Pretty Basic Oatmeal Stout recipe w/Mini-Mash

Pretty new to this. Wondering your thoughts. I used Brewtarget because it is free. I plan to mini mash in a 2 gallon cooler. As I I am probably pushing the mini-mash bill by about .5 pounds. Several other brew sites have recommended balancing the total volume between the initial volume and the sparge so I may need to mash out in 2 stages to do that with such a small cooler. I ditched .5# of Crystal 80 to make room. Could I ditch the pale and still mash the other grains? I don't think they need to be mashed with a base malt in this instance.

Appreciate any adviceyou all may have. I really enjoy this whole new world of home brewing.

Olivenhain Oatmeal Stout - Oatmeal Stout
================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.500 gal
Boil Size: 3.500 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.059
FG: 1.020
ABV: 5.1%%
Bitterness: 27.9 IBUs (Rager)
Color: 51 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Molasses Sugar 4.000 oz No Yes 78%% 80 L
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 1.000 lb Yes No 79%% 2 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 1.000 lb Yes No 60%% 350 L
Oats, Flaked Grain 1.500 lb Yes No 80%% 1 L
Black (Patent) Malt Grain 1.000 lb Yes No 55%% 500 L
Rice Hulls Adjunct 16.000 oz No No 0%% 0 L
Liquid Extract (LME) - Amber Extract 6.000 lb No No 78%% 13 L
Total grain: 11.750 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 5.5%% 1.500 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 27.9

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP002 - English Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Conversion Step, 68C Infusion 1.406 gal 171.252 F 158.000 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 2.679 gal 172.732 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

There is no need to use 1lb of rice hulls in a mash that small. You could get away with 8oz and likely you could use none and still be fine. I made a stout that was 30% flaked barley with no rice hulls and my braided hose worked fine, no stuck sparge.

That also looks like a lot of black patent to me. If you are using it for just the color adjustment you can probably back that down but if you are going for the roasted notes then it might be ok.

Thanks. there's a new supply store near me.they just opened. If they don't have rice hulls I'll just skip that. I'll play around with the black patent. I thought it might be a lot but at least started the recipe with a higher percentage. I am using it more for color.

This is only my second recipe. I appreciate your reply.

So here are the changes I made. I upped to Pale 2 row, and balanced the Chocolate and Black Patent a little. My goal is to be a little on the sweeter side. Leaning more towards a Sweet Stout than a dry stout. I also intentionally avoided roasted Barley just to be classic non-irish.


Olivenhain Oatmeal Stout - Oatmeal Stout
================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.484 gal
Boil Size: 3.484 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.019
ABV: 4.7%%
Bitterness: 28.9 IBUs (Rager)
Color: 35 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
2% Molasses Sugar 4.000 oz No Yes 78%% 80 L
19% Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 79%% 2 L
7% Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 12.000 oz Yes No 60%% 350 L
14% Oats, Flaked Grain 1.500 lb Yes No 80%% 1 L
4% Black (Patent) Malt Grain 6.000 oz Yes No 55%% 500 L
5% Rice Hulls Adjunct 8.000 oz No No 0%% 0 L
48% Liquid Extract (LME) - Amber Extract 5.000 lb No No 78%% 13 L
Total grain: 10.375 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 5.5%% 1.500 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 28.9

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP002 - English Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Conversion Step, 68C Infusion 1.406 gal 171.252 F 158.000 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 2.679 gal 172.732 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

Final tweak. Also ran it by my LHBS. Only possible change I could think is lower the Black Patnet by 2 oz and increase the chocolate by 2, but I think since I am toasting the oats and mashing at a higher temp the black patent will balance the sweet.


Olivenhain Oatmeal Stout - Oatmeal Stout
================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.500 gal
Boil Size: 3.500 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.020
ABV: 5.0%%
Bitterness: 25.7 IBUs (Rager)
Color: 31 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Molasses Sugar 4.000 oz No Yes 78%% 80 L
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 2.000 lb Yes No 79%% 2 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 60%% 350 L (5% of grain bill)
Oats, Flaked Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 80%% 1 L
Black (Patent) Malt Grain 6.000 oz Yes No 55%% 500 L (4% of grain bill)
Liquid Extract (LME) - Amber Extract 6.000 lb No No 78%% 13 L
Total grain: 10.125 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 5.5%% 1.400 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 25.7

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP002 - English Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

Looks good. Will probably turn out quite tasty.

postal_penguin said:

Looks good. Will probably turn out quite tasty.

Click to expand...

If I decided to go all grain, in addition to upping the two row would I add some crystal 60 or 80 to make up for the amber in the lme?

I'm considering a two pot all grain brew because I'm already going to be using multiple puts for batch sparging water heating etc.

Well. Brewed after work tonight. Wow that was tiring. I've only doneone extract brew prior but did this mashing about 1/2 the grain bill in a 5 gallon cooler. My recipe approximated my OG at 1.058 at 70% efficiency. Measured at 1.062. If I'm correct that's about 75% efficiency? Is my math right?

I figure that's not bad for first time using Bag in cooler targeting equal runnings of mash runoff and sparge. I originally had a 3,5 gallon boil in the recipe but wound up with 4 because of the additional water to hit my strike temp of 155.

I suppose I could have decucted that volume from the sparge but Ii wanted as many fermentables as I could get and felt we could manage the 20 qt pot. Turns out we could no problem.

Will report back soon.

I plan on doing a half batch next Thursday. for 2.5 gallons I can mash my entire grain bill and full boil. I changed the 2-row to try Maris Otter. There's also the possibility I'll overshoot my recipe efficiency so I plan to check gravity before boil and adjust my hops accordingly.

Do I use half the yeast? Only 1 cup water for priming sugar?

here's my half batch recipe. The original turned out GREAT with the exception it was slightly overcarbonated.


Olivenhain Evening Oatmeal Stout All Grain Half Batch - Oatmeal Stout
================================================================================
Batch Size: 2.500 gal
Boil Size: 3.550 gal
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 70%%
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.019
ABV: 4.7%%
Bitterness: 28.1 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 31 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Molasses Sugar 1.800 oz No Yes 78%% 80 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 4.000 oz Yes No 60%% 350 L
Oats, Flaked Grain 8.500 oz Yes No 80%% 1 L
Black (Patent) Malt Grain 3.000 oz Yes No 55%% 500 L
Simpsons - Maris Otter Grain 4.250 lb Yes No 81%% 3 L
Total grain: 5.331 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Kent Goldings 6.1%% 0.650 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 28.1

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP002 - English Ale Yeast Ale Liquid 2.367 tbsp Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Dough In Infusion 2.479 gal 164.517 F 156.000 F 60.000 min
Final Batch Sparge Infusion 1.750 gal 190.000 F 165.200 F 15.000 min

I bottled my 2.5 gallon all-grain version last Wednesday. I subbed in Marris Otter in place of the 2-row. While bottling it smelled "rubbery." I also noticed today one bottle had a slightly loose cap so I dumped it. It smelled rubbery too. I don't think it fermented at too high a temp. At most it got to 74 3 weeks after initial fermentation but it sat between 68-70.

Do you think this will clean up? The sample tastes nothing like my original batch hydrometer sample but hopefully in a few weeks I'll have a good stout.