Oatmeal Stout Mouthfeel

[joegbeer]

I brewed an oatmeal stout that overall I really liked. When I compared it with some commercial examples, the flavor was spot on the only thing I noticed was that it had a tad thinner mouthfeel. For my brew I did a 90 minute mash at 154. Oats were only 7.5% of the grainbill. So for the next go around I was going to raise the oats to 15% and mash at 155 or 156 to try and thicken the overall mouthfeel of the beer.

Does that sound like a good plan? Am I overlooking anything like maltodextrin? Raising the roasted barley or crystal malts?

 

[BrewbumBill]

Just saw this, but did you use falked oats or rolled oats?

 

[schematix]

Mash at 154-156 for 60 and then mashout. 90 min is too long.

 

[Citizen86]

Mash at 154-156 for 60 and then mashout. 90 min is too long.

Although 60 is pretty standard, I don't think I've ever seen someone say that 90 minutes is too long.... why is that?

 

[brew_darrymore]

Although 60 is pretty standard, I don't think I've ever seen someone say that 90 minutes is too long.... why is that?

Longer mash = more fermentable wort = thinner beer.

Try shortening your mash and see if that makes a difference in the mouthfeel. I usually mash for 30-45 minutes.

 

[schematix]

There are a number of sources out there that report simialr results, but here's the first one i got from google: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Mash_Time_Dependency_of_Wort_Fermentability

For single step mashes you are wasting a lot of time and creating a really fermentable wort doing a 90 minute mash.

 

[joegbeer]

Just saw this, but did you use falked oats or rolled oats?

Flaked

 

[joegbeer]

Mash at 154-156 for 60 and then mashout. 90 min is too long.

I was following recommendations I learned in Brewing Classic Styles, where they recommended a 90 minute mash to help with the conversion of the oats. But your suggestion does make sense.

 

[Yooper]

Oats are "slick" and creamy, and are not going to give you a fuller body. How about adding 1/2-1 pound of flaked barley? it's a body builder, and helps with head and head retention as well. It's my "secret weapon" in oatmeal stouts.

 

[imasickboy]

Flaked

Flaked oats and rolled oats are essentially the same thing, so don't worry about the oats you used.

I'm with Yooper on this one, add some flaked barley to the grain bill.

 

[joegbeer]

To summarize I've got 3 options:

• Reduce mash time from 90 to 60
• Increase mash temperature from 154 to 156
• Add 8-12 oz of Flaked Barley

After researching the options, I'm definitely going to do the 2nd and 3rd option. I had been considering adding some carapils, but I'll try the flaked barley. Flaked Barley style-wise is more appropriate. Not that doing things out of style is an issue for me, but I don't need the lack of haze producing carapils in an oatmeal stout. Thanks for that suggestion.

I'm still undecided on whether I want to reduce the mash time. I really liked the flavor and ABV that the last batch produced. I get that the longer mash is producing a more fermentable wort. I have a bad habit of changing too many variables at once, so I think I'm going to save this option if the other two options don't do enough.

 

[kh54s10]

I looked at the chart on mash times vs ferment-ability and in the difference between and hour and 90 minutes you go from 78% to 82% attenuation. I get that much difference just in two different fermentations using the same yeast. IMO, that is not enough to make much of a difference in mouthfeel. It might make the beer delectably less sweet though.

I also don't think you will notice much in a 2 degree mash temperature difference, unless you can really control it that accurately over 60-90 minutes.

You mentioned not chasing all the variables at once, so I would start with the flaked barley. Then again I rarely mash for 90 minutes.

 

[joegbeer]

I looked at the chart on mash times vs ferment-ability and in the difference between and hour and 90 minutes you go from 78% to 82% attenuation. I get that much difference just in two different fermentations using the same yeast. IMO, that is not enough to make much of a difference in mouthfeel. It might make the beer delectably less sweet though.

I was happy with the first batch overall sweetness and higher ABV from the longer mash. I don't regularly do 90 minute mashes either, I was just following some advice about converting the oats.

I also don't think you will notice much in a 2 degree mash temperature difference, unless you can really control it that accurately over 60-90 minutes.

Doing more research on this topic, I found this to be a very interesting read...
the-mash-high-vs-low-temperature-exbeeriment-results

I agree it's probably not going to have a big impact, but I'll go there and see how how much it affects the gravities.

 

[BrewbumBill]

I have brewed the same oatmeal stout 3 times now. The first one and the last were great. The 2nd one had a much thinner mouthfeel. All were brewed exactly the same or tried i should say. The only real difference was that I used flaked oats rather than rolled oats for the second batch. I was told there was no real difference. Maybe it was something else that changed the mouthfeel but the flaked oats was the only difference I really saw.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

+1 to flaked barley/wheat for body. Oats make it smooth,but generally don't make a noticeable difference till 15%+