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Author Topic: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?  (Read 4416 times)

Offline GarrisonDH

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Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« on: November 03, 2014, 04:31:31 pm »
Hi Friends, I'm gearing up to brew my first all-grain oatmeal stout this weekend and have a question for all the vets of such brew days: is combining both flaked oats and torrified wheat in the mash to enhance the beer's body and head retention redundant? Here's the current grain bill:

7.5 lbs Maris Otter (60%)
1 lb Flaked Oats (8%)
1 lb Torrified Wheat (8%)
0.75 lb Crystal 75L (6%)
0.75 lb Victory (6%)
0.5 Brown Malt (4%)
0.5 Roasted Barley (4%)
0.5 Chocolate Malt (4%)

Do the adjunct combinations make sense here? Or would it be simpler to go with flaked oats alone and dial up their contribution a bit? Thanks for the advice!!!

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2014, 05:16:06 pm »
Personally, I would drop the torrefied and use an extra lb of base malt. The oatmeal is obviously integral and will provide plenty of mouthfeel in addition. I would also drop the brown and sub in chocolate in the same amount. And Maris Otter is fairly toasty/biscuity on its own so I would drop the Victory`which is biscuity and sub in .75 lb more of your base malt. That is a streamlined recipe now which is pretty similar to mine. By no means am I saying that your recipe couldn't be good, but sometimes too many malts can give you a 'muddy' poorly defined malt character. Good luck !
Jon H.

Offline WDE97

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2014, 06:14:26 pm »
Have to agree pretty much across the board with Hoosier. 8 grains is too many. Keep your recipes as simple as possible. I don't have my recipe handy, but its: Marris Otter, flaked oats, Crystal 60 or 80, roasted barley and chocolate malt.
Robert H.

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Offline GarrisonDH

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2014, 08:03:02 pm »
Awesome, thanks so much for the pointers! The feedback is most helpful and appreciated, this being my first foray into the style. Here's how I've simplified the recipe:

8.5 lbs Maris Otter (66%)
2 lbs Flaked Oats (15%)
0.75 lbs Crystal 75L (5%)
0.75 lbs Pale Chocolate (5%)
0.75 lbs Roasted Barley (5%)
Target OG: 1.063

Thoughts? And while I'm at it, I might as well ask you about your preferred yeast strains; I'm torn between White Labs' 004 Irish Ale and 022 Essex Ale (my local homebrew store is a WL supplier). What do you think?

Online hopfenundmalz

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2014, 05:35:40 am »
The WL Essex is one that I really like. Ester profile is fruity, it drops bright with a little time, and is a top cropped if you harvest that way.

Never used it for a stout, though.
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Offline 69franx

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2014, 06:25:38 am »

Personally, I would drop the torrefied and use an extra lb of base malt. The oatmeal is obviously integral and will provide plenty of mouthfeel in addition. I would also drop the brown and sub in chocolate in the same amount. And Maris Otter is fairly toasty/biscuity on its own so I would drop the Victory`which is biscuity and sub in .75 lb more of your base malt. That is a streamlined recipe now which is pretty similar to mine. By no means am I saying that your recipe couldn't be good, but sometimes too many malts can give you a 'muddy' poorly defined malt character. Good luck !
I really like the looks of that Jon
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Offline erockrph

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2014, 07:14:47 am »
Personally, I would drop the torrefied and use an extra lb of base malt. The oatmeal is obviously integral and will provide plenty of mouthfeel in addition. I would also drop the brown and sub in chocolate in the same amount. And Maris Otter is fairly toasty/biscuity on its own so I would drop the Victory`which is biscuity and sub in .75 lb more of your base malt. That is a streamlined recipe now which is pretty similar to mine. By no means am I saying that your recipe couldn't be good, but sometimes too many malts can give you a 'muddy' poorly defined malt character. Good luck !
I agree with most of this, except I'd probably keep the torrified wheat. Torrified wheat has a nice nutty flavor that I personally like in many of my English-style ales.

I think the takeaway is to know what each ingredient is doing in a recipe and pare down anything that doesn't have a clear purpose. For me, I'd be including torrified wheat as a flavor component. But if you're using it for mouthfeel and not flavor, then the oats have you covered and you can get rid of it.
Eric B.

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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2014, 07:37:37 am »
Personally, I would drop the torrefied and use an extra lb of base malt. The oatmeal is obviously integral and will provide plenty of mouthfeel in addition. I would also drop the brown and sub in chocolate in the same amount. And Maris Otter is fairly toasty/biscuity on its own so I would drop the Victory`which is biscuity and sub in .75 lb more of your base malt. That is a streamlined recipe now which is pretty similar to mine. By no means am I saying that your recipe couldn't be good, but sometimes too many malts can give you a 'muddy' poorly defined malt character. Good luck !
I agree with most of this, except I'd probably keep the torrified wheat. Torrified wheat has a nice nutty flavor that I personally like in many of my English-style ales.

I think the takeaway is to know what each ingredient is doing in a recipe and pare down anything that doesn't have a clear purpose. For me, I'd be including torrified wheat as a flavor component. But if you're using it for mouthfeel and not flavor, then the oats have you covered and you can get rid of it.

Normally I'd agree because I like the flavor of torrefied in paler ales. I just don't know how noticeable it'd be in an oatmeal stout. I could be wrong.
Jon H.

Offline denny

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2014, 11:34:55 am »
I think the takeaway is to know what each ingredient is doing in a recipe and pare down anything that doesn't have a clear purpose.

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Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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Re: Flaked Oats & Torrified Wheat in Oatmeal Stout: Redundant?
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2014, 12:51:45 pm »
agree with others. here's my typical grist:

7 lbs           warminster floor malted Maris Otter (4.5 SRM)   Grain   1   65.9 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz   Oats, Flaked (6.0 SRM)   Grain   2   14.1 %
8.0 oz   Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)   Grain   3   4.7 %
8.0 oz   Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)   Grain   4   4.7 %
1.0 pkg   Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP037) [50.28 ml]   Yeast   7   -
12.0 oz   Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)   Grain   8   7.1 %
3.0 oz   English Crisp Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM)   Grain   9   1.8 %
3.0 oz   Simpsons Black Malt - 2-Row (500.0 SRM)   Grain   10   1.8 %

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