Imperial Oatmeal Stout...some recipe help?

[1971hemicuda]

So here's the deal. Originally I was going to do a Russian Imperial Stout aged in a whiskey barrel. I contacted a local micro-distillery here in Chicago and they had a few different types of barrels up for sale. I aquired an Oat Whiskey Barrel with a light toast, as opposed to a dark char. I picked up a bottle of the Oat Whiskey that was aged in the barrel and its very different than regular whiskey...it has a much smoother, nutty oaty quailty to it...and it got me thinking...it probably wouldn't blend well with a Russian Imperial Stout. However...what about an Imperial Oatmeal Stout? B.O.R.I.S. the Destroyer by Hoppin' Frog comes to mind...

However, i've never made an Imperial Oatmeal Stout...so, I figured I would run my grain bill by people. Its only for a 5 gallon batch, but me, and 3 other brewers are going to be collaberating in this and blending the same beer together to age in barrel for 6 months.

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.94 gal
Estimated OG: 1.098 SG
Estimated Color: 63.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 79.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 52.63 %
3.00 lb Oats, Malted (1.0 SRM) Grain 15.79 %
2.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
2.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 74.9 IBU
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 5.26 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 18.00 lb
----------------------------
Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Saccharification Add 26.00 qt of water and heat to 154.0F
10 min Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min 168.0F

Any suggestions, ideas...i would be very greatful! Anyone else attempted such a homebrewing feat?

 

[Oldsock]

Looks like a good recipe to me, although you are probably a bit heavier on the chocolate and oats than I would usually go (certainly not overboard though). The candi sugar should be a nice addition to add some flavor and help it dry out a bit, I'd go with dark candi syrup if you can get your hands on it (more flavor than the rocks).

It will be interesting to hear how the barrel works out, never had an oat based spirit. Hopefully you trust the other brewers to make clean beers, we had a 10% wee heavy go sour on us in a bourbon barrel (turned out remarkably well after we added some additional bugs, but certainly not what we were aiming for).

 

[the_bird]

Two pounds of chocolate, and a pound of roasted barley, in a five-gallon batch? Rule of thumb I've learned is that roasted malts in a big stout want to be just about 10% of the total grain, and you've at about 16%. Strikes me as a lot of oats, too, although I'm less concerned about that than all the dark malts. I know you're going to age it, so you can be a little on the aggressive side but that strikes me as too much.

 

[1971hemicuda]

And this is exactly why I decided to post it up! I think I'm going to tune down the dark malts a bit. 1lb of chocolate and 1/2lb of roasted.

As for the oats...the whiskey is pretty heavy on oat flavor...so I was definitely trying to go with that theme. Does it really make a difference if the oats are malted vs flaked? I haven't used oats in much at all

 

[boostsr20]

I think .75 Roasted and 1.5 of chocolate would be a good blend. If your going to age it it while, it will have plenty of time to smooth out. My last big stout had about 14% Roasted grains (6% Roasted barley) and it took about 2 months before it was really drinkable. I also agree with the oat. I would drop the malted oats altogether, go with 3lbs flaked oats and then bump up the base grain.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

And this is exactly why I decided to post it up! I think I'm going to tune down the dark malts a bit. 1lb of chocolate and 1/2lb of roasted.

As for the oats...the whiskey is pretty heavy on oat flavor...so I was definitely trying to go with that theme. Does it really make a difference if the oats are malted vs flaked? I haven't used oats in much at all

I'd be a bit concerned with conversion if all 5 lb were flaked oats because Maris Otter is relatively low on diastatic power for a base malt.

 

[1971hemicuda]

So, based on some really great suggestions...

Lowered the chocolate malt to 1lb
Lowered the roasted barley to .5lb
Reduced the Maris Otter to 10 lbs
Added 2.5 lbs of Pale Malt to make up for the Maris Otter

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.94 gal
Estimated OG: 1.100 SG
Estimated Color: 46.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 78.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 52.63 %
2.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 13.16 %
2.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
2.00 lb Oats, Malted (1.0 SRM) Grain 10.53 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5.26 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 2.63 %
2.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 73.9 IBU
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (5 min) Hops 4.4 IBU
1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 5.26 %
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [StartYeast-Ale

As an experiment...I believe that I'm going to find myself a BORIS the Crusher by Hoppin' Frog...and add a small amount of this Oat Whiskey to it, since its an Imperial Oatmeal Stout....then again I might just drink each individually because they are both delicious!