Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Stout

I am going to brew up a slight variation of this. I am going to cut back on the Crystal, and add 12 oz molasses. I had been toying around with the recipe in Beersmith for a couple weeks before I saw this one. It was pretty close to yours. After looking at a lot of recipes, I upped the oats, dropped the carapils, and upped the hops (mine are lower AA).

Report back on how it turns out and post the recipe if it's good.

Will do, brew day went well... Missed mash temp a couple degrees low, but hit 80% efficiency. 1.068 OG so maybe right before Christmas.

I Just started brewing a little while ago and I am looking to do a oatmeal stout. I really liked the recipe, but I am still only doing partial and not all-grain. Does anyone have any ideas for a conversion. I would greatly appreciate it.

Substitute the 9 lbs of 2 row with 5 lbs pale extract, and use 2 or 3 lbs of 2 row with the rest of the grain bill for your partial mash. Should get you pretty close.

I completely apologize. I meant just extract. I would like to do partial, but as of now I do not not have the means. Would it work if used the further supplemented the 2 row with pale extract, or are there any other limitations. I have heard that there are issue with steeping oatmeal.
P.S Thanks for you first suggestion though

Gotcha. Then make it 6 lbs of extract. Cook the oatmeal first and then steep it with the specialty grains.

I almost posted converting the recipe earlier, but I did not know if Oatmeal had to be mashed. I remember reading something, but not sure. Can you elaborate on what cooking the oatmeal does? Does it contribute sugar if you cook it?

This is what Palmer says about oats:

"Oats are available whole, steel-cut (i.e. grits), rolled, and flaked. Rolled and flaked oats have had their starches gelatinized (made soluble) by heat and pressure, and are most readily available as "Instant Oatmeal" in the grocery store. Whole oats and "Old Fashioned Rolled Oats" have not had the degree of gelatinization that Instant have had and must be cooked before adding to the mash. "Quick" oatmeal has had a degree of gelatinization but does benefit from being cooked before adding to the mash. Cook according to the directions on the box (but add more water) to ensure that the starches will be fully utilized. Use 0.5-1.5 lb. per 5 gal batch. Oats need to be mashed with barley malt (and its enzymes) for conversion."

So apparently you do need some barley for conversion. In that case, I'd add a lb or two of barley when you steep the grains, and use just enough water (at 155') to cover the grain bag (maybe 2 gals) - basically you're doing a partial mash here. Add the rest of the water when you're done steeping. You can be heating this to a boil in another pot while the grains are steeping (mashing) to avoid wasting time. Shouldn't be much more complicated than what you're used to. Hope that helps.

Thanks Lil Sparky, I made my batch all grain. I just put a bottle in the fridge for later. Should be about ready. I actually toasted the oats used in my recipe according to some directions I read on here somewhere.

I knew I read somewhere about Oats needing to be mashed, but I could not for the life of me remember where. I did not want to give Tyler John bad advice. I am glad someone with some knowledge (or at least the mental acuity to remember where they read something) posted.

Cheers.

Yeah, thanks. I didn't really know - had to look it up. Let us know how it turned out for you.

Thanks for the help. I have wanted to brew an oatmeal stout for a while now. I will let you all know how it turns out.

Lil' Sparky said:

Yeah, thanks. I didn't really know - had to look it up. Let us know how it turned out for you.

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I had one earlier tonight, it was still bit green, and I could taste just a hint of that strong smell from when I toasted the oats in the oven. I expected 'oatmeal cookie' not 'chemical fire'. I let them sit overnight in a brown paper bag, but wonder if 3 - 4 days wouldnt be better. Its very slight, but there. SWMBO said it tasted smooth and didnt notice the flavor I picked up on. The Molasses and roasted are nice though. If it gets better in a month, I will post the recipe.

Mm mm mmm!! I am becoming a big fan of your recipes, sir. I brewed this up in early October and started cracking open the bottles a few weeks ago and it is good! Smooth, light, excellent balance of hops. Very nicely done.

Don't drink them too fast. It'll continue to get better yet.

Oh, I know. I'll be putting a sixer aside for Feb or so. Another sixer is being gifted for our club holiday party this wknd. Then I'll be down to 3 sixers. I'll try to control myself.

I am brewing this tonight. Just the boil smells great, I love oatmeal! It's -7C outside though, so I'm freezing my a-ss off in the garage (that's about 19F for you yanks).

What has everyone found to be the optimum conditioning time for this beer? FYI,'m going to keg it.

Optimal? I'm guessing it's ~ 3-4 months after brew date, though it's drinkable before then.

Torturous.

i've got this in the keg now. i made a 6 gallon batch, with about 61% efficiency. I anticipated 65% so I upped the amount of everything, but kept the percentages the same. i used the Nottingham yeast

it's very hot and solventy with some pretty heavy esters. I am certain this is the fault of the brewer not the poster's recipe. I started fermenting at about 68F, then the weather got wonky around here and I had to move it. Anyway, it did a good portion of fermenting at above 72 which I'm pretty sure is the cause of those flaws.

it's only been a week though, so maybe it's something that will dissipate. We'll see!

Yeah, give it some more time. It'll get better.

Hey, I'm looking to try a 2.5 gallon extract batch of this. Based on what I've read in this thread I've come up with this...what do you think? I have a 1/2 oz of Magnum and 3/4 oz of Perle left from my SNPA clone so I'm substitution the Magnum for what you called for. As far as yeast goes, the SNPA I'm brewing right now is fermenting with Wyeast #1056. The product sheet says it's suitable for American and Dry Stouts. I intend to do a "yeast wash" and then a starter, I know it may not be ideal but should I have any major issues with using this yeast?

Thanks.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Size: 2.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 40.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 34.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: - %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.50 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 30.0 %
1.50 lb Dark Dry Extract (17.5 SRM) Dry Extract 30.0 %
0.75 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 15.0 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 10.0 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5.0 %
0.30 oz Magnum [14.00%] (60 min) Hops 34.6 IBU
2.50 gal Bottled Water Water
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter Yeast-Ale

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From what I've read, you can't use oats with just specialty grains. You need to mash at least SOME base grain that has enzymes to do the conversion. I don't think the chocolate, caramel, and crystal malts have any enzymes. Do a little research on partial mash techniques and see if that's something you'd like to do. Shouldn't take much/any extra equipment for a small batch, so you'd basically just be adding a little 2-row to your grains, and mashing, not steeping. I've never done any extract or partial mash brews, so that's about all I can tell you without running the risk of lying or giving you bad info.

Ok, I'll check it out. Thanks.

I have a question about the 110 degree F Beta Glucan rest and the 'typical' 122 degree F protien rest. If you do the Beta Glucan rest do you also do the 'regular' 122 degree protien rest? My tentative recipe only uses 1/2# of flaked oats so it may not be necessary but whatever.

Here's my tentative grain bill...look OK?:
8# Maris Otter Pale
1# British Roasted Barley
1# British Crystal 40LV
1/2# Flaked Barley
1/2# Flaked Oats
A tiny bit of brown sugar just cuz I put brown sugar on my oatmeal.

I had planned on a 20 min. Beta Glucan rest at 110 degrees F and then up to 155 degrees F or so for the remainder. Any help appreciated.

well you're right; neither are really necessary at all.

But, they both serve different purposes (beta glucanase to break down gums, and protein rest (protease) to reduce chill haze), so depending on what you want to achieve you could certainly do both. I don't believe it could hurt.

I know for me 2 infusions would be a pain in the ass! So unless it was going to make a noticeably better product I don't think I'd do either, definitely not both. But I've never tried.

Thanks noeldundas. I decided to change my recipe to 1# of Flaked Oats and no Flaked Barley. I thought the oils in the Oats would inhibit head retention (thus the Flaked Barley...plus it's an appropriate ingredient for Stout) but upon further reading I guess that's not the case...supposedly the Oats will aid in head retention so I subbed another 1/2# of Oats for the Flaked Barley. But I think I'm gonna make it a 6 gal. batch which should put me @ ~1.051 OG (including the tiny bit of Molasses...which I subbed for the Brown Sugar).

Alright, I think I'm going to try this as an All Grain for my second batch, but I will probably buy some Dark DME just in-case I miss my OG. How does this look? I entered 70% efficiency, is this reasonable to expect for my first try?

Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Size: 2.86 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 30.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 69.57 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 13.04 %
0.50 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.60 oz Pearle [8.00 %] (60 min) Hops 33.2 IBU
2.50 gal Deer Park (R), Bottled Water Water
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter Yeast-Ale

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Looks good. 70% should be close for your first AG (and maybe every one after that, too).

Great, this one is going to be a lot of firsts for me so we'll see how it goes. I'll report back

As mentioned in an earlier post, I gifted a sixer of this to our club's holiday party. Here's what was said:
"The beer gift I picked up at the holiday party was a homebrewed oatmeal stout made by Jason and it was really good (even my wife liked it). I would have thanked Jason privately, but I'm having problems getting onto the MHTG website to search for his e-mail address so I thought I'd do it publicly. Really good beer, Jason. I'm glad I picked your gift bag."

Aww. Also, I'm submitting two of my last five bottles of this to the Babble Brew-Off competition in Mundelein, IL. I'll post results when I get 'em.

I ended up with Crystal 80L instead of 40L, so I'm going for a 1/2LB of that instead of 3/4lb of 40L. As for the hops, I really don't have a way of measuring. Last time I took ~1/4 of an ounce of the Pearl by eye. So I have something like 3/4 of an ounce left. Will I be tasting too much hops if I put all of that in? This comes out to about 40IBU on BrewSmith.

Well I accidentally used a pound of 80L, so it may turn out a bit more caramely than intended. Ended up @ 1.051 ~60% efficiency, bubbling already. I'll report back in like 2 months.

Yeah, report back with the results of your modifications!

This recipe got me second place is the stout category at the Babble Brew-Off on 2/28/09. One minor modification, I used 1 oz each of Goldings and Fuggles because I only had the one ounce of EKG on hand. Scored a 36, all three judges really liked, and they all said it needed a little more hop aroma (fwiw).

SWEET!!! Way to go!

...and they all said it needed a little more hop aroma (fwiw).

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In an Oatmeal Stout?

Yup, but that's what they said. Screw that, though, it's an awesome brew.

Just made this tonight but used WL004. I undershot my gravity a bit and had a post boil of 1.052 and used cascade as my bittering hops.

Just wanted to post and update and let you know this stout is really good, not as creamy as I would have thought but for my first stout this really turned out to be a great beer. Thanks for the recipe Sparky.