Will be brewing oatmeal stout soon

[Germanbrewgal]

If you have been fermenting this beer cool (low 60's faherenheit) and haven't done so, this would be a good time to warm the beer up maybe 8 to 10 degrees as that helps the yeast finish up so you hit your expected FG.

If you used a dry yeast (does Danstar sell liquid yeast) you didn't need to do a starter and with dry yeast a starter may be counterproductive. When you mention British style yeast I would expect it to be Danstar Windsor. For the best ferment that only needs to be re-hydrated.

I have been fermenting mid 60's just threw a towel over it to warm it up a bit. Still bubbling. Yes it was dry yeast. Tell me why making a starter can be counterproductive ?

 

[RM-MN]

I have been fermenting mid 60's just threw a towel over it to warm it up a bit. Still bubbling. Yes it was dry yeast. Tell me why making a starter can be counterproductive ?

Dry yeast is packaged with the nutrients necessary for its reproduction. When you make a starter the yeast use that up and you may end up with no more cells than you would have otherwise and possibly a few less according to at least one of the dry yeast makers.

The towel over the fermenter would have warmed up the beer when it was first fermenting because the yeast give off a bit of heat in the process of making alcohol from the sugar (same as you do when you are active). At this point the yeast have slowed way down and aren't producing the heat that they would have earlier so you might be better to move the beer to a warmer location.

The bubbling is not from the active ferment any more but is CO2 that was dissolved in the beer earlier coming out of suspension. At this point the yeast should not be giving off any CO2. Here's a better explanation on the phases the yeast go through. I find their timeline to be a bit shorter than what I see but the phases are always there for every fermentation.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[Germanbrewgal]

Dry yeast is packaged with the nutrients necessary for its reproduction. When you make a starter the yeast use that up and you may end up with no more cells than you would have otherwise and possibly a few less according to at least one of the dry yeast makers.

The towel over the fermenter would have warmed up the beer when it was first fermenting because the yeast give off a bit of heat in the process of making alcohol from the sugar (same as you do when you are active). At this point the yeast have slowed way down and aren't producing the heat that they would have earlier so you might be better to move the beer to a warmer location.

The bubbling is not from the active ferment any more but is CO2 that was dissolved in the beer earlier coming out of suspension. At this point the yeast should not be giving off any CO2. Here's a better explanation on the phases the yeast go through. I find their timeline to be a bit shorter than what I see but the phases are always there for every fermentation.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html[/
Didn't read it all the way through yet but book marked it for later reading but are you saying it won't ferment down anymore? I have an understanding of why not to make a yeast starter for dry now thank you!

 

[RM-MN]

Didn't read it all the way through yet but book marked it for later reading but are you saying it won't ferment down anymore? I have an understanding of why not to make a yeast starter for dry now thank you!

No, just that the easy sugars are gone and now the yeast have to work harder to convert the intermediate compounds that they produced during the time when there was lots of sugar. If you warm the beer a bit the yeast will work harder at that job instead of taking a long nap.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Started mine a little later to date than I intended on but started 2-14-16 having my first sample as I type just emptied the glass lol I wanted to check the gravity. The starting sg was1062 yea I know I'm pretty proud right now and the gravity as it stands today and still fermenting is at 1028. Taste smooth and rich nothing bitter or off flavored except big hops at the last drop - the expected backwash. Lol And Oh how velvety the texture! It has 2 weeks to ferment down to 1.016 -1.020 I'm hoping I didn't whammy myself with this bragging session...
Forgot to mention I used the yeast that came with the kit DANSTAR British-style beer yeast I made a starter. CA Mouse is there a particular yeast you would recommend for this kit? I can see brewing another one of these I'm really liking the mouthfeel! Thanks!

As already stated, dry yeast does not require a starter, but should be rehydrated prior to use.

As for the yeast, Windsor is the most common dry yeast for British Ales. I have used it a few times and it works really nicely. I do prefer liquid yeast though and those do need a starter *most* of the time. If you want a little drier finish, White Labs WLP007 is a great yeast. If you want a little more malt sweetness and fruitiness, then WLP002 is good too.

Taking your fermenter and placing it in a room temperature closet for two or three days will allow the yeast to become a little more active to finish off a few points of gravity and any off flavors that may exist.

Sounds like you have a really nice beer for your first one!

 

[Germanbrewgal]

It's went down 3 points. I just warmed it to 72 it was at 68. Still has signs of fermenting yet so that's good but I'm starting to worry a lil more about infection cuz it's taking longer than I intissipated. It still smells and tastes good and as long as the hydro is still heading down I guess it's ok? I have an inch to a inch and half of yeast cake on bottom of carboy. It has 5 more points to get to target sg

 

[CA_Mouse]

That may be as far as it is going to go. 5 points is reasonable, so I think you are probably good to go for bottling at this point. If you have a 1 liter soda bottle, I would sanitize that and use that as your test for carbonation. Think about how a soda feels with you first grab it, that is how you want your test bottle to feel. Once you get that plastic bottle nice and firm, you can chill your cases of bottles and start drinking your brew!

Congrats you now have a nice stout that you can tell people *YOU* made!

 

[Germanbrewgal]

Thank you CA_Mouse the sg was 1062 and is now 1025 that brings it to about 5% I'm content with that. Won't be able to bottle this wk end but I will bottle asap thank you again!

 

[FrankD9c]

I just bottled my BB Oatmeal Stout this morning. Went 3 weeks in the primary, no secondary. First 4 days of fermentation at @62 degrees, rest of the time @68-69 degrees.

OG was 1.062 and FG was 1.023. From what I've read about this kit it seems to finish in the low to mid 1.020s for many people.

Tasted great out of the hydrometer vial.

Enjoy your batch I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[weizenguy]

My OG with this kit was in the same ballpark: 1.063. My FG was 1.024, so that gives me an ABV of 5.1% which is ok. I had it in a primary for 1 week and a secondary for 3. The FG did not change all the time it was in the secondary in spite of my rocking the carboy, wrapping it in blankets, etc. So I figured it was as done as it was going to get.

In bottles now for 3 weeks: a little on the sweet side but very smooth and flavourful; nice brown head at the pour but it dissipates pretty quickly. Have been told that stouts like this improve with age, so we'll see. Not disappointed; it was a good start back into brewing for me.

 

[Germanbrewgal]

Well I took a hydro reading again. Fine bubbles in test jar so I spun it and spun it! It ended up at 1.020. That's 51/2% Think it's good to go! Bottle time! Thanks for all the input!

 

[CA_Mouse]

Well I took a hydro reading again. Fine bubbles in test jar so I spun it and spun it! It ended up at 1.020. That's 51/2% Think it's good to go! Bottle time! Thanks for all the input!

1.018 - 1.020 are what I typically saw with the Brewer's Best kits I did, so you should be happy. I believe my first one ended up at 5.5% ABV as well.

 

[StarGuira]

I have a Bb oatmeal stout on secondary sitting on 6lbs of cherries.. Temperature about 70, airlock going crazy for about a day and a half then somehow my room temperature dropped down to around 60, when i noticed the drop, turned on the heat but noticed no more activity.. Did that ruin my beer?? After a few hrs i saw some activity but very little.. Little scared here.. New brewer here, about 4 under my belt

 

[RM-MN]

I have a Bb oatmeal stout on secondary sitting on 6lbs of cherries.. Temperature about 70, airlock going crazy for about a day and a half then somehow my room temperature dropped down to around 60, when i noticed the drop, turned on the heat but noticed no more activity.. Did that ruin my beer?? After a few hrs i saw some activity but very little.. Little scared here.. New brewer here, about 4 under my belt

No, you didn't ruin the beer. Ale yeasts are pretty quick and it is likely it was ready to quit bubbling before the temperature dropped. No worries. Save a bottle for me.