Critique on low-ABV oatmeal stout

[alexnova]

Last winter (in a blizzard no less) I took a crack at making a low-ABV oatmeal stout with half the LME I'd normally use. I forgot to actually put in the oatmeal smack so the final product came out awfully thin. I later put some on nitro and it helped quite a bit, but still not what I wanted.

Since then I have learned about maltodextrin, which should add more body and mouthfeel. I'm trying to get a nice full-feeling stout that clocks in around 3% ABV.

My bill so far:

3.3# Briess Traditional Dark LME
0.5# maltodextrin
0.25# lactose

steeping grains
1# Flaked Oats
0.5# Debittered Belgian Black malt (450L)
0.25# Roasted Barley (300L)
0.5# Carapils
0.25# Chocolate (350L)

SG 1.038
FG 1.015 per brewer's friend

This gets the color to where I want it, but I'm wondering if I'm overdoing it with malto, lactose AND oatmeal. What say ye?

 

[Aotidae]

What are your issues with the first trial aside from body?

 

[MVKTR2]

To your question, are you overdoing it. Yes. FYI I've never brewed with matodextrin or lactose. Nothing against them. I answer yes because you can achieve your goal of non-thinness with oatmeal and mash temp, which you didn't mention because you're extract brewing. I'd suggest doing a partial mash by adding 1-2 lbs maris otter to your muslin bag to add body. I guess as I type if you're not gonna add grain and keep the temp around 158f your approach probably isn't bad.

 

[alexnova]

What are your issues with the first trial aside from body?

That's pretty much it. The first go round tasted watered down... like I had made it with half the bill I should have. Color and head retention were fine. Looked great, just wasn't enough tastewise.

 

[alexnova]

To your question, are you overdoing it. Yes. FYI I've never brewed with matodextrin or lactose. Nothing against them. I answer yes because you can achieve your goal of non-thinness with oatmeal and mash temp, which you didn't mention because you're extract brewing. I'd suggest doing a partial mash by adding 1-2 lbs maris otter to your muslin bag to add body. I guess as I type if you're not gonna add grain and keep the temp around 158f your approach probably isn't bad.

All fair points. I have the wherewithall to do partial mash, but when I started tweaking the recipe I did it as extract + steeping. I can probably leave out the malto altogether if i partial mash as you suggest.

 

[MVKTR2]

As a reference I've got a similar beer in a fermenter now that's arguably an Irish Dry Stout that uses oatmeal instead of flaked barley. My recipe:

4% UK chocolate malt
7% UK roasted barley
16% Quick Oats (not instant, 1 min)
73% 50:50 blend of pilsner and Munich malt

Bittered to 30 ibus, fermented at 68 using WLP007. Mashed at 155f iirc.

Shooting for a 4.5% abv brew that's dry with body and roasted character. Wanted a little more complexity than the dry Irish stout but not a full blown oatmeal stout.

Good luck and no matter what you do you'll learn and make better beer more consistently in the future. Brewing is such a learning process and you're never done learning which is perhaps the best quality of the hobby!

 

[Sadu]

Subscribing as I'm interested in how this comes out. I'm yet to brew a sub-4% beer which has a flavour and body that I'm happy with. Mine always taste watered down compared to the bigger version.

 

[MVKTR2]

Sulfate and carbonate levels on the brewing water have a lot to do with how all beer is perceived, especially so with smaller beers. Much like light lagers or small lagers flaws that may have little to do with the brewer become glaring distractions in small beers. About 60% of my 90+ brews are sub-4.5% abv beers. They're much harder to make well vs standard or larger beers to a point. There is little to hide behind. However some disappointments with small beers has to do with expecting it to taste like a bigger beer, it's not. Think of it this way, a 1.055 APA is much more subtle than a 1.78 IPA. Yet often drinkers expect less of a reduction in intensity for a beer that's reduced in size at the same rate as above, say a low gravity APA of 1.034 OG.

Put in food terms pasta with butter and garlic is awesome! Yet it will never be as intense as eating a bowl of your famous chili.

Not saying you're expecting to much, but I know I used to. Final note, water chemistry is so important in smaller brews!

 

[Sadu]

That's good advice above, and since I have been adjusting water everything has been in the bigger range. Appreciate that these are hard styles to brew, but there is a lot of appeal in a lower alcohol beer that tastes good.

 

[alexnova]

I agree. Poor H2O chemistry would be harder to hide here. Fortunately, the tap water here is slightly hard and pretty good for dark beer once I deal with the chloramine. I'll partial-mash with dechloramined tap water. Will report back.

 

[alexnova]

Brewed it a couple days ago. Partial mash clocked in at 1.024 (~55% efficiency) which seems alright for my first time. Brewer's Friend defaulted to 35% when I was making the recipe, so I overshot and will wind up close to 4% ABV. The sample tasted pretty good for being warm, flat and 0%.

It's working away nicely at 64F in the basement. If all goes well I can cold-crash this weekend. I quick-carb my FG sample with a carbonator cap to get a sneak preview of the finished beer.

 

[alexnova]

Pulled a sample on Tuesday and hit my FG right on the nose 1.021. Body and mouthfeel seem much improved. I'll have a better idea after I crash/keg/carb, but this looks like it will be a great brew.