Oatmeal (bourbon barrel) stout recipe help please!!!

[rudu81]

This will be my second incarnation of an oatmeal stout, and my goal is to create a great base beer for a bourbon barrel stout. I want to first get the oatmeal stout down before trying to decide which oak and bourbon I like the best. Here's what I have so far and am looking for any and all help.

6.6# DME (Breiss sold in 3.3# bags at LHBS)
.5# oats
.5# roasted barley
.5# chocolate barley
2 oz Kent Goldings @60 min
Safale S-04

Thanks!!!

 

[Oldsock]

A few suggestions.

If you want to use oats you will ideally do a mini-mash with some pale malt since the oats are loaded with starches that need an enzyme to convert into sugars. I'd use more if you want a noticeable contribution from them.

I've had the best luck using pale extract, it gives you more control over the ingredients you are using. In that case I might up the roasted barley slightly, and add .5 lbs of medium-dark crystal malt.

Bourbon barrel beers tend to be bigger/stronger, but there is really no reason for this. If you want a moderate gravity bourbon stout it could be really tasty (especially with warmer weather coming).

 

[rudu81]

My initial thought had been to do a mini-mash with 3# 2-row (suppose I could go pale malt), but figured I would make it simpler with just extract. I didn't want to go over the top with a big beer (at least not yet) as I'd want to drink multiple in a sitting.

How does this sound:

3# pale malt
3.3# light (or extra light) DME
.75# oats
.75# roasted barley
.75# chocolate barley
2 oz Kent Goldings @60min
Safale S-04

O.G. 1.058
F.G. 1.015
IBU 31.48
ABV 5.63%

Mini-mash pale malt and oats. I have the oats, chocolate, and roasted in my inventory already, so I just upped the amount to what I have in stock.

Does this sound better?

 

[Oldsock]

Looks good to me. Pale and 2-row are used to mean pretty much the same thing. 2-row is the class of barley (as opposed to 6-row) and pale is just how much it is toasted. Some maltsters make a "2-row" that is just a lighter toast than their pale. Either one would be fine in this case.

Good luck.

 

[rudu81]

Thanks!