flaked barley and flaked oats in a stout

[sass131]

I am planning on making a stout, for which I would like to have some creaminess to it and also good head retention. I know that flaked barley and/or flaked oats are the way to go, but I can not seem to determine if I should use both or only one of them.

J. Palmers book indicates that flaked barley will give better head retention and flaked oats give creaminess. But in different forums and articles I find information that they both contribute to head and creaminess. I can't find any place, besides Palmers book, which describes the difference in these ingredients.

So now I'm a little confused. Should I use both or only one of those ingredients?

 

[Pappers_]

Oatmeal stouts are delicious! I'd go with the oats.

 

[RonPopeil]

i'm going to second pappers. make it an oatmeal stout. the oats will give you a nice flavor and will def give you a nice texture. when i think of creamy i actually think of milk stouts. so lactose is another option.

 

[Weezy]

try both! flaked barley doesn't give much flavor but it does add to head stability and adds some slickness and fullness to dry beers. flaked oats is a no brainer for good creamy, oaty flavor.

flaked barley is a good choice for toasted flavor, if you toast some in the oven, since it's fairly limited on other flavors.

 

[truvr]

Check out Yooper's Oatmeal Stout in the recipe section for an example that uses both. I can't comment on the effect though just yet - I'm bottling it next weekend. Cheers!