Oatmeal Milk Stout - High Final Gravity??

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Avocado Fruit

Avocado Fruit

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Hi guys.

I have had an oatmeal milk stout brewing away in my cupboard for about 2 weeks now and I believe I have a stuck fermentation. The original gravity came out at 1.074 and my first reading on day 7 was around 1.040. I was expecting around 1.025, so after a gentle stir to perhaps wake up the yeast and a slight temperature increase, I took another reading on day 10. This came out at around 1.036 and it has stayed at this reading since. I tried re-pitching the yeast to no avail.

Recipe (12 Litres):

2.6 kg United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale
375 g Rolled Oats
225 g Lactose (Milk Sugar)
187 g American - Caramel / Crystal 60L
187 g United Kingdom - Pale Chocolate
150 g German - Carafa III
38 g United Kingdom - Black Patent

Yeast - Safale S04 (hydrated)

Could 1.036 be the final gravity and would it be safe to bottle after a week in the secondary? Any tips would much appreciated

Thanks in advance!
 
I bottled a breakfast stout recently that started at 1.074 then after 14 days it stayed at 1.032 for two weeks despite raising the temp and giving it a good shake. I put it down to the Lactose, oddly enough, I used about the same amount of Lactose as you in a 17 litre batch.
 
Hi!
1 lb lactose in 1 US gallon has an SG of 1.043
In a 12 litre batch, 225g of lactose will add 6.7 gravity points.
That brings your gravity down from 1.036 to about 1.029 - that's a little better.
 
I have brewed a few Oatmeal Stouts the last I brewed had a OG of 1.054 and a FG of 1.014, I usually find they finish high but just to break the rules this finished a lot lower.
 
Smileyr8 said:
I have brewed a few Oatmeal Stouts the last I brewed had a OG of 1.054 and a FG of 1.014, I usually find they finish high but just to break the rules this finished a lot lower.
Click to expand...
I have the same deal, started at 1.055, first check after a week was 1.017 when I was expecting 1.021, mine had 100g in 10L. However, looking at the notes the Wyeast West Yorkshire yeast took my porter 2 points lower than expected (79% vs 75% expected attenuation) and it's taking this stout 4 points lower currently (69% vs 62%), fyi I mashed at 70c due to not having as much lactose as I'd have liked and couldn't be bothered getting more.

@Avocado Fruit :What temperature did you mash at?
 
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I hope this isn't too off topic (apologies if it is), I've made a fair number of oatmeal stouts and use porridge oats, under the impression that porridge oats are the same as torrified oats. However I've not noticed that great mouthfeel that oatmeal stouts are supposed to have. Have I got this wrong?

More on topic though, looking through my notes for the milk stouts I've made, the FG has been higher than I expected, but only by a couple of points or so. I think because some recipe calculators calculate the attenuation % of the yeast and don't take into consideration unfermentables.
 
Thanks for the handy replies guys. This is my first time with lactose and I think maybe I am relying to heavily on the software numbers. I have been tasting the samples and it is a tasty beer, not overly sweet. Will give it a few days to see if it drops anymore points, but would you agree that it's safe to bottle? Still sitting at 1036.
 
jceg316 said:
I hope this isn't too off topic (apologies if it is)More on topic though, looking through my notes for the milk stouts I've made, the FG has been higher than I expected, but only by a couple of points or so. I think because some recipe calculators calculate the attenuation % of the yeast and don't take into consideration unfermentables.
Click to expand...
You're quite right with that one, same happens with sugar, the software just takes the full OG and applies the %attenuation. I ignore the predicted FG so I remove the sugar / unfermentable and see what it expects to finish at then add the adjunct back in to see what it does to the OG. With an unfermentable I'll add the same to the expected malt-only FG, with sugar I'll assume it'll finish at the all-malt FG.
 
My chocolate beer was also on the high end. I wont lie it was about 1.020 bit it was a high OG.
But isnt this down to the lactose? Albiet i only added 150g
 
Hi guys. Just thought I would drop in and give everyone an update on this (fwiw). The FG did come out at 1036, even after re-pitching, keeping the beer in a warm place, and occasionally swirling the fermenter. I'm putting this down to a miscalculation with the lactose on my part.

The stout has been bottled for about 5 weeks now at around 20 degrees and seems to be having trouble carbonating. I have researched both these issues and oatmeal stouts seem to be a beer renowned for causing hassle!
 
Great to get updates. My stout (one and only so far) was almost flat on the first couple of test bottles. About two months in it's got a much better head (still not guiness like but then it shouldn't be). I hope it'll be the same for yours.

Have you sampled it? I hope it's not too sweet to drink?
 
Im not sure if .I'll be adding lactose again
The chocolate'beer tastes worse as its aging
Ive recently got a porter on with plenty of flaked barley and a dash of torrified wheat which I'm really hoping will make a good headed pint but I will be adding (for the first time) some coffee beans and I'm not sure if this will have negative effects on carbonation but I've been dying to give this a try


AV
Did you use your normal amount of priming sugar?
I was under the impression less was required for high fg's
 
ITMA said:
Have you sampled it? I hope it's not too sweet to drink?
Click to expand...

I have sampled the beer since and it does taste sweet, although not too sweet. I was going for a Jet Black Heart kind of sweetness and I think it's pretty much there!

BeerisGOD said:
Did you use your normal amount of priming sugar?
I was under the impression less was required for high fg's
Click to expand...

I do believe that I used the the correct amount, it's likely that I have miscalculated though. I get a very strong head initially, but then it disappears within 30 seconds. Still tastes very flat.

Carb drops/priming sugar and a few grains of yeast in each bottle maybe?
 
Ah exactly the same as me, Jet Black Heart. I thought for some reason I'd only used about 250g for a 23L, but it turns out it was 437g so it looks like we're in the same ballpark.

After a month it has about a 1cm head which is retained for just a few minutes, but the body of the drink is well enough carbed. It took a good 3 months to get there though, perhaps for you its just a case of waiting until ~May?

The flavour of mine definitely improved as well, the sweet was clashing with the oatmeal to give a nastyish taste. Now it's much closer to the Jet Black original.
 

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