Oatmeal Stout. How much is too much?

[MultumInParvo]

I am sort of throwing together a recipe on the fly today and was wondering how much oatmeal you actually put into your oatmeal stouts? 5% 10% 30%? I am thinking 'normal' is around 10 or so. But what do you guys do?

I am thinking 23% right now. Is this crazy?

If it is, is it a bad crazy?

 

[david_42]

10% does a nice job, but I've seen 25% in a few recipes. Never had one that thick, so keep us posted.

 

[oswegan]

It might drive you crazy when your mash gets stuck. Been there, done that.

 

[MultumInParvo]

It might drive you crazy when your mash gets stuck. Been there, done that.

Yeah, I have sort of been concerned of that. I guess I'll just go slow and see...

 

[Pat_13]

You could also just throw in some rice hulls to prevent it.

I use 1 lb in a 5G batch, around 12-13% but I'm sure you could use more.

 

[conpewter]

I do 20% on my oatmeal stout, 5 gallon batches in my 10 gallon cooler with rice hulls works fine, I got a stuck sparge the one time I tried for a 10 gallon batch.

 

[petep1980]

Make different batches with varying amounts. The only real answer is you can NEVER have enough Oatmeal Stout.

 

[jlpred55]

I put in 12-15% in my Oatmeal Stout. Never stuck, yet. This is usually 1-1.5 lbs, let me tell ya from my experiences 2lbs is too much. YMMV

A good recipe to start with is Jamils oatmeal stout, you can tweak from there to your tastes.

 

[TexLaw]

I put 1.5 lbs. in a five-gallon batch, whatever that comes out to.


TL

 

[MultumInParvo]

The only problem with rice hulls is that I don't currently have them, and no LHBS close by. I can always postpone the brewing session, but that means I likely won't get to it until next Monday or so.

Perhaps I am too eager...

 

[MultumInParvo]

Well, I just started my mash. 2.5 pounds of flaked oats sitting in there. I tied a straining bag around part of my manifold hoping that if I increase surface area I would have less of a chance getting a stuck sparge. We'll see is a little over an hour!

 

[MultumInParvo]

Just completed the mash and into the boil now. It went fine, not hang ups at all. I didn't even really drain any slower than I normally do either.

I can say, however, that this beer will be very, very thick. Cleaning out the remaining grains was a really nice oily smooth feel.

I am excited to try it!

 

[KayaBrew]

It might drive you crazy when your mash gets stuck. Been there, done that.

I added .5lb of rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge.