Looking for comments on Oatmeal Stout

[Ace_Club]

Well, after reading some fairly disappointing reviews of NB's Breakfast Stout, I decided to go onto Brewmaster's Warehouse and create my own Oatmeal Stout recipe. Looking for feedback before I press the buy button:



(for 5 gallons)
Munton's Dark Dry Extract 4 lbs, 0 oz
Flaked Oats 1 lbs, 5 oz
Briess Roasted Barley 1 lbs, 0 oz
Simpsons Dark Crystal 1 lbs, 0 oz
Lactose 1 lbs, 0 oz
Williamette Pellets 2 oz @ 60 mins
Williamette Pellets .5 oz @ 30 mins
Wyeast Labs Irish Ale 1 ea

 

[kanzimonson]

That's gonna be a pretty dark stout considering you're adding roasted barley and dark crystal to a dark extract. I'd rather use light extract and then use specialty grains for all my color and character.

Also, while I don't think this is a reason not to go ahead and make your oatmeal stout, did you know that you won't really get much of a benefit from steeping those oats? You have to mash oats to get their full benefit in a beer. Without mashing them, you'll probably just get a little added thickness in the final beer.

Finally, you may not need the lactose unless you want this beer definitively sweet. The Irish Ale yeast will finish with a higher FG than typical California Ale yeast, and you'll get some sweetness from this. Two important notes from the BJCP guidelines:

Flavor: Medium sweet to medium dry palate...
Comments: Generally between sweet and dry stouts in sweetness. Variations exist, from fairly sweet to quite dry...

If you decide to stick with the dark extract as well as lots of dark grains, the lactose may be more appropriate. You'll need to consider the IBUs as well.

Otherwise, I think making an oatmeal stout sounds like a great idea!

 

[Ace_Club]

Thanks for the input. I cut the lactose in half, and changed the dark DME to Amber DME (don't want to go to light, I like my stouts black).

 

[Ace_Club]

Oh, also, according to my calculations, the IBUs should be at 34ish, which fits the style.

 

[IrregularPulse]

No matter what extract you use, you'll have a black beer with a lb of roasted barley and dark crystal

 

[Ace_Club]

Is the lb of barley and dark crystal too much then? Should I use just reg crystal? I was looking at the crystal to help in the head retention.

 

[forces]

That seems like a lot of roasted barley. I used about 1/2 lb in a 2.5 gallon batch in a blackberry stout (meant to be very expeimental), and the coffee flavor from the roasted barley overpowered EVERYTHING else in the beer.

 

[Ace_Club]

Well, after reading some fairly disappointing reviews of NB's Breakfast Stout, I decided to go onto Brewmaster's Warehouse and create my own Oatmeal Stout recipe. Looking for feedback before I press the buy button:



(for 5 gallons)
Munton's Amber Dry Extract 4 lbs, 0 oz
Flaked Oats 1 lbs, 5 oz
Briess Roasted Barley 0 lbs, 8 oz
Simpsons Dark Crystal 1 lbs, 0 oz
Lactose 0 lbs, 8 oz
Williamette Pellets 2 oz @ 60 mins
Williamette Pellets .5 oz @ 30 mins
Wyeast Labs Irish Ale 1 ea

So I edited the above recipe as the suggestions came in. Now the above is what it is...decent? more changes necessary?

 

[kanzimonson]

I guess the last question I'd have is why not put in some chocolate malt for some variety to the roast? I'm not saying this is imperative - without it you'll have a beer that emphasizes crystal-caramel flavors (from the crystal malt and the amber dme) and heavy roast (from the barley). Some people like to have the added dimension of in-between roast with some chocolate malt (which would provide nuttier tones to the roast).

 

[IrregularPulse]

If you're unsure of recipe formulation (I don't have a grasp on brewing enough for it myself) there is a great recipe database here with recipes of every category with reviews from people who have tried them. I've made 3-4 of BierMUncher's recipes and they're always great.

 

[Ace_Club]

Thanks. I'm aware of the recipe database, but always like creating from scratch and then taking it from there. The comments are always good at tweaking it so that it is almost guaranteed to come out well!