Fermentation Notes, Oatmeal Stout

Update 30jun (Mon): Evidence of a good active fermentation (bubbling in airlock despite my loose lid) were noticeable @ 23 hours, so active fermentation must have begun some time between 14 and 23 hours.

Update 01jul (Tues): Fermentation is really goin now, room temp is around 68F, fermentor is around 73 F (best I can do in summer). It is pumping out that delicious fruity smell that the Irish Ale seems to give off. The irish ale yeast really give off a fantastic fruit smell during fermentation.

Update 02jul (Wed): Fermentation seems to have simmered down today and the temperature of the wort is back at ambient room temperature of about 69F. I plan to let it condition for another 2+ weeks.

Update 13jul (Sun): Gravity is down to 1.018, probably as low as this is going to get with all the unfermentables from the oatmeal and my bootleg mashing process. Probably going to bottled sometime this week.

Brewing Notes, Oatmeal Stout (Sun 29 jun)

I plan to brew an oatmeal stout tomorrow. I am going to make an ~ 1 liter starter of Wyeast Irish Ale 1084 using 1/2 cup pilsen DME tonight to be ready for tomorrow evening when I brew.

Starter made Sat 28jun: Package was slow to swell, but had swoll some within 5 hours before pitched to starter. It was coming up on 5 months from born on date. I forgot (i think, came back from a cookout a bit buzzed) to aerate the starter wort very vigorously, but I know I did shake it up a little bit once the yeast were in, swirled it a few times later on, and it probably got aerated some while being poured into the growler.

The partial mash process I plan to use is listed in the previous post titled "partial mash ideas for oatmeal stout". Basically going to mash for an hour and then do 1 batch sparge of ~ equal volume to reach my boil volume of ~ 3 gallons. Then just add the extract and boil as normal.

The recipe is as follows:

PM:
1.5 lbs. Maris Otter
1.0 lbs. Flaked Oats
0.5 lbs. Simpson's Roasted Barley
0.5 lbs. Simpson's Chocolate Malt
0.5 lbs. Simpson's Dark Crystal Malt

Additional Fermentables:
3.15 lbs. Munich LME
1.0 lbs. Golden Light DME

Hops:
1.0 oz Glacier (60 min)

So, the process went fairly smoothly, mashed in at 169-170, temp was read at 154 1 hour later.  I used a down comforter, and some wool blankets to insulate my "mash tun".  A couple of things to note for the future learned during this process:

1. During the mash, the cephalon pot with false bottom was able to hold the 4 lbs. of grain plus 1.5 gallons of water almost exactly.  However, when sparging, because the grains had absorbed so much water, I had to actually do two seperate batch sparges of approximately .75 gallons each because that it all there was room for in the pot due to grain expansion.

2. Estimating based on how much the grains absorbed, I probably lost approximately .75 gallons that was stuck within the grain, leaving my boil volume at approximately 2.5 gallons, a little smaller than normal (3 gallons for mash / sparge + 1/4 gallons volume of extract - 3/4 gallons absorbed in the grain).

3. Don't skim the hop or oat oils to maximize hop flavor/aroma and body given by oats.

OG was measured at ~ 1.044

1 liter starter pitched at 9:30 PM into 68F wort.

Bottling Notes, Honey Blonde Ale (Wed 25jun)

Bottled at final gravity of 1.009 (adjusted for temp and hydrometer calibration)

% attenuation ~ 80%

% abv ~ 4.8 to 5.0 (including priming sugar)

cal / 12 oz. ~ 150

Ended up with equivalent of 47 12 oz. beers

Fermentation Notes, Honey Blonde Ale

Fermentation was rolling when I checked it 17 hours after pitching, so it probably started much sooner than that. This has been my experience with dry yeast, they take off strong.

UPDATE (Mon 09jun): Fermentation still going strong @ 8:00 AM. Ambient temp 67F, fermentor 71F.

UPDATE (Mon 16jun): Visible yeast layer still on top of beer. The beer also remains very cloudy at this point. Gravity was measured at 1.009, quite good attenuation, to be expected with the use of adjuncts (honey). I will let this condition another week or so in the fermentor before bottling.

UPDATE: (Sun 22jun): Gravity check again at 1.009. Has cleared up somewhat. This beer has an interesting subtle peach flavor to it, I'm guessing this is from the yeast rather than the honey. I have seen where some people have reported a peach/apricot flavor from the s-05 yeast. I think it will work out deliciously in this beer. I plan to bottle this week.

Brewing Notes, Honey Blonde Ale (Sun 08jun2008)

Brewed another summer time easy drinkin beer yesterday. The recipe was:

6.0 lbs Gold LME
1 oz. Mt. Hood hops, 5.2 % AA (63 min)
1.0 lbs. N.C. Raw Tupelo Honey (3 min)

Pitched 1 packet of rehydrated Safale S-05 dry yeast (clean american ale) into 69F wort at 2:00 PM.

I added the honey late to maximize its flavor, but wanted to at least approximate a boil before taking it off the heat for sanitation reasons (took 3 minutes). I used the hot wort to liquidize the honey so it would pour out.

I'm expecting this one to ferment out fairly dry due to the lack of steeping grains and the addition of honey. Hopefully will be good to drink in the 100 + degree weather we've had lately.