Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Stout

This is a simple, but great oatmeal stout recipe. One of my favorites!

Beer Profile
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Color: 27.4 SRM (22.0-45.0 SRM) [Color]
Bitterness: 30.0 IBU (25.0-45.0 IBU)
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.7 %
Actual Calories: 215 cal/pint

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM) Grain 72.0 %
1.50 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 12.0 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 8.0 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.0 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4.0 %
1.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [6.20%] (60 min) Hops 30.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Mash Profile
Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Mash Grain Weight: 12.50 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 4.74 gal

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 15.00 qt of water at 165.3 F 153.0 F 30 min

SOUNDS GOOD! Mine was brewed in early Feb... gets better all the time.

30 minute mash? Is that right?

Beerrific said:

30 minute mash? Is that right?

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Yes, I've rarely had to mash longer than that.

Wouldn't it be more economical to use less grain and mash longer? I really don't know, I have done one mini-mash soon to all grain. . .still learning here. Then again, probably just a couple dollars.

With the flaked oats, you may really want to do a rest at about 122... or, you may have some real issues with the sparge.

How long should the rest at 122 be? I'm doing an Oatmeal Stout this weekend and would like to have it go a little better than my Hefe experience last weekend. Also, what would be a good water to grain ratio be for the mash? Since I am mashing in a cooler I'll probably be doing a decoction mash to do my mash rests.

I did my Oatmeal Stout in a cooler, with multiple infusions, it was easier than decocting... Rest at 122F for 20 minutes, I used .9qt/lb with 12 lbs of grain, then I added another 8qt of boiling water to rest it at 153F for an hour, then mashed out with 9qt of boiling water. I never had a stuck mash, it went really well, 79%eff and 75% attenuation, 6% ABV.

I don't know if a multi-rest mash schedule is necessary. I didn't do one last time, had no problems w/ the sparge and got my typical efficiency. I may try it when I brew this again in a few days and see if it makes any difference. Now that I've got a direct-fire MLT, step mashes are easy.

Beerrific said:

Wouldn't it be more economical to use less grain and mash longer? I really don't know, I have done one mini-mash soon to all grain. . .still learning here. Then again, probably just a couple dollars.

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If the starches are converted (and you can verify this w/ iodine tincture) then there's no point in mashing any longer. With most grains we use today, 30 mins has been plenty, although I have had to go longer on occasion.

Is a 30 minute mash pretty standard for a beer this heavy? I was planning on doing an hour long mash on Saturday as I did with my Hefe last weekend. If it's not needed then I guess I can save myself 30 minutes.

I have been trying to sparge 7 gallons to boil down to 5.5 so after secondary I actually end up with 5 gallons to bottle.

It really doesn't matter how big the grain bill is. Once the conversion is done (usually within 30 mins) then you can begin your sparge.

Collecting 7 gals pre-boil is about right if you want 5 gals to bottle.

The only reason that I step mash is because of the oatmeal... it is supposed to break down the gums so that you can have an easier sparge... I step mash almost everyhting that I brew.

Pol, what temp do you protein rest for the oatmeal?

BTW - the following quote is from John Palmer. Since the oatmeal is < 25%, I wonder if it's a good thing. Maybe it would be better to cook the oatmeal separately and then add it to the mash. If I do a protein rest, I think I'll make it a short one.

The typical Protein Rest at 120 - 130&#176;F is used to break up proteins which might otherwise cause chill haze and can improve the head retention. This rest should only be used when using moderately-modified malts, or when using fully modified malts with a large proportion (>25%) of unmalted grain, e.g. flaked barley, wheat, rye, or oatmeal. Using this rest in a mash consisting mainly of fully modified malts would break up the proteins responsible for body and head retention and result in a thin, watery beer. The standard time for a protein rest is 20 - 30 minutes.

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Well after dough in I hit 156*F but I'm stirring every 15 minutes so I think I'll end up around where I want to be. Hopefully I'll get a better efficiency this time around. My round Igloo holds temps pretty well...especially when I preheat with boiling water.


EDIT: Pre-boil Gravity= 1.035 so I missed my target by .005. I'm getting near the end of the boil now.

I protien rest at 122F... for about 20 minutes... as my wife rolls her eyes sitting next to me in bed LOL

The Pol said:

... as my wife rolls her eyes sitting next to me in bed LOL

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Of course.

Looks like Palmer also states that for Oatmeal, a rest between 98-113F will help break down the gums without afecting the other protiens in the mash...

At first, I thought that I was going to experience a stuck sparge especially since I did a single step mash and I had a little bit of trouble trying to vorlauf but after a couple tries it ran smoothly. I think it was more of a siphon thing than a gummy oatmeal thing.

The Pol said:

I did my Oatmeal Stout in a cooler, with multiple infusions, it was easier than decocting... Rest at 122F for 20 minutes, I used .9qt/lb with 12 lbs of grain, then I added another 8qt of boiling water to rest it at 153F for an hour, then mashed out with 9qt of boiling water. I never had a stuck mash, it went really well, 79%eff and 75% attenuation, 6% ABV.

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I was looking at your recipe, I am putting one togther, trying to work out the mash/sparge volumes to keep the boil volume reasonable for my 30 qt pot. What volume did you sparge with? Why use 7lbs MO and the 2lb 2-row? Why not 9lb MO?

I never track my sparge volume... I run it off until I get 7 gallons, OR until I am down to 1.010 SG... as for my recipe, it is because you read it incorrectly. I used 2 lbs of 6-row... this is because there are more husks in the 6-row than in regular 2-row pale malts, which in turn gave me a better filter bed, like using rice hulls, but you actually get some SG points from the 6-row at least. I used the step mash, 6-row and a hot sparge to keep my false bottom from gumming up. Worked well.

Pol

The Pol said:

I never track my sparge volume... I run it off until I get 7 gallons, OR until I am down to 1.010 SG... as for my recipe, it is because you read it incorrectly. I used 2 lbs of 6-row... this is because there are more husks in the 6-row than in regular 2-row pale malts, which in turn gave me a better filter bed, like using rice hulls, but you actually get some SG points from the 6-row at least. I used the step mash, 6-row and a hot sparge to keep my false bottom from gumming up. Worked well.

Pol

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yeah sorry I realized I read it wrong but I still didn't know so I didn't change it I guess both my questions were based on the fact that I am planning on batch sparging. Makes sense now.

Help me here..... I pitched my yeast starter into my Oatmeal Stout at about 9p.m. on Saturday. By Sunday morning I had pretty substantial airlock activity. Today when I checked it, the airlock had slowed very substantially. When I was filling the the carboy off the brewpot I stopped about half way through and shook for aeration so that shouldn't be a problem. Also, after I pitched the yeast on top I swirled the carboy enough to give it a good mix. If I don't see any more activity should I try and shake it up some more to get the yeast back into suspension?

I also didn't get a real heavy layer of krausen on this batch...well, not like I have seen in some of the pictures on here. My efficiency was about 75% so fermentables I don't think would be an issue either. Any advice wll help....

Did you take a hydrometer reading? It's probably done.

I'm going to this evening. I hope by not seeing anymore airlock activity that's what that means. Hopefully I'll have a pretty good attentuation %. I'm going to leave it in primary for about 7 more days anyway just to let it settle and then I'll siphone to secondary.

Many times I see very little krausen... then my heffe blows up... it happens. That seems really fast for your stout to finish... but, odder things have happened. Dont be mistaken, you can have awesome efficiency and few fermentables, it all depends on the temperature of the mash. I digress... leave it for a week, check the gravity, then go from there.

Pol

I checked it tonight and its down from 1.045 to 1.020 which is about 55% attenuation. I'm going to let it sit for a few more days and see if it gets a little better. I'm hoping to reach about 65% before its officially done. If I don't see any improvement what can I do to help it along?

I mashed in at 156*F and got it down to 153*F for the last 30 minutes or so. I tried to do a mashout at 170 but could only get it up about 165 for 10 minutes before starting the sparge which I did have at 170 fly sparging. I don't think any of those temps hurt my fermentables but what do I know?....I'm a newb haha

I would forget about it for another week or two, and then check it again when you transfer to secondary. The SG may not drop too much since your mash temps were OK, but on the high end. What kind of yeast did you use?

It was Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale Yeast. I made a starter from Breiss Dark DME two days before. My fermenation temps have been kept constant at 62*F the whole time. I don't have a stir plate but I did let it ferment out and then gave the starter a good swirl before pitching in to the carboy.

Here's a pic of the 10 gals Reid S. and I did yesterday. They're bubbling away nicely now.

Well, I just opened my first bottle of the Oatmeal Stout last night and I'm not quite sure I can describe the taste. It was in primary for 7 days, in the secondary for 4 weeks and in the bottles for two. It has carbonated nicely but as my wife described it..."it tastes burnt." I would say almost like burnt black coffee. It's drinkable and I like it okay but I'm hoping a couple more weeks in the bottle will let it mellow out some. I'm getting a sharp bitterness kind of in the back of my mouth that hangs around for quite awhile. Any ideas?

Sounds like the roasted malt, but I wouldn't describe mine quite like that. I brewed my last batch of this less a few days after you and it tastes great. I kegged it and it's been conditioning for several weeks now.

Hopefully your off taste will mellow with a little more time.

I hate to ask, but you have had a stout before and know what it's supposed to taste like, right? It really is supposed to have a roasted coffee-ish taste.

The other thing I wonder about are the ingredients. Are you sure about the amount of roasted barley you got? The more you use, the more of that sharp, burnt flavor your beer will have. A lot of people use more than 1/2 lb in their stouts, but I don't really care for that much.

From AHS:

Roasted barley provides the color and rich, sharp flavor that is characteristic of stouts. It has an intense bitter and dry flavor, with slight hints of coffee. Roasted barley contributes a dryness to a stout or porter. It is not interchangeable with Black Patent. Black Patent may be used in conjunction with roasted barley to achieve the desired color. Grain bill percentages are 3-7% for a dry porter, and 5-15% for a dry stout.

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Thought I might try this for my first partial mash.

Do you cook the oatmeal first or just through it in the mash?

Cheers.

dg.

I've never cooked it and it's always turned out fine, although I'm sure cooking it wouldn't hurt it.

Cool, thanks.

I'll just through it in the mash then, no point cooking it if it comes out fine.

Cheers.

I'm familiar with stouts little and the hard coffee-ish flavors. This is just a little more bitter than I generally like. I have had two other people try it and really like it saying that it doesn't even taste like a homebrew (whatever that's supposed to mean). One other person said that it had a sort of medicinal taste which I was getting too...phenols I think but I don't use chlorine based sanitizers like bleach. I did use one-step on my bottles but used Iodophor in the carboys.

Off-topic a little but how important is rinsing Iodophor thoroughly? I only add about a cap full to a few gallons in the carboy and haven't had an infection but I worry about poisoning myself with the stuff. I rinse but does is really matter with that little used?

CollinsBrew said:

Off-topic a little but how important is rinsing Iodophor thoroughly? I only add about a cap full to a few gallons in the carboy and haven't had an infection but I worry about poisoning myself with the stuff. I rinse but does is really matter with that little used?

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Iodophor is a no rinse sanitizer. You should not rinse, that water could introduce nasties. Once you 'rinse' it off with the wort, beer, whatever it is at a concentration that will not hurt your good yeast or you.

Dip, spray the iodophor on the object and let it dry, it needs a contact time of 1 minute, but does not have to be submerged for that minute.

For 12.5ppm use 0.1 oz in 1 gallon, actually I use 3 ml in 1 gallon since I have a 3 ml syringe.

Well, I cracked open another one of my stouts a week later from the last time I tried one and the taste has vastly improved!! It's really smooth and the harsh tastes have leveled out quite a bit. I'm realizing how time is my best ally here...sweet!

Hey, good to hear! It should still improve over the next few weeks.