Getting a brew creamier

[RollingStone]

Hello Beer Lovers

I have brew a coffee stout and it is delicious. I wish I could send you a bottle each to try. Anyways, my problem is I would like to get it a bit thicker and creamier and I do not know how to achieve that.

Would you help me to get a solution ?

 

[Anyhowe]

Couple choices. Dextrin malt, flaked malts. Quite possibly a water chemistry change could go a long way.

Hard to tell without that sample. I am more than willing to swap you with a hoppy oatmeal stout I have kegged right now.

 

[MrPowers]

Adding some flaked oats would be a good place to start. It would be helpful to have some more recipe information to really dial in suggestions though.

 

[kev211]

What was your recipe for this amazing stout? That would help us dial in a slightly better solution for you.

But I do agree, some carapils (dextrine malt) will add some body, and flaked oats will definitely add some creaminess. If you are looking for some creaminess with a boost in sweetness you could always add some lactose (milk sugar).

 

[Yooper]

Flaked barley! It's my secret ingredient to increase the head and impart the rich creamy feeling to the beer.

I use 4.5% in my oatmeal stout (and has flaked oats in it as well), and it makes all the difference.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=210376 if you want to see the full recipe.

 

[bobeer]

echoing what others have said in flaked barley, flaked oats, lactose.

If you've never used lactose before it will make your beer much sweeter than it otherwise would be so maybe split the batch and see how half of it turns out. The Left Hand milk stout clone is a good place to start to look at %'s. That's a darn good recipe.

 

[ross_daly]

It has been mentioned to some degree, but the use of lactose is largely what turns a stout into a milk stout. If that is the kind of creaminess you are looking for, then lactose could be your answer!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've been researching this. Here's a list of suggestions I've read (none are vetted by me....yet):

Golden Naked Oats and/or Flaked Oats
Roasted Barley
Carapils
Higher Mash temp (156+)
Longer Boil

I'm on the same hunt, so I created a list of notes, recipe ideas, etx in Google Drive. I did the same thing for NEIPA and my first batch was better than I imagined. With that I basically ID'd a few elements that seemed to constantly pop up as yielding the NEIPA experience and incorporated them all into my recipe. I've since decided to add one more element to the next batch.

 

[RollingStone]

As a reply to you all, I have put 2 oz flaked oats into my recipe. So, still was not enough cream produced. Next time I will make it 8oz to see the difference.

 

[Yooper]

As a reply to you all, I have put 2 oz flaked oats into my recipe. So, still was not enough cream produced. Next time I will make it 8oz to see the difference.

What size batch is this? As a start, I'd use 10% flaked oats and 5% flaked barley, or somewhere in that area. Flaked oats are "slick" and "oily" in large amounts, but 10% is a good place to start, while flaked barley builds body and head retention along with a creamy rich feeling.

Another thing is yeast strain. A yeast strain like Wyeast 1450 (Denny's Favorite) will give a richer mouthfeel, and a fullness to it, without being underattenuative. That would help too.

 

[Anyhowe]

Don't ignore your water profile.

 

[filthyastronaut]

I'd say mash around 156-8, have your Chloride around 100ppm, add flaked oats, wheat, or barley, carbonate at 2.0 volumes or a little less, and then possibly reduce IBUs to around 30, use dehusked roasted malts or roasted wheat, cap your mash with roasted malt instead of a full mash, or cold steep your roasted malt.

 

[RollingStone]

Don't ignore your water profile.

I have done 2 stout with the same water profile. Real batch is not creamy enough but the second batch which I used whatever malt and flaked oats left and it is creamy. obviously I need to increase the number of flaked oats. maybe I should use some flaked barley as well.

Thanks to everyone who replied.