Oatmeal stout recipe help

Hello,

I've purchased an oatmeal stout extract recipe kit from the local brewer supply place. I'd like to add enough oats to REALLY get a serious oatmeal flavor. Can someone please offer some advice on how I can do this with an extract process without ruining the batch. The local supplier can't offer any assistance with this and I don't have any all grain equipment.

Thank you

Some people say that you can steep flaked (aka instant) oatmeal like you would steep any other specialty grain. What they say is this will not add any fermentables to your wort, but will add to the mouthfeel/texture of your beer.

Im on the other side with others and say that oatmeal needs to be mashed to get anything besides wet, soggy oats. Its very easy tho. Instead of steeping your oats at 170 for 20-30 minutes, "mash" them at 154 for 60minutes, then sparge them by pouring 170deg water over them. then you continue on like normal. I should also add that they need to be mashed at 154 with another base malt like 2-row or pilsner, pound for pound. so 1lb oats mash with 1lb base malt.

Its very easy and will 100% guaranteed, no argument, impart oatmeal flavor and feel into your beer. 1lb/5gal batch is the high end ive seen (but i could be wrong on that)

there is also a sticky about partial mash brewing that is very informative.

good luck!

Toast the oats in the oven at 350F. Stir every few minutes until light golden color and it smells like cookies. +1 to Mewithstewpid's recommendation for a minimash.

Thank you guys. I'll give it a whirl. It's good to see other Oatmeal Stout lovers out there

I wish I had asked this very question before I brewed my oatmeal stout. I actually just opened the first bottle about 10 minutes ago! I did almost no research on the recipe, but ended up steeping 2lb of crushed flaked oats in with the other specialty grains. It ended up just making a big bag of oatmeal and not really giving the flavor/feel I was anticipating.

I'll try these techniques with the next batch though because experimenting is half the fun, right?

In the mean time, cheers!

Please read the sticky on partial mash. It is important to use the right amount of water for mashing (between 1 and 1.5 quarts per lb). Using too much water will make the mash thin and the enzymes will have difficulty connecting with the starches.