Please critique this Oatmeal Stout recipe

All,
I've been brewing with extract and specialty grains for a number of years now, and I'm finally deciding to try a partial mash. I'm planning to make a 3 gallon batch of oatmeal stout and, after reading a number of different recipes, pulled this together:

4# Light Liquid Malt Extract
3/4# Oatmeal (Instant)
1.25# Two-Row English Pale Malt
1# Crystal 120L
10oz Roasted Barley
6oz Black Patent

Hops:
1.25oz Northern Brewer (Boil)
1oz Goldings (last 10min)

White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

What do you think? In the past I've brewed using dark LME and I'm a bit worried about getting it dark enough since I'll be starting with the light LME. But, I don't want to overdo it either.

As for the partial mash, I'm planning on mashing the 2# of oatmeal and two-row in 2.5 quarts at as close to 152 degrees as I can get. Then I'll sparge with another 2.5-3 quarts at 170 degrees. One question here: does it make sense to mash the specialty grains along with the oatmeal, or is it best to steep them as usual?

I think I have a handle on the doing the partial mash from the various threads I've read here. Any suggestions, tips, or recipe changes you'd suggest before I go for it?

Thanks!

It looks great. My only suggestion is to pull back the amount of roasted barley a bit. My 6 gallon batch used 12 oz of it and it is pretty pronounced.

You might consider omitting the 10 minute hop addition, this style really shouldnt have much in the way of hop flavor or aroma.

I also agree with Germelli1 on backing off the roasted barley. I use 1 lb in a 12 gallon batch (along with 1.75 lbs chocolate and 1.5 lbs crystal 120) and it comes out quite roasty.

I wonder if the black patent is necessary. The brew will already be plenty dark, and you will get the roast character from the roasted barley. Maybe you should use Chocolate instead, and pull back the roasted barley a bit. So, 8 oz each of Chocolate and roasted.

for my oatmeal stout (5.5gal), I use only 8 oz of roasted barley and no black patent. I also toss in 12 oz of chocolate malt.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will pull back on the roasted barley and black patent, and I like the idea of adding in the chocolate malt. I'm toying with the idea of 6oz roasted barley, 6-8oz chocolate, and maybe leaving 2-4oz black patent. The base recipe I started with called for quite a bit of the black patent, and I recall liking that recipe last time I brewed it. (1998!)

I don't like Black Patent in Stout of any kind. I think it's too burnt, phenolic and astringent. I do like a combination of Chocolate Malt and Roasted Barley.

I also strongly encourage you to either cut or severely curtail your Crystal malt proportion, for two reasons. First, I don't think it's necessary in Oatmeal Stout; let the oats take center stage. Second, 120L Crystal is potent. I don't think it's wise to exceed 4-6 ounces in five gallons, regardless of the rest of the grist. I recommend omitting it and substituting a like amount of pale malt.

I second the notion of deleting the flavor hops addition. I find such an addition inappropriate for Dry Irish or Oatmeal Stout. Let the bitterness come from a combination of roasted grains and hops, and let the flavors be those of the roasted grains and oats.

Irish Ale is a good yeast for this style.

Good luck!

Bob

I second the comment on omitting the c-120.

I also use generous quantities of roasted barley in my stouts and after a few months of aging, they come out very nice. Black patent isn't necessary.

TB

I have a similar thread I just started so I am paying a lot of attention to yours. I don't want to highjack, so in terms of your recipe, does anyone have a concern with the 3/4# oats to 1.25# 2 row? Specifically, will there be enough enzymes for a 60 min single mash? (I am assuming your time as it was not specified)

To try and help with one of your questions, I am just throwing the specialty grains in with the mash for ease. Either will work based on my research.

Thanks - I was also having second thoughts on the crystal this afternoon. I think I was mainly worried about color. It seems that a mix of 6-7oz roasted barley and 8 chocolate malt should get the color about right for 3 gallons. I'll play more with color estimates to see what comes out.

I am planning on a single 60 min mash. From what I've been reading, it sounds like that will be enough, although it might be on the low-side.

Just to offer the counterpoint, I like some crystal in my oatmeal stout. The sweetness and caramel flavor is a nice addition to the roast and chocolate/coffee flavors.

heywolfie1015 said:

Just to offer the counterpoint, I like some crystal in my oatmeal stout. The sweetness and caramel flavor is a nice addition to the roast and chocolate/coffee flavors.

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I've put some crystal in some of my stouts before, too, and with good results. There's nothing wrong with putting some crystal in stouts as long as it's what you want. However, a pound of c-120 is a bit much for a stout. I've put a quarter pound of c-40 in some stouts before and that rounded it out nicely if I'm going for a sweet stout. With my Irish stouts, I omit the crystal/caramel malt altogether. Bottom line - it depends on what you're going for, and brew what you like! That's part of the beauty of homebrewing, right?

TB

Agreed, especially for a 3-gallon batch. My oatmeal stout recipe is for 5 gallons and uses 11 oz of Simpson's Medium Crystal (50-60L).