Oatmeal raisin

Raisin oatmeal ale
Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer


Type: All Grain
Date: 9/19/2009
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
Grain
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 27.03 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 16.22 %
2.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.81 %
2.00 lb Toasted Oats (25.0 SRM) Grain 10.81 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 10.81 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 5.41 %
1.00 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.41 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.70 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.70 %
Hops
1.00 oz Northdown [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.9 IBU
Adjuncts
1.50 lb Invert Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 8.11 %
Misc
0.50 lb shredded Carmelized raisins (secondary)
1.00 tsp Nutmeg (Secondary 5.0 min)
1.00 tsp Powdered Cinnamon (Secondary 5.0 min)
Yeast
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (White Labs #WLP004) [Starter 1000 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.104 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.028 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 10.09 %
Bitterness: 17.9 IBU
Est Color: 32.0 SRM

I know the ingredient list is long, but I'll let my LHBS worry about that.

My thought behind this is a creamy spiced Christmas ale with some roasted/toasted dark grain flavors without them becoming too dominate. The caramelized raisin flavor are also expected to remain secondary to the creaminess and flavor from the oatmeal and wheat. The raisins will be caramelized via torch. The added sugar will likely be added during fermentation, and will inverted and in a water solution before added for the extra umpph without more maltiness or having to increase the grain bill

I suppose the overall sensation I'm seeking is that yum factor from hot chocolate or a raisin oatmeal cookie during winter time.

Any suggestions and/or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'll be brewing this Saturday.

Never heard of raisins being fermented... Why not just use copious amounts of Special B?

Ever try Judgement day or Lost and Found from Lost Abbey? Both beers use Raisins and I can't get over the taste it imparts; it's amazing. However, why not use both? I could add .25lb Special B to the recipe.

Don't forget Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre. I didn't care for it though as the raisins give it a winey flavor to me.

Raisins show up in wine recipes as well.

Brewster2256 said:

Ever try Judgement day or Lost and Found from Lost Abbey? Both beers use Raisins and I can't get over the taste it imparts; it's amazing. However, why not use both? I could add .25lb Special B to the recipe.

Click to expand...

No never tried those - I think I will keep an eye out though. I would love to taste a beer with raisins.

I don't really have anything to base this on, but I'm apprehensive about caramelizing the raisins. I could easily imagine burning them since they're so dry. Since one point of the beer is to get a raisin flavor, why alter the raisins going in?

If you want some caramelized sugar flavor, use caramelized sugar. Either buy some candi syrup, or caramelize sugar on your stovetop. It's pretty easy, and the intertoobs has plenty of directions.

And I agree that you should use some Special B in there for a raisin taste from the grain. Whenever I make a beer with honey as a significant ingredient (enough to put "Honey" in the title of the beer) I use a little honey malt, just to make sure it has that accent.

EDIT: Forgot to praise you on an awesome idea!

I do have some belgian candi sugar left over from my last batch of Strawberry dubbel, but the flavor I'm hoping to get from the raisins is from what I've tasted in Judgement day, which utilizes carmelizied raisins made via blow torch. Yes, I assume the process would be rather sensitive, so I'll stop by Lost Abbey (10min drive) and see if they have any good advice concerning the process.

I did something similar with a brown ale a few years back, with the additional addition of toasted walnuts in the mash. I didn't think it worked all that well (although some other people liked it), and the oils from the nuts killed the head retention (you better not be laughing).

This is a very different base beer, and without the walnuts you should end up with a better beer than I did. Good luck.