oatmeal stout

[Crispy31]

Hi everyone,

I'm brewing my first oatmeal stout. After tasting de-bittered black malt I've decided I wanted to do a whole pound for a strong coffee flavor. Thoughts / opinions?

Style: Oatmeal Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 75%

#'s
7 Maris Otter
1 de-bittered black malt
1 flaked oatmeal
1 Crystal 80L
0.5 chocolate malt
0.5 victory malt

Mash at 155F for 60 minutes

1oz Kent goldings 5.2% @45
1oz fuggles 5.3% @30

WLP002 English ale yeast

OG 1.057 FG 1.019
IBU ~32

 

[Juno_Malone]

If you're looking for a coffee flavor, why not use the real thing? Personally I'd cut the debittered black malt back to half a pound, and either cold brew or french press 2oz coffee and add that at flameout (make sure to wait until boil has completely stopped before adding). If you really want a pronounced coffee flavor, brew another 2oz of coffee on bottling day (cold brew or french press, I prefer french press so I don't have to worry about grounds clogging up my bottling wand), mix your priming sugar in to the coffee, pour in to your bottling bucket and rack on to that.

Other than that, the recipe looks great. I'd add the goldings at 60 minutes, but I've never tried the 45 minute bittering method so I can't comment on how it compares.

 

[hurley195]

Looks like a good recipe, somewhat similar to one Ive made. 1# of the black malt might be a little much, but if you want that coffee punch, maybe try it.. Maybe try 3/4# black malt and 1/4# roasted malt? That might help amp up the coffee flavor some. Im a big fan of the debittered black, but a little roasted blended with it, I dont think will give you much or any astringency and you'll get a little more roasty coffee flavor. Do you get a full 75% efficiency?? If not, I would up the base malt to7.5# or 8# or your OG will be lower than you think. Check out tossing in 1/2# flaked barley if you want, goes will with flaked oats. Just my .02, good luck. looks like a real good start though.

 

[StoutHouse213]

I recently used debittered black malt as the primary roasted malt in a milk stout and I found it didn't provide the acidity/bitterness I wanted. I would recommend switching out the debittered black malt for roasted barley and reducing the quantity to roughly 3/4 lbs. The roasted barely I used in an oatmeal stout that just carbed up provided the coffee flavor I was looking for.

You can also do what Juno suggested and add some coffee around bottling time. I've added cold brew to the last half of my batch in the bottling bucket and came out with 2 beers. I used 2 oz. dark roasted coffee cold steeped in around 1/2 qt of water for 24 hrs. The coffee flavor was definitely present, but don't hesitate to up it to 3 or 4 oz for a real coffee punch.

 

[Crispy31]

I appreciate the input! The original recipe had roasted barley but the LHBS was out. So, went with the de-bittered black instead. If it comes out bland or lacking I may try adding coffee at bottling, thanks. And the reason for the 45 min addition instead of 60 was to keep the IBU around 30. Though I could probably just add less and do for 60. I'm adding the flaked barley, had some, just didn't know if that would be too much with the oats and clog my MLT.

 

[Crispy31]

I really like the idea of mixing coffee with the priming sugar. Hadn't thought of that.

 

[Yooper]

The recipe is nice, but more for a brown ale (but black in color), without the roasted flavors typical of stout.

It looks more like a very dark brown ale than a stout, but it does look tasty!

 

[MindenMan]

Chocolate malt adds a coffee flavor, but it only really comes on after aging a bit. Some brewers really like the "knock you over the head" level of coffee flavor, and some don't. I made a coffee stout a year plus ago, and the coffee flavor was too much for me to enjoy, I found a mislabeled bottle a while back, and the coffee flavor had mellowed out to where I really enjoyed it. I used dark roasted decaf, so it wouldn't wake me up while it was putting me to sleep.

 

[Crispy31]

I brewed this over the weekend. Might have messed it up, time will tell. I thought I'd add yeast nutrient (DAP), bottle said 1 tsp per gallon so I added 5 tsp. Read on here later should've only been 1/2-1 tsp in 5 gallons. Fermentation was slow to start but after a couple days it's bubbling vigorously. Smells good, so I hope it is okay. I heard the DAP may settle out.

 

[Crispy31]

Tasted this today... Very smooth, mild roast character, with a chocolatey finish. I'm very happy with it.