The Oatmeal Java Stout

We started the Oatmeal Java Stout Saturday night. I've never used oatmeal before, and the steep and hot break were really amazing to watch. The smell was great too. I think it was our most professionally made batch so far.

One weird thing though. The way everything is settling in the carboy. I'm sure it's a natural occurrence, and I'm not worried at all, but I was wondering if someone could explain this. There's the krausen, which is fine, the dark body of the beer, the yeast sediment, but then, underneath that is like four inches of something else. It's brown, and the body is black, while the yeast sediment is sort of tan. I can't figure out what it could possibly be.

im not sure what it is, but the smae hing happened to my double nut brown i bottled last night. the oatmeal stout i made was similarily weird, it had chunks of stuff floating around on top the whole time. in any case, wheres the java come from...coffee malt, espresso....if you added coffee to the primary it might be that.

drengel said:

in any case, wheres the java come from...coffee malt, espresso....if you added coffee to the primary it might be that.

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I haven't added it yet. It'll either go in the secondary or just before bottling.

Oatmeal is just weird that way. It produces a gummy slime (a soluble dietary fiber) that eventually settles out.

rewster451 said:

W the steep and hot break were really amazing to watch.

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The hot break on mine reminded me of a marbled rye. The way the dark chocolate and patent malts mixed with the frothiness of the amber DME was amazing and hypnotizing. Like a lava-lamp that smells like hot beer.

Yeah, it was a friggin' cool batch to brew. The smell, the color changes, the froth... Hopefully the taste reflects all that.