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TheHairyHop

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I've only got a few allgrains under my belt, so I definitely need some advice/input and overall knowledge thrown at me. I made this stout a few weeks ago:

Oatmeal Stout

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU*
4.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 1.9 %*
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 66.7 %*
2 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3 14.8 %*
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.4 %*
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 5.6 %*
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.7 %*
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 32.9 IBUs*

Mash @ 155 for 60 minutes

Beer Profile*
Est Original Gravity: 1.064*
Est Final Gravity: 1.018
Est Alcohol by Vol: 6.1 %
Bitterness: 32.9 IBUs*
Est Color: 36.7 SRM

I used a smack pack of Scottish Ale for it.

I'm not upset with the way it came out, but I'm not thrilled either. It seems to be lacking in malt flavor. It smells of roast and coffee, but the flavor doesn't back up the aroma. I think the oats are masking the specialty grain.

The head retention is adequate. There's always a small layer of bubbles at the top, but they never reached any sort of puffy, creamyness that I was hoping for. I didn't toast my oats, but I will next time.

My thoughts are that I need to cut the oats in half, toast them, and add more specialty malts such as Melanoidin, Aromatic, or more Caramel malt.

Any thoughts?
 
I like the idea of cutting oats by 1/2 and toasting them (mmmmmmmmmm...) and a grain for the head would be nice, maybe carapils?
 
I think it's too much chocolate and roast and not enough crystal. I also like to use marris otter for stouts (and other english styles). Some my favorite commercial stouts are made with Munton's marris otter - if you can get it, its worth it. I would not add melandoidin to a stout - that's usually for german styles to replace the decoction mash technique. Aromatic/Biscuit/Victory/Malted Oats/Brown malt/carastan/crystal all work well adding some distinction to the pale malt. Another thing is a little bit of roast goes a long way - 2 oz is usually enough for a 5 gallon batch. You can go higher but it can overwhelm everything else. Think 2 -4 oz of roast (black patent or roasted barley) and perhaps twice the amount of chocolate. My wife drinks imperial stouts so I always have to have on on tap. I think that the pale malt (marris otter) needs to be at least 80% or 85% of the grain bill. The combo of roast and chocolate should make up no more than 3%. The balance of the malt bill is where you add things like carastan/brown malt/oats/biscuit etc.

Another thing is head retention - unless your using nitro, I don't think you should worry about it too much. The style does fine with low carbonation and small head.

I also like to mash a bit lower (like 152) but I think it depends on your equipment.
 
I think it's too much chocolate and roast and not enough crystal. I also like to use marris otter for stouts (and other english styles). Some my favorite commercial stouts are made with Munton's marris otter - if you can get it, its worth it. I would not add melandoidin to a stout - that's usually for german styles to replace the decoction mash technique. Aromatic/Biscuit/Victory/Malted Oats/Brown malt/carastan/crystal all work well adding some distinction to the pale malt. Another thing is a little bit of roast goes a long way - 2 oz is usually enough for a 5 gallon batch. You can go higher but it can overwhelm everything else. Think 2 -4 oz of roast (black patent or roasted barley) and perhaps twice the amount of chocolate. My wife drinks imperial stouts so I always have to have on on tap. I think that the pale malt (marris otter) needs to be at least 80% or 85% of the grain bill. The combo of roast and chocolate should make up no more than 3%. The balance of the malt bill is where you add things like carastan/brown malt/oats/biscuit etc.

Another thing is head retention - unless your using nitro, I don't think you should worry about it too much. The style does fine with low carbonation and small head.

I also like to mash a bit lower (like 152) but I think it depends on your equipment.
Thanks for the tips. I'm pretty busy at the moment, but when free time hits me I'll draw up another one based on the input. :mug:
 
I would probably raise the base malt to around 75/80%. Marris Otter is a two row and matches the style a little better. I would probably make minor adjustments to your dark malts and adjust your base malt accordingly. Granted, I love me a full flavored stout!
 
It's hard to describe, but which malts give the head that nice copper color you see in some stouts? A dark, rusty copper is the best way I can put it. My head was mostly white-ish tan
 
Ok well if your making an oatmeal stout I think you should increase your roasted barley thats what a stouts all about with creaminess coming from the oats. Maybe you should think about changing your yeast strain also wlp002,wlp001 or similar products wyeast.

10lbs Pale malt
1lb Toasted Oats
1lb Roasted Barley
12oz chocolate malt
12oz crystal malt
Wlp002
Mash at 154

Ferment at 67 for 3 days and then raise to 70. You should probably age this beer for a month or so.
 
I definitely agree with a few of the above posts about Marris Otter. That, IMO, is a must. I brewed an imperial stout a few weeks back, and after two weeks in the primary, I took a sample and it was absolutely phenomenal. I used Dark Chocolate, Regular Chocolate, and Pale Chocolate along with Roasted Barley. The sample had a few bubbles on top and if that color is any indication of the color of the head, it is going to be the color a dark chocolate milk. Or if you can imagine the color of the bubbles on the top of coffee after you pour your cup, that is almost the exact color. Its gonna be amazing!

If you would like me to post my recipe, let me know.
 
Agree with a lot of suggestions above, especially the MO base malt.

I was just going to add that what you brewed will taste better given some age. Even my lower gravity Irish Dry Stout that just kicked tasted far better after it smoothed out in keg for a few weeks.
 
Beers with high gravity, or lots of dark grains age very well especially if they are dark and of high gravity :). Stouts and the like should always be aged so everything can blend together nicely.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll be sure to let you all know how the next batch comes out. The funny thing is, I was ready to start brewing some spring beers, but it started snowing again!
 
So, after this long wait I can confirm that the stout came out well. I used Scottish ale yeast and I don't regret it. It's taken a while for the beer to age out well, but it finally has. Next time I'll use less oatmeal and toast it, but I'm sipping on it right now and enjoying it thoroughly. Cheers
 
I agree, if you're using English yeast and English hops, you might as use Marris Otter too. It will be grainier and maltier.

I use 8oz Roasted Barley, 8oz Chocolate, & 12oz Special B.
 
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