Oatmeal Chocolate Stout:

[Hop Bomb]

Hope ye'r all having a nice New Years day. I think HBW is open tomorrow so gona pick up a few bits a do a brew.

Is pale ale malt the same or similar as two row?

Can someone with Beersmith & AG experience throw an eye on this recipe for me & chime in. Should I do a 60 or 90 min mash?



* what you cant see on the screen shot is irish moss, 2 packs of s04 yeast & dry hop with some fuggles for 3 days. Oh & some cocoa nibs for the secondary.

Thanks a million,
Tom

[Ciderhead]

Is that your own or default equipment profile? Did you use the convert function or is it your own design? I ask as there is a convert to your own equipment function in BS
Do you really need the 2 packets of yeast? All the recipes I see on beer smith contain wlp002?
All my stout recipes including beer smiths own dry stout are all 60 mins with an elevated mash out temp on some
Check out
http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/03/14/brewing-an-irish-stout-beer-recipe/

[Hop Bomb]

I just downloaded a trial version of the program & its my first time using it. The recipe I posted is close enough to this one http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/708/prairie-oatmeal-stout

Right so trim the fat & lash in more pale ale malt & use 1 pack of nottingham instead of s04. 500g of oats.

Im probably on the wrong equipment profile on there. My boiler is a converted 50L keg with bazooka tube & my mash tun is a 48 L coleman coolbox (rectangle shape). Ive no idea what my dead space is but Il do some more reading tomorrow & get my stuff dialed in before starting anything.

Cheers for the replies

[Hop Bomb]

Ive put a few litres of water in my mash tun to determine my dead space for my equipment profile on beersmith.

Ive got a bazooka screen in there so would I be right in saying my dead space is pretty much zero as I can tilt it to get the last of the runnings out? (or is tilting it not recommended?)

Thanks
Tom.

[Ciderhead]

Ive put a few litres of water in my mash tun to determine my dead space for my equipment profile on beersmith.

Ive got a bazooka screen in there so would I be right in saying my dead space is pretty much zero as I can tilt it to get the last of the runnings out? (or is tilting it not recommended?)

Thanks
Tom.

I never tilt as that really is all the shite at the bottom. I will fall out in fermentation anyway but easier to clean out of a boiler than carboy for me!
I just filled bottom of mine. Let water drain off then poured remainder into measuring jug for me it was 0.8L
Same for my Mash tun which I think was a litre

[Hop Bomb]

If I dont tilt my dead space in my 45L mash tun (coolbox) is almost 4.75L. The dead space in my 50L boil kettle (keg) is 5.75L.

Will beersmith compensate for the amount of water the grain will absorb aswell as the deadspace?

[Hop Bomb]

Brewed this today (different recipe to the one posted at the top of the thread) Got all my equipment dialed in to beersmith & my recipe all well up in the green sliders for the style. My mash was a little on the cool side (2[ch730]c under the recommended)

For whatever reason (probably error on my part) I ended up with 33 litres of beer instead of 25 after the boil. This has obviously watered down my brew as my OG is 1040. A bit annoying as im outside the OG for this category in the competition.

So my question is where have I gone wrong? I only lost 2.7 litres during the boil & nowhere near the amount beersmith calculated for me.

On the plus side the wort tastes yummy & I ran all my wort chiller runnings into the whiskey barrel. Its full now & is water tight. Super!

[Ciderhead]

How much did you sparge with?
Post pictures of your boiler?
Beersmith usually has me +\_ 1 litre

[Hop Bomb]

Sparged with 24.5 litres of water as per beersmith instructions (my dead space is + 5L in my mash tun)  I ended up with 33 L in the boiler after first runnings & sparge. Topped up with 2 L of water as per beersmith sheet & boiled for an hour.

[Ciderhead]

Sparged with 24.5 litres of water as per beersmith instructions (my dead space is + 5L in my mash tun)  I ended up with 33 L in the boiler after first runnings & sparge. Topped up with 2 L of water as per beersmith sheet & boiled for an hour.

    oh god way too much please double check bs
I usually sparge between 15 and 20 absolute max
5 litres of dead space is a lot can you post a pic of your MT?
Can you post the brew sheet for the recipe or screen capture from vols page
Nice keg btw

[Ciderhead]

Just checked my last 4 recipes
30~33 total with 17-20 spage vols
I have about 1 litre in mash and same in boiler dead space
My boil  vols are typically 27-29 litres and I normally loose circa 5 litres on the boil with 2 kettle elements

[Hop Bomb]

I figured as much. Damn! That keg was a year in the making haha. Here is the mash sheet:




And the recipe:



Here is my mash tun. 46L coleman cooler. Bazooka screen on it & the deadspace is 4.7L (without tilting it)

[Ciderhead]

If you only lost 2 litres in boil turn up the gas

It was guesstimating 10

With a refractometer i measure as I boil and great way to see if pre and post boil gravity on target

[Hop Bomb]

You reckon thats what it is? I was maxed out on it. Blue flame all the way. With the lid on it was boiling like crazy & with it off a nice rolling boil.

Would you think Im okay to follow beersmith steps up until the actual sparge amount & then just sparge with less to adjust for its over compensation?

Cheers for the help.

[Ciderhead]

You reckon thats what it is? I was maxed out on it. Blue flame all the way. With the lid on it was boiling like crazy & with it off a nice rolling boil.

Would you think Im okay to follow beersmith steps up until the actual sparge amount & then just sparge with less to adjust for its over compensation?

Cheers for the help.

Lid on ....uh oh