Just tapped my Oatmeal Cream Stout - Recipe Inside

Whoa! Tastes even better than I expected. So smooth, so creamy, so sweet.

I recently made a road trip with the family up to America's Brewpub in Aurora, Illinois. (BTW, this place is also home to the Walter Payton museum). Anyway, they had on a "Sweetness Stout." Chicago Bears fans (or anyone who has ever watched a down of football) will get the reference. After drinking it, I set my mind to doing a milk stout upon returning home.

I decided to add a bit of oatmeal as well - hence, Oatmeal Cream Stout.

Here is the only problem - one of my good buddies is a Bears fan (note - I am a Packers fan). I was so confident that the Bears would lose vs. the Saints that I told him if they won, I would name the beer "Sweetness Stout" on my own kegerator chalkboard. Well, now they've won. I love this beer too much to name it in honor of the Bears.

Oh well . . . I guess a bet is a bet. Anyway, here is the recipe if any are interested.

9 lbs. 2-Row
.50 lbs. Crystal 40L
.50 lbs. Crystal 60L
.50 lbs Chocolate Malt
.25 lbs. Crystal 120L
6 oz. Oatmeal
4 oz. Black Patent
4 oz. Roast Non-Malted Barley
3 oz. Dextrine Malt
1 lb. Lactose (added with 15 min. remaining in boil)

.50 oz. Columbus (14%) (60)
1 oz. Kent Golding (4.2%) (60)
1 oz. Fuggles (4.0%) (30)

Mashed at 155 degrees.
OG – 1.067
SG at racking to secondary – 1.016 (6.75%)
FG at kegging – 1.014 (7%)

[edit: just a note - I wish that I would have left the Black Patent out of the recipe. I was worried about it being dark enough and a bit too sweet, so I added it. I can taste a bit of the black patent, and its bitterness counteracts the sweetness of the lactose a bit. Next time, I may reduce it by half or eliminate it completely.]

Boy you're making me thirsty.

How long were the fermentations and bottling.

I have a toad spit stout with 2 cups of quick oats added that I have conditioning and I'm anxious. It' s only in the bottles for two weeks now and my intent is to hold off even peaking at it until St. Patricks day.

Primary = 1 week
Secondary = 2 weeks
Keg/Cold Conditioning = 1 week

The beer is still pretty green, but boy is it tasting good. I don't have it on a main tap just yet, but I have been stealing pints from the picnic tap. :cross:

If you eliminate the Black Patent will you increase the Roasted Barley to compensate?

zoebisch01 said:

If you eliminate the Black Patent will you increase the Roasted Barley to compensate?

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Yeah . . . and probably the chocolate malt, too. I don't mind the BP, though. I don't want this too sweet.

Is there an extract version of this? Sounds nice.

Fish said:

Is there an extract version of this? Sounds nice.

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I designed the recipe from scratch in Promash. You could just substitute the 9 lbs of 2-Row with however much DME/LME would get you to 1.065 (ish) OG. I haven't used extracts in so long, I wouldn't have a clue how much that would take. I will to the calculations in Promash when I get home and post an extract recipe.

(unless somebody beats me to it)

That would be great, I have just ventured into using partial grains, and I LOVE STOUT.:cross:

I love stouts and am planning another one soon so this has me interested, I am extract with steeping grains as well.

I think I read something about a problem with steeping oats before, anyone know if this is ok or if they need to be mashed? Would anything else in the receipe need changing?

Thanks for any help!

TREMBLE said:

I love stouts and am planning another one soon so this has me interested, I am extract with steeping grains as well.

I think I read something about a problem with steeping oats before, anyone know if this is ok or if they need to be mashed? Would anything else in the receipe need changing?

Thanks for any help!

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I believe they will give a chill haze from the unconverted starch if you use anything but instant oats. And those might still give you a little trouble, but I don't know. Palmer says they (instant) still benefit from mashing. I mash my oats, so don't know for sure.

Fish said:

Is there an extract version of this? Sounds nice.

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18206

this was mine, i tried it last weekend for the first time and I thought it was way too sweet using half the lactose as the above recipe. I also used 8 oz MD. Other than the sweetness (34) it tastes fantastic. Usually anytime i have a batch that has a little too much of this or that, it mellows over time, unfortuantly i don't think sweet fades or mellows. My only advise is to add some but not all lactose to the boil and then add to the secondary to taste...i was pissed at not doing this myself when i tasted mine in the secondary. You can always add more but you can't take away unfortunatley. live and learn.

GO COLTS!!!

lazer rocket arm

Yeah . . . when I designed the recipe, I knew I wanted it to be nice and sweet - a creamy, sweet, milky stout - the kind you eat for dessert. I almost hesitated when I was ready to put the lactose in the boil b/c it seemed like a lot. I stuck with my gut feeling, though.

I am glad I did. It is rich and creamy. If you want it a bit drier, it would be wise to back off the lactose a bit.

You just reminded me of something. I have a small jar of Lactose at home and I'm doing my porter this weekend. Should I include some lactose and if so, how much?

KalvinEddie said:

You just reminded me of something. I have a small jar of Lactose at home and I'm doing my porter this weekend. Should I include some lactose and if so, how much?

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Take a look at some published or online recipes. I used a pound, brmdavis used a half-pound. I've seen recipes that fall anywhere along that spectrum. Remember that the key is balance, however. The bitterness (from hops and dark grains) in your porter will balance with the sweetness of the sugars already in the beer as well as what you are adding. If there is a lot of bitterness there already, you will need more lactose to get the effect you are seeking.

Fish said:

Is there an extract version of this? Sounds nice.

Click to expand...

According to my calculations on Promash, you could substitute the 9 lbs. of 2-Row with about 5.5 lbs of Light DME.

The rest of those grains can be steeped, I believe. I think that I have steeped Oatmeal before . . . but I could be mistaken. It does make sense that it would create some starch haze, though.

Thanks this looks really good. With lactose can you add it during fermentation?

i gotta ressurrect this thread...to the O.P. did this taste anything like a chocolate malt? im trying to get a nice sweet creamy chocolate stout going. I generally use either london ale or irish ale yeast...what did you use for this recipe?


if you remember.

cheers,

Nick