Grains that give a coffee flavor?

Im going to trying my first stout, an oatmeal stout, and I want to stay away from any grains thatll give a coffee flavor and and chocolate flavor. So my question is which grains do I need to avoid?

Any darker roasted grain with the husk is going to have the flavor. I guess if you wanted to avoid it, the carafa special would be your best bet, but even it will have some.

Not much of a stout without that, though.

So how do brewery's with milk and/or oatmeal stouts get a nice stout w/out any coffee flavor.

And Scimmia, good to see a fellow QC person on the forum. And a off topic question is there any homebrew clubs in the area, I just move up here and looking to join one.

milk stouts have lactose in them. lactose is unfermentable and contributes a sweetness. i don't know how you'll make a stout with roasted flavors in them, it's kind of what defines the style?

Ichthy said:

milk stouts have lactose in them. lactose is unfermentable and contributes a sweetness. i don't know how you'll make a stout with roasted flavors in them, it's kind of what defines the style?

Click to expand...

I understand that, all Im saying its there are plenty of stouts out there w/out a coffee flavor, which is what I want. And I dont know if its a certain roast or whatnot that adds that flavor.

Don't go too heavy on roasted barley then. I think chocolate malt gives a much smoother roasted flavor that doesn't taste like coffee or chocolate.

I made this beer and i don't think it is heavy on coffee or chocolate. Quite quaffable in my opinion.


================================================================================
Batch Size: 5.250 gal
Boil Size: 6.375 gal
Boil Time: 1.000 hr
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.009
ABV: 4.7%
Bitterness: 32.5 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 28 SRM (Morey)

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 7.000 lb Yes No 79% 2 L
Oats, Flaked Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 80% 1 L
Roasted Barley Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 55% 300 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 60% 350 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 74% 80 L
Total grain: 9.500 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus 13.2% 0.500 oz Boil 1.000 hr Pellet 23.5
Fuggles 5.1% 1.000 oz Boil 15.000 min Pellet 9.0

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
Danstar - Nottingham Ale Culture 1.000 qt Primary

Mash
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Target Time
Conversion Infusion 3.088 gal 152.000 F 1.000 hr
Batch Sparge Infusion 4.773 gal 168.200 F 15.000 min

Only change i would make is to use a less attenuative yeast like wyeast 1968.

I guess I can't think of any commercial stouts without that roasty flavor, except maybe Guiness. They do it simply by not using much of anything.

The homebrew club in the area is MUGZ www.mugzhomebrew.org. I've been meaning to get to one of the meetings for years now and never seem to make it when I'm thinking about it.

You could use debittered black malt. That's what they use in the cascadian porters to minimize the darker malt characteristics.

I am brewing my chocolate mint milk stout tonight, it has 1 lb of roasted barley, 4 oz of chocolate malt and 4 oz of debittered black, I love the debittered black, great flavor. were I wanting less coffee flavor I would back off on the roasted barley, and up the debittered to keep the roasty without a lot of coffee.

bh10 said:

I understand that, all Im saying its there are plenty of stouts out there w/out a coffee flavor, which is what I want. And I dont know if its a certain roast or whatnot that adds that flavor.

Click to expand...

I think the mis-communication here is what you mean by "coffee flavor". I think there is some acidity to it, but it is mostly (to my palette) roasty. When I make a sweet stout, I try to balance sweet, bitter, malty and roasty. As suggested above, to have less roasty, you will need to use less roasted barley, or substitute it for a dark grain that imparts color but not much flavor, like the debittered dark malt.

I have a sweet stout recipe in the recipe section that I think is well-balanced (again, to my tastes). Good luck!

Awesome thanks guys.