Oatmeal Stout- All Grain

This one is for the holidays. I attempted a 2.5 gallon batch but due to my gravity I went for a 3 gallon batch and threw in some additional centennial hops at 15 minutes.

Ingredients (3 gallons)

4.0 lb Pale Millet Malt
1.0 lb Rolled Toasted Oats- GF (toasted in oven for ~1 hour. Brown paper bag for 2 weeks)
1.0 lb Medium Roast Millet
1.0 lb Buckwheat Malt
0.75 lb Light Roasted Millet Malt
0.5 lb Belgian Candi Syrup – Dark
0.5 lb Dark Roast Millet
0.38 lb Crystal Malt Millet
0.19 lb Vienna Malt

0.75 oz Fuggle 60 min
0.25 oz Centennial 15 min
0.25 oz Fuggle 15 min

1 Whirlfloc Tablet 15 min

1 packet Nottingham Ale Yeast

Mash
158 deg 2 hours with 4 tsp diatase
Cooked oats as directed. Added to mash after 30 minutes (forgot to do it sooner)

OG: 1.06
Calculated efficiency 65%

Taste:
Roasty chocolate notes. Medium bitter both from grains and hops.

Notes:
I’m going to add homemade vanilla extract (vanilla bean soaked in vodka) at bottling. Smooth brew day.

Nice!

That's a real interesting grain bill, well done.

Tell me about how you prep your oats, if you will.

I have been toasting for about 15 mins, turning constantly so that they are light brown all over. Usually do this the night before to save time on brew day. Would be interested to hear what the longer toasting brings to the table and what "brown paper bag for 2 weeks" adds as well.

I have been very happy with my oatmeal stout (I use roast wheat instead of roast barley) but always good to learn new tricks.

For the oats, I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats. I took 1 lb and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. From there, I toasted them in the oven at 300 deg for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. I toasted them until I had the classic nutty, oatmeal cookie aroma. They were a light golden brown.

As to the brown paper bag for 2 weeks, I had some lead up time to the brew. I've read mixed reviews on toasting oats the night before/ day of. Some recommend "degassing" or "wafting" in a brown paper bag for a week or two. I was hedging my bets and figured it wouldn't hurt.

The time competent is variable since the end goal are a light brown oats, which it sounds like you have. How much are you toasting at once? That could be the difference in time. Also, you could be going at it hotter.Since the line between golden brown and black is thin, I like the lower heat approach.

I brew 1 gallon batches so 10% oats in my grain bill is about 4oz. Guessing your layer of oats on the oven tray is a lot thicker than mine so that would explain the time difference to get the same golden toasted color.

Will try the paper bag thing. Makes no difference to me if I toast the night before or a couple of weeks early. Thanks.

Update: Bottled this over the weekend. 1.014 FG. It tasted delicious. The roasted grains showed through and gave it chocolate-y notes. The oatmeal lent a smooth texture. The hops were spot on, i.e. they were subtlety bitter.