Oatmeal Stout

Here's the recipe I got from BYO. I'm losing the DME, to be a bit more cost effective and because that high gravity has me worried. I want a nice stout that I can sip on for a while and still get up and walk around afterwards. I'll also be subbing in Nottingham's dry ale yeast.

QUAKER'S STOUT

5 gallons, extract/specialty grains

Kevin Norman
The Cellar Homebrew
Seattle, Wash.

"Full-bodied is an understatement for this dark stout. It is downright chewy. The oatmeal provides the unfermentable starches and beta-glucan gums that give this beer its remarkable mouthfeel, while the use of specialty grains gives it a distinctive roasted quality. Perfect for those winter evenings in front of the fireplace."

Ingredients:

6 lbs. Alexander's amber malt syrup
2 lbs. Munton's dark dry malt extract
0.75 lb. English crystal malt, 70° to 80° Lovibond
0.5 lb. chocolate malt
0.25 lb. black patent malt
0.5 lb. roasted barley
1 lb. rolled oats
1/2 stick of brewer's licorice
1 oz. Chinook hops (13% alpha acid), for 60 min.
2 oz. Willamette hops (5% alpha acid), 1 oz. for 60 min., 1 oz. for 3 min.
Edme dry ale yeast or Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale)

Step by Step:

Place specialty grains in strainer bag. Place rolled oats in separate strainer bag. Add to 2.5 gals. water in brewing kettle. At boil remove specialty grains but continue to boil rolled oats for about 10 minutes. Remove bag of rolled oats. Add malt extracts, brewer's licorice, and Chinook and 1 oz. of Willamette hops to the boiling water. Boil and stir for 60 minutes. During the last three minutes of the boil, add remaining Willamette hops. Prime with corn sugar.

OG = 1.070 to 1.075
FG = 1.018 to 1.022

Here's a question for you!

I'm going to be using the Danstar Nottingham yeast. Reasonable choice for this brew?

Also, I had to buy a pound of all the specialty grains. Any recommendations for adding more grain to this? I'm NOT adding the 2 lbs. dark dry malt extract because of the extra cost. I don't want to go crazy on the dark, though, and end up with a cheeksucker, testes go up in your throat kind of malt bitterness either. Recommendations?

IMO, Nottingham is a good option for any brew.

Of course, I am a Nottingham fluffer. :rockin: Great stuff - fast acting, highly flocculant, and neutral flavor. The only thing that it is not good for is Belgian style.

As for grain, I wouldn't add any more. This looks great as is.

Of course, I am a Nottingham fluffer. :rockin:

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Better you then me . . . but I guess if thats what you have to do to get dry yeast to preform I'll stick to liquid . . .Fluffer

I also think that it is a good recipe and you should brew like it is and adjust afterwards if it doesn't suit your tastes. Good Luck

Thanks for the input everyone,

I'm a big fan of stouts, oatmeal in particular, and am very excited to make one on Monday.

I'm new around here, so howdy folks!

I brewed up a 5-gallon batch following this recipe and the OG seems a bit low at 1.054. Did anyone else try the recipe? I also modified the directions by adding a 20-minute steeping of the oats with the grains at 150-153 F before boiling the malts for 60 min.

Thanks
Max

You can't steep oats. they need some base malt to convert the startches.

You could also try adding some coffee malt into your mash. Sounds like it'd do really well in that recipe.

organicbrewer said:

You can't steep oats. they need some base malt to convert the startches.

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is that really true? i've seen plenty of extract + steeped grain recipes for oatmeal stout that say to steep the oats, although i've never made one myself.
For example, this one from BYO: http://byo.com/feature/305.html
It says to steep the oatmeal for one hour with the grains. What's the verdict on this?

sconnie said:

is that really true? i've seen plenty of extract + steeped grain recipes for oatmeal stout that say to steep the oats, although i've never made one myself.
For example, this one from BYO: http://byo.com/feature/305.html
It says to steep the oatmeal for one hour with the grains. What's the verdict on this?

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I'm going to make an educated guess that what was meant by the statement that you can't steep oats really meant you can't steep oats by themselves. From the link you provided it says, "Oats have no enzymes useful to mashing. They must be mashed (or partially mashed) with a malted grain for the starches to be converted."

The only oatmeal stouts I've had on draft have been nitro dispensed (and yummy). How do these beers hold up in a homebrew corn sugar or DME induced bottle carbonation?

Jason

iloman said:

"Oats have no enzymes useful to mashing. They must be mashed (or partially mashed) with a malted grain for the starches to be converted."



Jason

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couldn't have said it better myself.

You CAN steep oatmeal, but you'll end up with unconverted startches in your beer that are fodder for infectious bacteria. If you steep them around 150F or so with an equal amount of base malt then you'll be ok.

For clarification, I did have other malts present during the steeping of the oats. As of today the specific gravity is 1.022 and very little airlock activity. Should be ready for bottling this week.

Cheers
Max

I'm making this recipe for my first brew. Does this only make 2.5 gallons?

Mr.Roper said:

I'm making this recipe for my first brew. Does this only make 2.5 gallons?

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No, you'll top off in the fermenter to get your full 5.0 - 5.5 gallons. It's just that the entire wort is not boiled.

Thanks for the quick reply!

The problem that has been hit on here (mashing the oats) is a problem that is present in the recipe first presented in this thread. There are no enzymatic malts that are going to convert that oatmeal. I would add 1.5-2lbs of 6-row to that recipe and mash/steep (whatever you want to call it) for an hour.

This doesn't mean that recipe won't turn out great...I'm sure it will. It's just that the resulting beer will be more prone to infection due to the unconverted starches that will be present, and you'll have a gloppy mess in the bottom of your fermenter that you'll want to avoid when racking.

This could explain why my chocolate oatmeal stouts tastes funny....

Live and learn. I think I'll try again with a 1 gallon test batch and mash the oats with some 2-row...

Im sorry excuse my noobiness, so what you guys are sayin is you need to steep the oats along with the other grains at the same time, or a partial boil of the oats by themselves? Im gonna be doing a similar brew this Friday, glad I stumbled across this thread.

Cheers, Scott.

scottmc said:

Im sorry excuse my noobiness, so what you guys are sayin is you need to steep the oats along with the other grains at the same time, or a partial boil of the oats by themselves? Im gonna be doing a similar brew this Friday, glad I stumbled across this thread.

Cheers, Scott.

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To convert the starches in the oats they must be mashed with diastatic grains such as 2-row or 6-row. Boiling them won't convert the starches but for some forms of oats (raw oats) they will make the starches accessible to the enzymes in your diastatic grains. Rolled oats, I believe, are okay without boiling but must be mashed with diastatic grains.

are flaked wheat grains or chocolate malt grains considered diastatic grains? or just 2-6 row.

Flaked wheat, if it is malted (usually is), is diastatic. I'm not sure how many adjuncts it will convert in addition to converting its own starches.

Chocolate malt is highly roasted and hence all the enzymes have been destroyed and it has no diastatic power left.

This is described pretty well on Palmer's website:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12.html

Well howdy again folks. Just thought I'd report that the product of this recipe is excellent. Were I to brew this again (and I very well may - this batch is nearly gone), I may double the quantity of oats. As-is, this brew is a whole lot of stout with a hint of oats.

Hey Maxr,

I was quite pleased with the recipe as well. My stout is great and I'd definitely make it again. The last time I made a stout was over 10 years ago and I was not happy with the results at all (but it was a canned kit.) This one actually tasted like something I could get at a good brewpub. I love stouts and this one is a hit with me and my friends.

8 lbs of extract? Is that correct - seems like an awful lot.