Gave Partial Mash a try with an Oatmeal Stout

[2DogAle]

Just wanted to tell someone (other than Lufah who's been getting spamed with questions from me) about it cuz I'm excited to see what happened. I'm learning so much all the time from the forums and brewcasts and it's giving me enough information to keep trying better ways of making my beer. At first I was going to just do a full boil but then I was reading one of me books and saw a beer I wanted to make. I used a Partial Mash method from San Francisco Brew Crafts site: http://www.sfbrewcraft.com/partialmash.html

Why I used that one? It looked easy and was similar to a bunch of others I had read. It was also the first bookmark I came to for partial mashing so I went for it.

The recipe was a partial mash type right out of the Joy of Home Brewing with a couple of changes including using an English Ale yeast.

After pitching my starter (thanks again Jamil) there was about a 10 our lag and then the fermentation got cranking. It's been 3 days and it has slowed down quite a bit. I will be taking a reading in a few days to see where I am at. I started around 1.052.

If this goes well, I'm going to go to be looking for a bigger pot and a cooler in no time.

Thanks to Lufah for being a nice guy by answering some stupid question and to Justin for telling me just to do what feels right. I appreciate everyone's help. OK, enough of that sappy shit... sounds like I just got an award or something.

Rob

[Lufah]

Congrats Rob. Keep us posted on how it goes.

Travis

[2DogAle]

Well, it's been a week in the primary. After a active fermentation it looked like things were about done. I don't have a carboy to keep an eye on things. I depend on the airlock and time to judge when things slow down enough to take a gravity reading. So tonight I took a reading and it looked like it was down around 1.020 FG. I got the bottling bucket ready, sanitized my bottles etc. and got ready to bottle. I racked the stout the the bottling bucket. Don't ask me why I looked at the recipe again but I did and found that the FG should be around 1.012-1.016. DAMN!!!

BTW - The beer does taste really good and smells fantastic.

Questions:

Anything I can do to get the gravity to drop quickly?

If it stays steady at 1.020 for the next 3 days, do I just go ahead and bottle?

Will it be ok to leave the stout in the bottling bucket?

Is it ok that I didn't transfer all the trub on the bottom of the primary to that bucket?

When I do go ahead and bottle, do I need to transfer back to another bucket or can I just bottle from the bottling bucket?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am completely out of beer

Thanks,

Rob

[Bugeater]

Since it has only been a week since you brewed it, I would wait another week before bottling. Check the gravity again about Friday and again on Sunday. If they are the same, then go ahead and bottle. If not, another week won't hurt a thing.

Getting it off the trub is fine, there will still be plenty of yeast in suspension to ferment out the last couple of points.

I would leave it in the bottling bucket (covered, of course) so you won't run the risk of oxydation from transfering it back to the fermenter and then back to the bottling bucket.

People pay too much attention to the bubbles. When the bubbles are going, you know that fermentation is taking place, but the fact that there are no bubbles doesn't necessarily mean that fermentation is not taking place. If you have bubbling and then it stops it means that it is time to check the gravity, not that fermentation has stopped. Only the gravity readings can tell you that. Remember the yeast works on its schedule, not yours. There are many factors that affect how soon fermentation starts and stops, how vigorous it is, and how long it takes. Generally there will be bubbles, but the hydrometer is your friend. {rant mode now off}

Sounds like you are on the way to becoming a brewing addict like the rest of us. Let us know how it comes out.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[2DogAle]

Thanks Wayne.... I remember that statement about yeast doing it's own thing on it's own time. I get impatient some times I guess.

That's a great point about the airlock and I don't think that is mentioned enough. As a newbie it's important to get those details. You know how the kit instructions are kind of the basic one size fits all approach and that information is important to know.

Thanks again,

Rob

[dawgfur]

My first partial mash was an oatmeal stout. I left it in the primary for about 3 weeks and still finished pretty high, around 1.018+. This beer has a lot of specialty grains which brings the gravity up, especially the oats. It still came out great and I don't mind the slight sweetness or creaminess, which is very indicative of this style.
I let it ferment, then when activity subsides, I let it sit for at least another week to let the yeast do their thing. Then a gravity check lets me know if I should transfer or not.
Even if the gravity stops going down and you finish high, I say transfer and enjoy! See what it tastes like after a little age.

-Bill

[2DogAle]

Hey thanks Bill, I am going to take a reading Saturday and see where I'm at. The way I mashed this wasn't the most eficient so I may not have converted all the sugars I could have. I tasted the Stout when I transfered to the secondary and it was pretty good and smelled wonderful.

Later,

Rob

[2DogAle]

Just wanted to let who ever cares know I bottled the stout today. It tasted great and smelled awsome. I'll let you all know how it goes once carbonated.

BTW - it ended up around 1.018 FG.

Rob