oatmeal stout ???s

[bperlmu]

Upcoming is an oatmeal stout and I was just wondering do I just steep the flaked oats in the same manner as the rest of the grains? I am using half a pound for a 5 gallon batch....
Also, what yeasts have people had good luck with this style? I have an extra WL british ale in the fridge, but most recipes seem to call for irish ale....
Finally, any suggestions for improving head retention or will the oats take care of that?
thanks

 

[Iordz]

You just steep the oats with the rest of the grains. They should aid in head retention, although to fully appreciate oats they need to be mashed with base grains. I think Brit ale is perfect, gives you fruitiness and the desired malty finish.

 

[newguy]

yup I use British as well. and yup to steeping them as normal!

Good luck I got my Oatmeal in the secondary now. It's be great come Christmas time!

 

[Got Trub?]

As noted above mashing would be best. In terms of yeast choice you are making what is usually a dry style (as apposed to sweet stout) stout, so you want a good attenuating yeast. According to the WL site the British and Irish ale yeasts have similar attenuation in the low 70% range so either would be fine. Some English Ale yeasts are much less attenuative so would be a less ideal strain.

GT

 

[bperlmu]

if i were to mash the oats with a base grain, how much/what type of grain should i use? should i reduce the amount of extract being used? I am using 6 lbs of light DME and the recipe projects a OG of 1.059. Or should i just forget about and steep as usual? Ive never actually done a real partial mash with base grains before.

 

[SixFoFalcon]

I brewed an oatmeal stout yesterday.

My ingredients were as follows:
1 lb British Roast Barley (625*L)
1 lb Pregelatinized oat flakes
6.6 lb Northwestern Dark LME
2 oz. Target hops (1.5 oz at 60 min, .5 oz at 40 min)
Safale S-04
Dash of fresh grated cinnamon

I steeped the barley and oats for 30 mins in the 150-160*F range, in separate grain bags. I did my best to move the bags around every few minutes to get the wort flowing through them. I added a bit of cinnamon at the beginning of the boil (this was not in the recipe... I'll just have to wait and see if that was a good move or not!)

The original gravity reading was 1.052

I actually made a starter with the dry yeast on Saturday (so about 4 days before pitching) since the yeast packet had been sitting a while and I wanted to make sure it was viable. (Normally with dry yeasts I'll just rehydrate them with sanitary water during the boil and pitch them as-is.)

It's currently puking krauesen all over my floor since it ejected the airlock last night. I should really get some video footage, as the krausen is flowing out of the carboy neck quite vigorously. I tried fitting a makeshift 3/8" blowoff tube in a stopper, but the yeasties decided they didn't like that and they kept launching the stopper out with a geyser of krauesen every few minutes. I suspect the vigorous fermentation coupled with the extra protein from the oats is to blame.

 

[Spearo]

If you are going to do a partial mash, then you should reduce your extract. How much grain you use determines how much extract. Your best bet is to find a recipe for a PM oatmeal stout. Otherwise, maybe you can post your recipe and ask if someone can convert your extract recipe to PM.

Good luck!

 

[Brewing Clamper]

This is my recipe. It's for a partial mash. I know the og looks high but I don't normally get that great of efficiency so it usually goes to the mid 50's. Check it out.