Oatmeal Stout Smooth Oatmeal Stout

[sweetpoetatoe]

this was the first beer i've tried. just started it last night and it smells fantastic, the gravity came out at 1.035, so ill probably increase the grains on future recipes, or just do a better job of sparging, it was pretty chaotic, due to the grains being too much for the grain bag so we were also using a clean pair of pantyhose for the other grain bag, and with the mardi gras parades going on last night. but its fermenting nicely at 65 and ill tell you how it turns out!

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

with it be a 1.035 gravity, would i bottle it after just a week of fermentation at 65 degrees, sot hat it will still carbonate properly?

 

[dbals]

It took 4 days for mine to hit 1.018

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

ill go check it right now then, if it goes to low, i could just prime it , but id rather not throw anything in else in there

 

[Mudflap]

I've been drinking this one out if the keg for about a week now and wanted to givea few days before I posted my thoughts. This is a really good stout and finishes very smooth and clean, but almost a little too clean for me. I've been drinking a lot ofstouts lately and I guess ive come to expect that bit of bite in the finish, this one doesn't have that. And I know it's not supposed to. Don't get met wrong, it is very tasty and easy to drink. I will do this one again, but next time I will try toasting the oats and see if that gives me what I'm looking for. Good recipe though and stays true to the title!

 

[dbals]

with it be a 1.035 gravity, would i bottle it after just a week of fermentation at 65 degrees, sot hat it will still carbonate properly?

Don't worry about the yeast..... It will carb fine even after several weeks!

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

alright, iv just had the yeast peter out on alot of ciders even with added sugar, so i wasnt sure, thanks for the reassurance though!

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

its been bottled for a few days an is carbing perfectly, and completely delicous!, it is a tad on the watery side but thats all our fualt. it was our first beer an we through the base grains in a grain bag. and by grain bag i mean we didnt have one big enough so we used some tights. but everyone whos tried it loves it still, awesome recipe

 

[Amanofbeer]

You did all grain your first try at beer? Or is this your first all grain batch. What happened that caued that low of a gravity? Did you step mash?

General question: is it ok to add extract to try and boost the gravity/alcohol between fermentation?

 

[Mudflap]

You did all grain your first try at beer? Or is this your first all grain batch. What happened that caued that low of a gravity? Did you step mash?

General question: is it ok to add extract to try and boost the gravity/alcohol between fermentation?

I think you could do that but you'd have to boil it first to sanitize

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

yes it was my first beer and i went all grain. iv made cider b efore and mead. and a friend that was helping had made beer before. I guess they really hadnt made much, cuz she said itd be best to have th base grains in a grain bag. we didnt have any big enough so we used some clean pantyhose. it jsut didnt let all the sugars get out when we sparged it. i also had thought squeezing it released tannins so we didnt squeeze them too much.
on my next recipe ithink ill try a different style of sparging. but i do like the all grain, its much funner and cheaper>
and the beer still turned out amazing, thankyou!

 

[jgilbreth]

To adjust for my efficiency numbers I have seen lately, I would need ot up it to about 8 lb pale malt. Would I need to mess with any of the specialty malts as well, or is the extra 1.25 lb base malt small enough of a different to not affect flavor or color?

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

You did all grain your first try at beer? Or is this your first all grain batch. What happened that caued that low of a gravity? Did you step mash?

Okay so i've done some other things and learned a bit more, and the reason it was only 1.035 an so watery was because we didn't do the boil, we steeped all the grains,with the hops, then sparged, then cooled and put into the fermenter. Right now im working on making an all grain set up, and after that ill be trying this recipe again, and doing it right. Our friend who had done it befor ewas really sick around brew day and wasnt paying too much attention to what we were doing.
still delicious though.

 

[TDIBrewer]

Bottled this today, its my second all grain, tastes great so far, looking forward to see it in a few more weeks. I ended up with a final gravity of 1.022, and I forgot to take the OG Anyway, I'm going to try another batch tommorow with Wyeast 1084 and see how that compares. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[pola0502ds]

is it possible to switch out flaked oat for thomas fawcet oat malt?

 

[TDIBrewer]

Ok, sampled a bottle a week ago, tasted a little bit hot. Had a couple bottles today and its perfect. Looking forward to the other batches I have going on this one. I repitched the s-04 in one batch and used a wyeast 1084 in another. They've been in the primary a little bit longer, about 3 weeks now. We'll see how they turn out.

 

[Mknox4354]

Brewing this beer this weekend so I guess in a couple weeks I'll be able to say how it turned out. Thanks for the recipe

 

[pola0502ds]

No you won't, you need to let this beer condition for a couple months, right guys? I would say try it in 2 1/2 months

 

[shanlmt]

I am very excited about trying this recipe. It will be my 4th batch of beer, but my first all grain. I have 2 questions before I get started.
1. I noticed that you don't use a yeast starter. Do you think it would make any difference in the recipe to do a starter, or is it best to just pitch the yeast right out of the tube?

2. I notice that your recipe doesn't call for any priming sugar before bottling. Is this a typo, or do you not need priming sugar for carbonation in this recipe?

 

[Mudflap]

I am very excited about trying this recipe. It will be my 4th batch of beer, but my first all grain. I have 2 questions before I get started.
1. I noticed that you don't use a yeast starter. Do you think it would make any difference in the recipe to do a starter, or is it best to just pitch the yeast right out of the tube?

2. I notice that your recipe doesn't call for any priming sugar before bottling. Is this a typo, or do you not need priming sugar for carbonation in this recipe?

1) If you use the recipe as stated and use S-04, which is a dry yeast, you don't need a starter, just rehydrate and pitch. If you plan to use a liquid yeast as implied in "out of the tube" you will always want to make a starter. I tried pitching a liquid without making a starter first and it was a terrible fermentation. Ended up dumping the batch. Never again
2) If you plan to bottle, you will always want to use a priming sugar. A lot of times this omitted from recipes as this info is redundant and lots of people may keg and force carb. If you're bottling though, 3/4cup of corn sugar to a 5gal batch is pretty standard formula and is what I used when I brewed this recipe back in feb. and it turned out perfect!
Good luck!

 

[shanlmt]

Thanks mudflap. I've never used a dry yeast, so this will be a new experience.. I can't wait to give this a try. I might have more questions when I get ready to brew in the next week or so.

 

[Mudflap]

no problem. this forum has helped me so much in my brewing endeavors this past year that I'm happy to help others. Dry yeast is a cinch, just boil about a cup of water in a small bowl at the start of your brew day (I use the microwave). Cover with clean plastic wrap or foil to keep sanitized and set aside to cool. Later on check temp and once it gets around 80deg or less pour all of the dry yeast in from the packet, stir in with a sanitized spoon, re-cover, and let sit and bloom for at least 30min. By the time you've moved your cooled wort to your fermenter, it's ready to pour in. Easy peasy

 

[shanlmt]

I have been getting my equipment together to do an all grain and I think I'm gonna try this recipe out this weekend. I did notice that it has 36 IBU's. I do not like hoppy beers. I just want to make sure this beer is nice and smooth and not very hoppy.

 

[shanlmt]

Just put it in the primary. It was my first all grain and I felt like it went pretty well. The largest pot I have is a 6 gallon, so I had to split it up some for the boil. My OG was 1.050, so pretty close to the recipe. I was afraid it was gonna be to hoppy for my taste so I decreased the hops some. Also, my brew store said their roasted barley and chocolate were a little darker than what was called for in the recipe. It did give it a little bite, but hoping that will mellow out with the aging process. I'm really looking forward to trying this out in a couple of months. I'll let you know how it tastes. Thanks!

 

[Mudflap]

Sorry shanlmt, I know this is late, but the bitterness is fine with the OP recipe. My calcs gave me 33IBUs on mine and were just enough to balance. The bitterness does not come through as much on a stout since there is so much going on elsewhere. I'm sure dropping a few IBUs will be just fine though. I'm sure the darker malts will be good as well. I stated earlier after mine was finished that it was almost "too smooth" with the OP recipe and that I wish it had just a bit more bite to it. I'm sure your stout will be excellent! Keep us posted

 

[Ckarsanac]

CBBaron,

Do you remember what your water volumes were for your initial mash and your sparge? And, did you have to boil it down to get to your OG?

Thanks!!

 

[shanlmt]

I moved it to the secondary yesterday and it already tastes great!!! I can't wait till it's ready for consumption!!

 

[BWRIGHT]

This is a very good stout. Nice and smooth. As with any brew, it seems to get better the longer you can stand to age it. I've made this 4 or 5 times now and it is my favorite oatmeal stout.

 

[bbt95762]

OG 1

Single infusion mash at 156F for 60 min.



Craig

for the 156dF Mash, what temperature do you add your water? about 172dF?, somewhat new to all grain, finding challenges getting my mash temp right.
Thanks,
Brian.

 

[shanlmt]

I can't remember if I wrote about my finished project. I brewed this recipe up on August 21st; it was my first all grain beer. There were a few changes in my recipe, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. My mash temp was only about 140, which i brought up to 145 at one point. I also almost cut the amount of hops in half. I added 1 1/4 oz of the hops. We started drinking the beer after it had been in the bottles for about 3 weeks. It just keeps getting better and better. It is so delicious, that I'm gonna have to make another batch soon! Everyone loves it. It is super smooth, rich and not hoppy at all!