Oatmeal Stout Yooper's Oatmeal Stout

I ended up getting Mangrove Jack's M07 British Ale. The guy at my LHBS recommended it when they didn't have the 1335. He says he has used it successfully in an oatmeal stout.

Made this on 1/9 (15 days ago). Kegged it last weekend. It's already crystal clear and smooth drinking. Another week on the gas and it'll be ready for mass consumption.

I was worried this would be too roasty but it is really well balanced and little if any hints of coffee. This is totally a session stout. REALLY makes me wish i had a nitro tap.

I made the recipe verbatim except used Omega British Ale I yeast since my LHBS sells it and it was a reasonable substitution. Figured it was worth a shot.

Cold crashing now and will keg in the next couple of days. Had some S04 on hand so I went with it...fingers crossed. Anything I can add to the keg if I end up with the metallicy taste some have described? Vanilla? Bourbon? Coffee?

ampsman said:

Cold crashing now and will keg in the next couple of days. Had some S04 on hand so I went with it...fingers crossed. Anything I can add to the keg if I end up with the metallicy taste some have described? Vanilla? Bourbon? Coffee?

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I used S04 and didn't have any issues at all other than the keg is already empty.

mrgrimm101 said:

I will be brewing this tomorrow. I increased the base malt by a few pounds. I am doing this to add a little more alcohol, and because I don't have my all grain process down quite yet, so my efficiency is quite low..I'm figuring about 65%."

I'm sure there are answers in the 96 pages of this thread, but has anyone experimented with different yeast options? I'm sure S-04 will be fine, it's just that my spot for fermenting is about 66F-68F ambient, which can be a bit high for S-04. My other option is in my basement at about 60F ambient.

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I used WLP002 (English Ale Yeast) b/c my LHBS doesn't stock anything from Wyeast. I just bottled Saturday but it tasted pretty darn good warm and flat so I assuming it will come out all right with this yeast. I fermented at 65 in a ferm chamber.

ArthurDigbySellers said:

I used WLP002 (English Ale Yeast) b/c my LHBS doesn't stock anything from Wyeast. I just bottled Saturday but it tasted pretty darn good warm and flat so I assuming it will come out all right with this yeast. I fermented at 65 in a ferm chamber.

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I ended up getting Mangrove Jack's M07 British Ale. The guy at my LHBS recommended it when they didn't have the 1335. He says he has used it successfully in an oatmeal stout.

I've got two kegs of this going right now. One is just over 4 months old, only a couple of pints pulled from it. The other is getting carbed as we speak, about 3 weeks old.

Both have changes to turn them into what I call a mocha oatmeal stout: some lactose added to the boil, and about 16oz cold brew coffee and 3oz of a vodka/cacao nib/vanilla bean tincture added at kegging. The 4 month old keg also had bourbon soaked oak cubes in it for about 3 weeks.

Gotta stock up, it's Carnival Time!

pricelessbrewing said:

Disagree with everything here. There are plenty of brewers that grind very fine with no astringency, and pretty much all biabers squeeze their grain bag to do I'll effects. This is something that just doesn't happen. I've done both multiple times, and have never had any astringency issues nor have any of the homebrew club members who have tested it which includes several bjcp judges.

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I guess Papazian was wrong...I'll have to try it myself and see what happens. Cool to debunk old mths - thanks!

Adub71 said:

I guess Papazian was wrong...I'll have to try it myself and see what happens. Cool to debunk old mths - thanks!

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Yes, and no. It has to do more with pH than with the actual size of the crush. If you maintain an acceptable mash pH, you can grind to flour if you want, as long as you have no trouble with lautering.

Yooper said:

Yes, and no. It has to do more with pH than with the actual size of the crush. If you maintain an acceptable mash pH, you can grind to flour if you want, as long as you have no trouble with lautering.

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Darker grains lend themselves to a lower pH, so with a few lbs of rice hulls, I'm thinking flour may be the way to get maximum sugars into the wort....

I am having issues on both batches with mouth-feel, it seems rather watery and thin. ALL the numbers were spot on, the grains and adjuncts were just as the recipe stated and the temps/attenuation were spot on as well. Ideas?

You might be like me. I added back some of the stuff that Yooper took out.. she admitted she doesn't like Chocolate, so that malt is reduced, etc. Read the articles about it. In the end I decided to make a Yooper-ish like stout that is more like the stouts I made in the past. I will let you know in two weeks if it is good. It was good flat when I transferred it to a keg to prime and secondary (I usually prime my Stouts since they need to sit a couple of weeks more anyway)...

So maybe you will need to tailor the recipe to your tastes.. that is okay too. I think it's a tremendously solid base recipe obviously...

Firewalker11 said:

I am having issues on both batches with mouth-feel, it seems rather watery and thin. ALL the numbers were spot on, the grains and adjuncts were just as the recipe stated and the temps/attenuation were spot on as well. Ideas?

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How long has it been conditioning for? I'd age it for a while.

Seems to be a common theme with this recipe that aging is necessary. Just pulled my first fully carbonated glass yesterday, 19 days from grain, and it's perfect. In fact it's the quickest maturing batch I've ever made by a week.

Are all of you aging this thing practicing proper pitching and temp control processes?

I just brewed this last Saturday. I used the same recipe ( Except I forgot the flaked barley.) I also used Whitelabs English Ale Yeast with a good sized starter on a stir plate. Well, It did a large blow off fermentation that happened rapidly and about 4 days later there are zero bubbles coming out. I checked the OG and its at 1.020. I mashed at 152* for 60 minutes and fermented at 67* ( Now its sitting at 64* ). I was expecting a longer fermentation! I know it says in the original to keep it in the fermenter for 27 days, but should I just give it the 14 day mark and bottle to get it off the yeast cake now that it has evened out the FG? It tasted great!

Firewalker11 said:

I am having issues on both batches with mouth-feel, it seems rather watery and thin. ALL the numbers were spot on, the grains and adjuncts were just as the recipe stated and the temps/attenuation were spot on as well. Ideas?

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Maybe add more oats and or mash longer at a slightly higher temp?

Firewalker11 said:

I am having issues on both batches with mouth-feel, it seems rather watery and thin. ALL the numbers were spot on, the grains and adjuncts were just as the recipe stated and the temps/attenuation were spot on as well. Ideas?

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Did you check the mash pH? I'd go with a mash pH of 5.5-5.6. Also, are you mashing at 154+? Using the flaked barley? What about the yeast strain? I really like Denny's Favorite (Wyeast 1450) for this.

What did you carb to? Maybe it's too highly carbed?

Yooper said:

Did you check the mash pH? I'd go with a mash pH of 5.5-5.6. Also, are you mashing at 154+? Using the flaked barley? What about the yeast strain? I really like Denny's Favorite (Wyeast 1450) for this.

What did you carb to? Maybe it's too highly carbed?

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PH is 5.6, mash temperature was 155, yeast was S04 on the first and S05 on the second. Both used the flaked barley as well.

Both batches were naturally carbed and never left 7 psi until 14 days after fermentation stopped.

Yesterday I did my second batch of this recipe (4th brew overall). Bottled the first and racked onto the yeast cake.

The first batch I got to a SG of 1.040 and the new batch I managed to get 1.047. Must figure out why it comes in so low.

Now the wait to try the first batch!

I brewed this on Saturday. The only recipe changes were to increase the Maris Otter to about 11lbs and I used Mangrove Jack's M07 British Ale yeast. It was only my 2nd ever all grain batch, so my efficiency was quite low and I missed my target mash temp. After grains were added, the mash was at about 150F, so I am expecting it to be dry and a bit thin, but I'm still optimistic that it'll be delicious. My OG was around 1.065 The lag time was under 24 hours..everything looks great so far.

Trying to get this recipe done and drinkable by St Patrick day. Is three weeks of bottle conditioning unrealistic?

jlinz said:

Trying to get this recipe done and drinkable by St Patrick day. Is three weeks of bottle conditioning unrealistic?

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When I brewed this, it was VERY drinkable after 3 weeks. In fact the "carb check" at 10 days was pretty good, too!

I made it on Sunday and after racking onto the yeast cake it was busy fermenting when I checked on it 6 hours later. Today, 66 hours later, I took the gravity...it changed from 1,047 to 1,015.

The big surprise for me was the taste!! It was unbelievable, first time a hydro sample actually made me excited. Even if it doesn't improve from here I would be happy!

I'm concerned that I will find it difficult to make it to the 3 month mark. Luckily I have the first batch that I can try to use to get me through

Thanks Yooper for sharing your recipe...I might be the first one in Africa making it!

Mine flashed as well, I made a 1.5 liter starter and it went from 1.064 to 1.020 real fast and is holding there. Can't get it to go any lower.

Put this in the keg last night. It was in primary for 11 days. Fermentation was done in about 3 days with WY1335. OG 1.057. FG 1.020.

Smelled fantastic going into the keg.

Got the grains for this waiting, I'm adding 8oz of Simpsons Coffee Malt for a twist, and half of the batch will get whirpooled with PB2 powder.

PeteNMA said:

Got the grains for this waiting, I'm adding 8oz of Simpsons Coffee Malt for a twist, and half of the batch will get whirpooled with PB2 powder.

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You will love the coffee malt!

Yea, the guy at my LHBS did Coffee Malt rather than the pale chocolate. I'm hoping it was a good call

Just made a 2.5 gallon biab of this today. Mashed in too hot though--mid 60s for like 15 minutes. Nailed my preboil og, but forgot to take a post boil og! Tasted the wort and man it was bitter. Hope I didn't extract tannins. smelled good the whole time and I'm excited!

I got a score of 31 on my last batch at the Minnesota Mashout, Diacetyl and a "Grape Kool-Aid" aroma knocked me WAY down. The judges hints were to leave it on the yeast longer (I had hit my gravity so I racked to secondary (keg) which was a mistake) and use a higher temp for fermentation.

Feedback?

How did you ferment it?

PeteNMA said:

How did you ferment it?

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With little, tiny yeast cells...

This was the one that I used S04 for. Into a fermenting bucket then a keg for conditioning.

I find the yeast plays a more significant part in the flavor than one might think. Try Wyeast 1450 (Denny's Favorite 50), or Wyeast 1335 (British Ale 2). Both of those made this beer taste better IMO than the SO4.

I scored a 34.5 avg on this with the 1335. Not that it's any indication of the yeast necessarily. I also added cacao nib tincture and cold brew coffee to that one, so you really can't even call it the same beer.

MagicMatt said:

I find the yeast plays a more significant part in the flavor than one might think. Try Wyeast 1450 (Denny's Favorite 50), or Wyeast 1335 (British Ale 2). Both of those made this beer taste better IMO than the SO4.

I scored a 34.5 avg on this with the 1335. Not that it's any indication of the yeast necessarily. I also added cacao nib tincture and cold brew coffee to that one, so you really can't even call it the same beer.

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I hear you! I added coffee to my last batch and it stayed on the yeast longer too and I think its 100% better than the one I competed with but I wanted honest feedback and that is what I got. Now I know how to improve.

Is there a recommended carb level for this beer?

Smelled so good, decided to do another half batch yesterday. To brighten it up I used half US 2 row, cascades, and s-05. Excited to see the outcome.

Kegged the other day, couldn't resist a sample. Cold and flat, still tastes awesome. Can't wait for it to carb up and age a few more weeks. Nice amount of roasty flavor and silky smooth.

Tasted my first bottle during the Super Bowl last night. 2 weeks in the bottle and carbonation is great. Very small amount of head which was disappointing but it could have been my friend's glassware. It was very good! A little hint of roast and super creamy mouthfeel. I know it will get even better as it ages but this sneak peak has me wanting to crack a few more. I fermented with WLP002 and I think that yeast worked very well.

I am planning on bottling this weekend or next. That will give 2-3 weeks in primary. I used Mangrove Jack's M07 British Ale yeast, and seriously, this has been the most aggressive/active fermentation I've seen. The krausen stayed minimal, I didn't even need the blowoff. There was so much activity going on inside, it brought the temp up from about 66F to 72F, according to the fermometer. After about 4 days, the krausen dropped and everything slowed, it's at about 64-66F right now, so I'm assuming it's done. I just want to give it some extra time in primary.

Started this about an hour ago. Using 9 lbs of pale malt instead, and cascade instead of willamette, but otherwise everything will remain the same.

Whoops. Forgot to add the oats to the mash, so it looks like it'll just a be a regular old stout.

Edit: Hit the target gravity spot on with this, but my brewing app is making it look kind weird.