Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout Clone

One of my favorite beers to drink recently has been FW's Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout. It has a silky smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness, and just the right amount of roast.

I'd love to try and brew a clone of this great beer but couldn't find a recipe out there so I figured I'd try and formulate one with your feedback.


Here's what I know from their website:
OG: 15.0 (1.061)
ABV: 5.5% (therefore FG must be about 1.019)
IBUs: 30

Grains:
Maris Otter, 2-Row Pale, Roast Barley, English Dark Caramel, Medium Caramel, Carafa Malt, Oats (15%)

Hops:
100% US Grown Fuggle Hops

From the following YouTube vid I extracted some more info:



"Briess brand roasted barley"
"Marris Otter along with some Munich Malt"

Here's a first shot at a recipe:

Recipe: Velvet Merlin clone
Style: Oatmeal Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 24.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 37.66 %
3.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 29.29 %
1.75 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 14.64 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 8.37 %
0.40 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 3.35 %
0.40 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3.35 %
0.20 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 1.67 %
0.20 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 1.67 %
2.00 oz Fuggles, US [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 30.3 IBU
5.00 gal Irvine, CA Water
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.95 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.94 qt of water at 174.9 F 158.0 F

Subscribed. I too am wanting to formulate an oatmeal stout for this weekends brew. I have never created my own stout , so Im a little intimidated.

Any thought/comments on my first attempt at a recipe?

I'm very interested in a Velvet Merkin clone. If I remember correctly this beer is partially aged in bourbon barrels.

I'm really bummed that I didn't remember the recipe when I saw it. I went on a tour of the Firestone Walker brewery with my brew club, and the computer in the controls office had the Velvet Merlin recipe up on it. GAHH.

Bummer, should have whipped out the cell phone camera and snapped a quick pic.

It is aged in bourbon barrels briefly after being fermented in stainless steel. Maybe I'll experiment with some oak chips and a touch of bourbon on a gallon or so of my batch.

So how did this turn out?

Still haven't brewed it, but it will likely be my next brew. Will prob changes the hops to EKG and yeast to WLP005 since that's what I have on hand.

We just got Firestone in Colorado and I had my first Merlin. Excellent! I'd be interested to hear how it goes for you

DrinkNoH2O said:

Still haven't brewed it, but it will likely be my next brew. Will prob changes the hops to EKG and yeast to WLP005 since that's what I have on hand.

Click to expand...

Wondering if you ever brewed this and how it turned out???

step said:

Wondering if you ever brewed this and how it turned out???

Click to expand...

Yes, I brewed it about 12 days ago. I change the recipe to the following:

Style: Oatmeal Stout
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 39.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 36.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 65.22 %
1.25 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.87 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 35L (35.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley 595*L (595.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.17 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] (60 min) Hops 36.5 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
5.00 gal Irvine, CA Water
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) Yeast-Ale


90 minute mash @ 154*F




Brew day went perfectly and it fermented clean and strong. It's sitting at 1.016 right now, might drop maybe one more point but no more. The hydrometer sample tasted great, can't wait to get this kegged.

I'll post more details once I get a "real" taste...

I just bought a bottle of their XV. Which has a small break down of the beers in the blend. It says that the merkin is 15% oats. I see it's a bit late but maybe it will help someone.

phished880 said:

I just bought a bottle of their XV. Which has a small break down of the beers in the blend. It says that the merkin is 15% oats. I see it's a bit late but maybe it will help someone.

Click to expand...

Yes, had 15% in my first post but decided to change it.

What I ended up with for a recipe isn't exactly a Velvet Merlin clone, but more an Oatmeal Stout inspired by Velvet Merlin.

phished880 said:

I just bought a bottle of their XV. Which has a small break down of the beers in the blend. It says that the merkin is 15% oats. I see it's a bit late but maybe it will help someone.

Click to expand...

I too got a bottle of the anniversary, simply amazing.

This look great, I would love to try and brew a clone of the merkin.

I would also really like to try and clone the walkers reserve porter. Simply phoenomal porter.

Adam and David are lords of wood aging!

Don't forget Matt Brynildson, I think he is main reason Firestone Walker beers are what they are...

That reserve Porter is AWESOME! Let us know how the recipe comes out, would love to brew something close.

How did this turn out?

Lenny2884 said:

How did this turn out?

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply.

This actually turned out really well. Here's a pic side by side with Velvet Merlin (mine is on right):



With all that roasted malt mine definitely needs to age a bit before it's in it's prime, but it's drinking well already.

The head on the Velvet Merlin is a little darker tan than mine though my beer is overall a little darker.

Overall the Merlin does taste better, but they are close. They have the same mouthfeel and smoothness/body. Once mine ages it will be even closer.

One thing I would change is the hops - I don't really like the EKG and there's basically no hop flavor in the Merlin. Next time I'll use Magnum for the same IBUs.

Weird, I put that into BrewMate and got a 21 srm.

JDFlow said:

Weird, I put that into BrewMate and got a 21 srm.

Click to expand...

user error. boil volume was set too high

Thinking of trying this recipe, it has a few tweeks

"Velvet Merlin"
Oatmeal Stout

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (G): 3.0
Total Grain (lb): 7.270
Total Hops (oz): 1.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.062 (°P): 15.2
Final Gravity (FG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.09 %
Colour (SRM): 41.6 (EBC): 82.0
Bitterness (IBU): 46.4 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.500 lb Maris Otter Malt (61.9%)
0.900 lb Flaked Oats (12.38%)
0.600 lb Munich I (8.25%)
0.450 lb Black Roasted Barley (6.19%)
0.450 lb Crystal 60 (6.19%)
0.220 lb Carafa II malt (3.03%)
0.150 lb Crystal 120 (2.06%)

Hop Bill
----------------
1.00 oz Willamette Pellet (7.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 oz/Gal)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 155°F for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 68°F with Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale

How about this...

the roasted malts seem pretty conservative for an oatmeal stout.

Try throwing 2 oz oak for last week of fermenting & 1 cup of rum per 5 gallons @ packaging. I created a pretty mean oatmeal stout & did this at the end. Definitely a winner!

Cheers!

Okay... How about now... It's more like Russian Imperial though now, 75% pale malt base, 25% roasted malts, then adjusted for 15% oats. Slightly more hops from BC Goldings. The FG seems a little high though...



View attachment 110750

The site has the stats on the beer and it lists SRM at being 65. Playing around with the numbers in beersmith I had to use quite a bit of carafa and roast barley to hit that number.

jtejedor said:

The site has the stats on the beer and it lists SRM at being 65. Playing around with the numbers in beersmith I had to use quite a bit of carafa and roast barley to hit that number.

Click to expand...

That's funny because last night I hit an SRM of 60+ in BrewPal but backed the roasted malts out. I guess I missed that detail in my research although I'm sure I must have seen it the first couple of looks at the Firestone Walker site.

I will revise later this evening and post the revision. Is it okay to basically double the roasted malts? Won't carafa only contribute to head retention?

I see with the carafa now...

And... How about now?

Thanks for the assists with this one!

Update:

I brewed this up 2 weekends ago with mixed results. One batch finished about 1.054 and the next 1.082. No worries though! I also added 2/3 of a cup of Dutch cocoa powder at flameout to help balance the sweetness.

The small beer was at 1.010 after 5 days but a little green; it is quite a good stout with some coffee flavor. It will go to the keg this weekend.

The big beer will get aged and oaked.

Win-win!

Cheers,

-Will

having had this beer a few times, i can say it doesn't taste especially roasty. it's very silky - actually less roasty than i'd prefer. to get that SRM without reaching ashy levels i assume they used dehusked carafa.

Yeah, I enjoy roasty flavor a great deal. The roasty flavor tends to mellow with a couple of months of aging from what I have observed.

This made one heck of a stout!

Okay, seriously, the best stout I have ever tasted!!!

I aged this bad boy in a Woodinville Whiskey micro barrel that I previously had used to age some white dog. The barrel built up a perfect level of carbonation as I wrapped the barrel in Saran Wrap. It leaked a bit, but the cork really let off a pop when I opened it.

Subbing to this thread because I want to try this recipe.

I've got it on tap now and it is downright amazing!

Warranted, how did you add the chocolate? Did you use nibs in secondary or add it in during the boil or something else?

GoodDogBadDog said:

Warranted, how did you add the chocolate? Did you use nibs in secondary or add it in during the boil or something else?

Click to expand...

I have used the following method a number of times: add 3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder at flameout. My only complaint is that it makes the head kind of bubbly and dissipate quickly, I have supposed due to the addition of the cocoa oils. But it is worth it!

Ahh, I may substitute some cacao nibs in secondary and see how that turns out.

Have never done it, but should be really great!!!