First American Stout gone wrong (?) Help please

[KLMtheReal]

Hello guys, I need some help. Today I brewed my first American stout that I plan to get to a local competition in the coming months. My attempt was to brew something like the classic Rogue Shakespeare, with an estimated OG at 1062 (I always get easily to 65% eff). The grain bill asked for flaked oats. The thing is that I didn't knew that I have to cook the oats (I used regular organic raw oats since the guy at the LHBS told me to go for it if I have any), mashed for 60', boiled for 90'. Took a sample and the OG was 1048 (-15% eff)! It's like I didn't even used any oats! The estimated alcohol therefore will be around 5% instead of 6,2% like I planned. Still passes the BJCP requirements but then again, shoot

My question is, will this mishap ruin the beer? Would the oat addition give this distinct creamy mouthfeel, even without the added sugars? I really feel bad since I was working all day for that beer to really shine. But I'll still drink it haha

Cheers!

 

[deadwolfbones]

Hello guys, I need some help. Today I brewed my first American stout that I plan to get to a local competition in the coming months. My attempt was to brew something like the classic Rogue Shakespeare, with an estimated OG at 1062 (I always get easily to 65% eff). The grain bill asked for flaked oats. The thing is that I didn't knew that I have to cook the oats (I used regular organic raw oats since the guy at the LHBS told me to go for it if I have any), mashed for 60', boiled for 90'. Took a sample and the OG was 1048 (-15% eff)! It's like I didn't even used any oats! The estimated alcohol therefore will be around 5% instead of 6,2% like I planned. Still passes the BJCP requirements but then again, shoot

My question is, will this mishap ruin the beer? Would the oat addition give this distinct creamy mouthfeel, even without the added sugars? I really feel bad since I was working all day for that beer to really shine. But I'll still drink it haha

Cheers!

If you want to get the OG up, just add some dissolved DME.

 

[fendersrule]

Or some boiled sucrose. Done that before.

 

[KLMtheReal]

Thanks guys, I added 200 grams of DME to half a litre of water and boiled vigorously for 10 minutes. Once it hits room temp I'll carefully add it to the fermenter, it just started bubbling. I hope it ferments out properly. Thanks a lot!

 

[thehaze]

I can add that oats usually tend to add very little fermentables. When I use them, I make sure to add a bit more base malt, to reach the proper OG. I think Oat malt is a better option, but might get less mouthfeel from it, although I liked the results with Oat malt so far.

Cheers and best of luck!

 

[KLMtheReal]

I can add that oats usually tend to add very little fermentables. When I use them, I make sure to add a bit more base malt, to reach the proper OG. I think Oat malt is a better option, but might get less mouthfeel from it, although I liked the results with Oat malt so far.

Cheers and best of luck!

Thanks! I formulated my recipe using BrewMate, and 10% of flaked oats gave around 6 gravity points. I just threw them in the mash with the grains completely uncooked. I'm not concerned with grav points since I used DME and got the OG I sought. But I really hope to get the "oatiness" in this stout, mouthfeel and creaminess etc. Did it ever occured to you? Any ideas?

 

[thehaze]

If you use oats in greater amounts like 10-25%, you will definitely get a certain creaminess. Might be more prevalent in lighter coloured beers, where it will add a bit of slickness/mouthfeel, but it should work in darker beer as well. When I used Flaked oats, the amount was around 20%. That gave a good result, I could feel in terms of mouthfeel. Oat malt is usually 20-30% of the grain bill, especially in Tripel Karmeliet "type" of belgian beers.

I don'øt use Brewmate, but BrewersFriend and most times, it's pretty zccurate.

 

[RM-MN]

Hello guys, I need some help. Today I brewed my first American stout that I plan to get to a local competition in the coming months. My attempt was to brew something like the classic Rogue Shakespeare, with an estimated OG at 1062 (I always get easily to 65% eff). The grain bill asked for flaked oats. The thing is that I didn't knew that I have to cook the oats (I used regular organic raw oats since the guy at the LHBS told me to go for it if I have any), mashed for 60', boiled for 90'. Took a sample and the OG was 1048 (-15% eff)! It's like I didn't even used any oats! The estimated alcohol therefore will be around 5% instead of 6,2% like I planned. Still passes the BJCP requirements but then again, shoot

My question is, will this mishap ruin the beer? Would the oat addition give this distinct creamy mouthfeel, even without the added sugars? I really feel bad since I was working all day for that beer to really shine. But I'll still drink it haha

Cheers!

Too late for this batch but next time you intend to use oats in your recipe, go to the grocery store for the flaked oats. You can get them in original, quick cooking, and probably instant oatmeal. The quick cooking is probably what you want to use as it is steamed and rolled thin. Instant would be fine if you can find some that isn't already flavored.