout and fixed it with coffee. im currently about to rack an oatmeal stout on top of some coffee myself)

 

[octo]

i messed up my oatmeal stout, it went from 1.035 (severely undershot og) to 1.020 and stopped, since it had lactose in it i guess. anyways, I boiled up 2 pounds of dme and added it to the fermenter and let that ferment out. the beer pretty much sucks so i added coffee to it, it tastes like soy sauce... with coffee, but im still trucking through it. all 50 bottles of it :/

 

[jfr1111]

Drink it ! Make black and tans ! Serve to your friends and family ! Experiemnt adding liqueurs to it at serving !

But don't dump it. You can always try racking the beer on a fresh yeast cake. Evan has a good success doing this in the past from what I've read.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

How does it taste?

 

[yodalegomaster]

I would add some "beano" It will cut down the unfermentables and allow the yeast to finish. Not much, 1 drop would fix the whole 5 gallons think 1/4 of a tablet crushed. You could also use "Whitelabs Clarity Ferm it's the same thing".

 

[Shooter]

Wow, you didn't just add maltodextrin, you added a LOT of maltodextrin!!!

Go big or go home!

If it tastes okay, bottle it.

 

[JonK331]

Add one cup of salt and brine your Thanksgiving turkey in it. It will be f'ing awesome.

 

[hamiltont]

You just gota bottle it up. I bet it turns out great!! Try some (~1/2 oz.) whiskey/bourbon in the glass with it for a little variety or a little vanilla, or both. Cheers!!!

 

[wonderbread23]

Brew a really dry stout and then blend.

 

[slicksmix]

Thanks everyone. You're making me feel alot better about it. I will bottle it soon and see what its like. Tastes ok but a little sweet for my taste. Maybe this will be a batch of dark beer the ladies will enjoy

I thought it was alot of maltosextrin too, but it came in my kit and the directions said to put it all in. I'm still new (3rd batch) so I don't know what to add/omit

Oh btw I started it last sat (13th) Sunday it was going crazy, Monday not so much, and Tuesday it was done. Same sg for 3 days

 

[ylee21]

Are you nuts? Bottle and drink that.

I may make a T-shirt that says that... that's a great line!

 

[slicksmix]

I may make a T-shirt that says that... that's a great line!

I agree. I got a big smile after reading that post

 

[Rockit]

Give it time. I did a stout that was very bitter with an almost oily mouth feel. After sitting for 18 months in the keg, it's not great, but very drinkable.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

use it in recipes, beer bread, or beer brats. beer cheese soup. stout stews at st. patty's day. if it is absolutly undrinkable it is still usable. i had a batch of vanilla stout that was horrible. couple of black and tans and a very good nutty beer bread turned out to be a great use.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

It seems like you are rushing the fermentation? Are you SURE it's done after ONLY FIVE DAYS??? Leave it for a month in primary whenever possible! If you need beer fast, make a simple and and bottle after two weeks.

 

[Skarekrough]

Every year a friend of mine does a "bad beer" night. The idea is to show up with some vile brew you would never ever consume and bring it along and trade and sample.

I usually show up with a few six packs, unlabeled, of things that went horribly wrong; bad flavors, bottle bombs, gushers, chunks of something growing in it. It's the hit of the party!!!

 

[JetSmooth]

For low alcohol brews, I like to take them via enema. It's a much more efficient way of consuming alcohol than in the stomach.




What?


I mean, this...

It seems like you are rushing the fermentation? Are you SURE it's done after ONLY FIVE DAYS??? Leave it for a month in primary whenever possible! If you need beer fast, make a simple and and bottle after two weeks.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

what would YOU do with your ruined oatmeal stout


I'd crap my pants! Cause the recipe said it was a Blonde.

 

[slicksmix]

It seems like you are rushing the fermentation? Are you SURE it's done after ONLY FIVE DAYS??? Leave it for a month in primary whenever possible! If you need beer fast, make a simple and and bottle after two weeks.

I see what u mean. But my sg hasn't changed for three days. From what I understand, leaving it for a month might lower it a point or two but nothing more

I have been making wine for quite a while and I'm just getting into beer. Anyways when making wine and want to up the alcohol a little some people put corn sugar in it. Is this common in beer or generally a no no

Like I said, I gunna bottle it anyway. Or maybe make beer bread with some of it

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I am not one of those "keep it under all circumstances" kinda folk. If it's bad, it's bad and unless you are looking for a bad sour beer letting some age for a year doesn't always make the bad go away.

What I do advocate is tasting the beer before you decide to do anything.

 

[petey_c]

slicksmix, I think I found your problem, "Then I raised to a gentle boil and added 3.3 lbs dark lme, 3lbs smell, and 1 lb maltodextrin..." Two questions; what kind of "smell" did you add and when did you add the "smell"?

 

[slicksmix]

slicksmix, I think I found your problem, "Then I raised to a gentle boil and added 3.3 lbs dark lme, 3lbs smell, and 1 lb maltodextrin..." Two questions; what kind of "smell" did you add and when did you add the "smell"?

Oh, I'm sorry. Lol. I didn't catch that. I'm on my phone and it auto corrects me sometimes

What I meant was 3# dark dme

Yeah that sounded weird lol

After tasting it today I found it too sweet for my taste. Its not sour at all. I've just been freaking because so far I've had no problems brewing. This one just threw a curve ball at me