Stout not dark enough

Last weekend a friend and I brewed "Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout" out of the "Clone Brews" book by Szamatulski, and it just isn't dark enough! It looks more like a dark amber / light porter. Here is the recipe:

Steep at 150F for 20 minutes:

1/2 lb fresh roasted flaked oats
1/2 lb 55L crystal malt
1/2 lb chocolate malt
1/4 lb roasted barley

Sparge with 1/2 gal water at 150F.

Add 6 lbs light DME and 2 oz Kent Goldings, boil for 1 hour.
Last 10 minutes add irish moss.

Cool and pitch Wyeast 1084.

I'm about to transfer to the secondary fermenter (it's been a week and the krausen has fallen). The color still isn't right - is there anything I can add at this point?

What did I do wrong? I only poured the sparge water through the grain bag once - how many times is that usually done?

Thanks in advance.

For better or worse, I doctored up my stout after transferring to secondary.

Boiled 1/2 gal water for sanitation, then steeped 1/2 lb black patent and 1/2 lb chocolate malt for 30 minutes. Black black BLACK it was. Once I added it to the secondary the stout turned nice and black. We'll see if it stays that way or what color head I get.

There are two types of roasted barley. A 300 srm barley and a 500 srm barley. Maybe you accidently used the lighter version.

It would have gotten much darker as it cleared. An extra 1/2 lb of black patent means you now have liquid charcoal.

Never judge the color of a beer until it is in your glass when everything is done...beer looks totally different when you are looking at it in a bucket or through the glass of a carboy. Plus it has a long journey of clearing and conditioning to go thorugh, and that will alter the color.

After steeping the grains, did you boil?

AngryNerd said:

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1/2 lb fresh roasted flaked oats

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What was your roasting process for the oats? Did they come pre-roasted? That might be part of the "problem" (I put problem in quotes because the beer will change over time, and there might not be an actual problem.)

RDWHAHB.

Thanks all for the advice. Maybe I'll end up with charcoal from too much black malt, but I REALLY wanted a stout.

bsay said:

What was your roasting process for the oats?

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I bought 'flaked oats' from the LHBS, and roasted them on a sheet pan in a 400F oven for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The came out nice and brown, with a nutty smell. Next time I'm not paying brewstore prices though, since I have probably 40 lbs of rolled oats around the house.

GuitarBob said:

There are two types of roasted barley. A 300 srm barley and a 500 srm barley. Maybe you accidently used the lighter version.

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I have no idea which kind of roasted barley. Since I didn't want a full pound, the brew store owner just scooped a bit into the mill with the other grains from his hoppers in the back. I'll pay attention next time.

As for next time, I may just punch up the amount of roasted barley rather than do anything desperate like add to the secondary.

ChshreCat said:

After steeping the grains, did you boil?

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No, I boiled the starting water, cooled to ~150F, steeped, cooled, and added to the secondary. Why?

AngryNerd said:

Thanks all for the advice. Maybe I'll end up with charcoal from too much black malt, but I REALLY wanted a stout.


I bought 'flaked oats' from the LHBS, and roasted them on a sheet pan in a 400F oven for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The came out nice and brown, with a nutty smell. Next time I'm not paying brewstore prices though, since I have probably 40 lbs of rolled oats around the house.



I have no idea which kind of roasted barley. Since I didn't want a full pound, the brew store owner just scooped a bit into the mill with the other grains from his hoppers in the back. I'll pay attention next time.

As for next time, I may just punch up the amount of roasted barley rather than do anything desperate like add to the secondary.

Click to expand...

Careful with that, too much roasted barely won't taste very good. A 1/4 # is about the normal usage. Maybe do a darker Crystal instead of the 55L, like a 70 or 80. You can use a little bit of black patent also, but nowhere near as much as you did. Just the extra chocolate might have gotten you there.

AngryNerd said:

No, I boiled the starting water, cooled to ~150F, steeped, cooled, and added to the secondary. Why?

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Grain is full of nasties. You should have boiled after you steeped.

double_e5 said:

Grain is full of nasties. You should have boiled after you steeped.

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Or he could have pasteurized the grains with the water he had already boiled at a 170 degree steep if he didn't want to add the harshness that can come with boiling dark grains.