Oatmeal stout recipe

[vaidas]

20l batch
60% eff.
OG 1.059
FG 1.016
ABV 5.6%
IBU 22
EBC 62 (31.50 SRM)

4.5kg 68.7% Maris Otter
0.7kg 10.7% BEST Oat malt
0.6kg 9.2% BEST Caramel Hell malt
0.3kg 4.6% Flaked Wheat
0.15kg 2.3% BEST Roasted Barley
0.15kg 2.3% BEST Chocolate malt
0.15kg 2.3% TF Brown malt

Hops:
60min. EKG 24g. 14.7 IBU
30min. EKG 16g. 7.5 IBU

Fermentis Safale S-04


I'm trying to build recipe for BEST brew challange. Requirement - to brew an Oatmeal Stout style beer using BEST Oat Malt.

How could I improve this recipe?

 

[BongoYodeler]

Here's an excellent HBT tried and true Oatmeal Stout recipe for comparison. Maybe play around with it by adding in or substituting some Best Oat Malt in?

*I wouldn't use Brown Malt in an oatmeal stout, but that's just a personal preference.

 

[G_robertus]

I would drop the crystal and brown malt. If you really want crystal, add a darker one and not a light version. You could increase the oats a bit as well if you want. I would definitely increase the roasted malt to around 8-10%.

Just so you know, you are supposed to adhere to the German purity law for this competition so flaked wheat is not allowed. You have to fill in a form with your grist, so it would be a shame if you were excluded based on that. In previous years you could only use Best products, but they might've dropped that requirement.

 

[vaidas]

Thank you! I didn't realise that purity law excludes flaked wheat, I do not expect to win anything, but at least I hope not to fail understanding requirements.

You are right, last year it was mandatory to use BEST malt, this year BEST Oat malt is mandatory and they also recommends to use BEST chocolate, BEST Black and BEST Extra Black. My homebrew shop sells almost only BEST malt, so I have limited choice anyway.

I had doubts about brown malt too, could I use BEST black instead?
Last oatmeal stout kit I brewed had ~10% of crystal malt, is it important in this style, or I can drop crystal malt and do not substitute with anything?

 

[G_robertus]

I was mostly referring to your base malt, Best doesn't sell MO as far as I know so that would also not be allowed unfortunately. But I can't find that bit in the rules anymore, so perhaps that's ok this year.

Crystal malt is in my opinion never needed in a stout, but it can definitely work. It depends on what you want from it. I like my low ABV stouts without any, but in my medium and high I don't mind. I particularly like extra dark crystal for the caramel flavour it adds, but that also makes for a less drinkable beer I feel. I'm not a huge fan of crystal in general, so please do use it if you like it.

Black malt is not a 1:1 substitute for brown malt. However, here you could use it to get up to your 8-10% roast if you want (or higher if you dare). I think two roast malts should be plenty, but perhaps this works even better.

Good luck!