Oatmeal coffee milk stout- critiques please!

Hey all! I was hoping to get some feedback on my recipe for an over-the-top oatmeal coffee milk stout. My goal here is to make a sweet, chewy, smooth coffee stout. I have a high mash temp, lots of oats, some carapils for added chewiness, and a full pound of lactose. If I had a nitro setup, I'd probably serve with nitro. But I don't.

Think cappuccino!

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http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/39568/oatmeal-coffee-milk-stout

Title: Oatmeal Coffee Milk Stout

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: American Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6.5 gallons
Efficiency: 72% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.074
Final Gravity: 1.027
ABV (standard): 6.11%
IBU (tinseth): 33.61
SRM (morey): 40

FERMENTABLES:
9 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (61%)
1.5 lb - Flaked Oats (10.2%)
1.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 150L (8.5%)
1 lb - American - Chocolate (6.8%)
1 lb - Lactose (Milk Sugar) (6.8%)
0.5 lb - American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) (3.4%)
0.5 lb - American - Roasted Barley (3.4%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Bullion for 30 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 7.5, IBU: 18.87)
1 oz - Fuggles for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil (AA 4.5, IBU: 14.73)

MASH STEPS:
1) Infusion, Temp: 160 F, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Time: 30 min

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
Cold-brewed coffee (Secondary)

YEAST:
White Labs - British Ale Yeast WLP005

PICTURE:

I would be worried about this being too sweet. I did a milk stout following some of the same ideas you posted and it was just too sweet. I would cut the c120 in half, dump the carapils and mash at 156. Another possible idea is to add a bit of vanilla extract with the coffee to up the creamy flavor. Good luck and keep us updated!

ahurd110 said:

I would be worried about this being too sweet. I did a milk stout following some of the same ideas you posted and it was just too sweet. I would cut the c120 in half, dump the carapils and mash at 156. Another possible idea is to add a bit of vanilla extract with the coffee to up the creamy flavor. Good luck and keep us updated!

Click to expand...

+1

Though, if you want over-the-top, you have it.

I don't think C-150 is going to give you the flavors you want. Assuming you want broadly sweet and not burnt raisin sweet, I'd switch to something in the range of C-60. Otherwise, I think you have what you're going for.

Okay, taking this all in.

What about that yeast? Traditionally, a British Ale Yeast would work well for a stout. When I was at Whitelabs' tasting room, I noted that the British Ale Yeast was much fruitier than the usual California Ale (WLP001) yeast.

Do you think a "clean burning" ale yeast like WLP001 is better for this? The British Ale Yeast is also higher flocculating, but on something as dark as this, I guess I don't really care.

ahurd110 said:

I would be worried about this being too sweet. I did a milk stout following some of the same ideas you posted and it was just too sweet. I would cut the c120 in half, dump the carapils and mash at 156. Another possible idea is to add a bit of vanilla extract with the coffee to up the creamy flavor. Good luck and keep us updated!

Click to expand...

Vanilla bean is a great idea. I'll also consider lowering the mash temp.

Curious about the suggestion to cut the c120 in half. What is your thinking/reasoning behind that suggestion? Would that reduce sweetness?

jeremydgreat said:

Vanilla bean is a great idea. I'll also consider lowering the mash temp.

Curious about the suggestion to cut the c120 in half. What is your thinking/reasoning behind that suggestion? Would that reduce sweetness?

Click to expand...

Not to speak for kingwood, but in a way, yes. Basically, the crystal malts don't just vary in color from light to dark, but also in flavor, with the lighter ones more sugary-caramelly and the darker ones more dark, dried fruit (raisins, prunes,dates, figs, etc). The darker ones can also add a bit of burnt flavor...not like the roasted dark malts, but something more subtle. Maybe burnt isn't quite the right word...but not sure what else to use.

jeremydgreat said:

Vanilla bean is a great idea. I'll also consider lowering the mash temp.

Curious about the suggestion to cut the c120 in half. What is your thinking/reasoning behind that suggestion? Would that reduce sweetness?

Click to expand...

As others have stated, C120 to me adds a figgy, deep sweetness, like a heavy caramel. In a coffee/cappuccino stout this may not be a great flavor to have in heavy doses, though in smaller amounts it could help with the overall richness. It was a good idea earlier to maybe do a blend of crystals, such as .25 C120 and .5 C80 or something.

Another idea to consider is replacing the roasted barely with black barley. It is still a 500L roasted malt but comes across a little smoother with a coffee-type flavor and less roasty astringency

Interesting. Thanks for all the feedback!

1 lb of lactose seems a bit high to me; I'd stick with 0.5 lb.

I like the black barley suggestion.

First batch tasted good. This is a solid starting point.

Thoughts:

- Sugar is a little heavy handed. Going to reduce to .8lb lactose.
- More oats for creaminess and mouthfeel.
- More carapils. Since carapils is a type of crystal and I'm trying to reduce sweetness a bit, I ditched the 1lb C60.
- Increased the rice hulls a bit to help with mashing the oats.

Revisions:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/39568/oatmeal-coffee-milk-stout-v2