[Wort-H.O.G.]

Yep asking for you to poke around my recipe and water profile for my oatmeal stout. Brewed it several times, and figured why not consider making it better or even different.
Let me know the particulars if you have ideas- what and why.






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[slarkin712]

My preferences for oatmeal stout :
Use of pale chocolate malt, rather than dark chocolate malt.  Gives a more mild roastiness, which seems smoother.
Use both roasted barley and black malt.  This just gives a bit of layering to the roast flavor.  Black malt gives a light tart, but smooth.  Roasted barley gives a dry roast like coffee.
I lightly toast my oats to accentuate the oat flavor contribution.
I've put amber malt in my last couple batches, as I had some leftover and wasn't sure what to use it in.  Seems to work, but I need to have a side-by-side to really see it if is doing anything.

I've never use flaked barley in an oatmeal stout.  Does it do much?

[beersk]

How do you figure oats at 6L? I would've thought they were much lighter. I don't even factor those in typically when doing my water profile in Bru'n water.

Anyway, for a profile, I usually go with the black balanced profile. I like my beers as balanced as possible.

[blatz]

just curious about the use of flaked barley and oats.  never seen those two together before, that i can recall.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

just curious about the use of flaked barley and oats.  never seen those two together before, that i can recall.

provides protein for head...started using it and my oatmeal stout really took on the look and mouthfeel i was looking for.

fyi for those interested:  http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p=brewhouse&d=fermentables&id=&v=&term=1

[Wort-H.O.G.]

How do you figure oats at 6L? I would've thought they were much lighter. I don't even factor those in typically when doing my water profile in Bru'n water.

Anyway, for a profile, I usually go with the black balanced profile. I like my beers as balanced as possible.

great question.. i toast them a little so its an estimation. not so significant either way.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

How do you figure oats at 6L? I would've thought they were much lighter. I don't even factor those in typically when doing my water profile in Bru'n water.

Anyway, for a profile, I usually go with the black balanced profile. I like my beers as balanced as possible.

so my experience with dark brews is manage the sulfate. i haven't liked the harshness with black balanced and found less sulfate was smoother on my palette. accentuating the malt seems to balance the roast additions for me, and so that's where i've landed.

[erockrph]

Bring the mash pH up another point. I target 5.5-5.6 mash pH for stouts and porters and it makes a world of difference.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Bring the mash pH up another point. I target 5.5-5.6 mash pH for stouts and porters and it makes a world of difference.

can you expound?

[erockrph]

Bring the mash pH up another point. I target 5.5-5.6 mash pH for stouts and porters and it makes a world of difference.

can you expound?

I always had an issue with the roast character on my darker beers that I couldn't quite put my finger on. The roast character seemed a bit muddy. Once I started targeting a higher pH the roast notes really started to pop out a bit more. The roast wasn't harsher, but it did jump out a bit more.

A good example is actually the counterexample. In a dry Irish stout like Guinness the roast character is exceptionally smooth, and the pH happens to be on the lower side. That's no coincidence - the acidity tends to mute the roast character. Another example is coffee. For a medium-roast coffee a touch of acidity is nice and adds a bit of brightness. But for a dark roast or espresso, excessive acidity really clashes with the roast.

You can always play around with this post-fermentation by dosing with some baking soda if you don't want to invest a whole batch. But targeting a higher pH was a one-step fix for mediocre stouts and porters for me. It makes a surprising difference in the finished product.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Bring the mash pH up another point. I target 5.5-5.6 mash pH for stouts and porters and it makes a world of difference.

can you expound?

I always had an issue with the roast character on my darker beers that I couldn't quite put my finger on. The roast character seemed a bit muddy. Once I started targeting a higher pH the roast notes really started to pop out a bit more. The roast wasn't harsher, but it did jump out a bit more.

A good example is actually the counterexample. In a dry Irish stout like Guinness the roast character is exceptionally smooth, and the pH happens to be on the lower side. That's no coincidence - the acidity tends to mute the roast character. Another example is coffee. For a medium-roast coffee a touch of acidity is nice and adds a bit of brightness. But for a dark roast or espresso, excessive acidity really clashes with the roast.

You can always play around with this post-fermentation by dosing with some baking soda if you don't want to invest a whole batch. But targeting a higher pH was a one-step fix for mediocre stouts and porters for me. It makes a surprising difference in the finished product.

Eric- if im reading correctly- sounds like you're suggesting your benefit is coming from the PH of the post mash wort, not from the PH of the wort during mash?

[HoosierBrew]

Ken, FWIW I mash dark beers @ 5.5pH too, all grains together.  I feel that the roast character is less harsh and acrid, just overall better at this pH. My theory is that brewers that don't like the character of the dark grains being mashed might well like it if they adjusted their pH up to 5.5ish. Not to say you can't cold steep dark grains and make good beer.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Ken, FWIW I mash dark beers @ 5.5pH too, all grains together.  I feel that the roast character is less harsh and acrid, just overall better at this pH. My theory is that brewers that don't like the character of the dark grains being mashed might well like it if they adjusted their pH up to 5.5ish. Not to say you can't cold steep dark grains and make good beer.

i dont disagree - mine will tend to fall +- .02 from 5.5PH. perhaps a little bump migth be in order and see if i notice any difference.

do you also keep the sulfates low- around 30PPM or so?

[erockrph]

Bring the mash pH up another point. I target 5.5-5.6 mash pH for stouts and porters and it makes a world of difference.

can you expound?

I always had an issue with the roast character on my darker beers that I couldn't quite put my finger on. The roast character seemed a bit muddy. Once I started targeting a higher pH the roast notes really started to pop out a bit more. The roast wasn't harsher, but it did jump out a bit more.

A good example is actually the counterexample. In a dry Irish stout like Guinness the roast character is exceptionally smooth, and the pH happens to be on the lower side. That's no coincidence - the acidity tends to mute the roast character. Another example is coffee. For a medium-roast coffee a touch of acidity is nice and adds a bit of brightness. But for a dark roast or espresso, excessive acidity really clashes with the roast.

You can always play around with this post-fermentation by dosing with some baking soda if you don't want to invest a whole batch. But targeting a higher pH was a one-step fix for mediocre stouts and porters for me. It makes a surprising difference in the finished product.

Eric- if im reading correctly- sounds like you're suggesting your benefit is coming from the PH of the post mash wort, not from the PH of the wort during mash?

To be even more precise, it's the pH of the finished beer. I just choose to make all my pH adjustments prior to the mash. By targeting a higher mash pH everything follows downstream and I end up with the right balance in my finished beer.

[klickitat jim]

I brewed a 3.5% American Brown a while back. After kegging it was nearly undrinkable with a tanginess that made me think it was infected. Erockrph suggested I try a little soda in a glass. Bingo! I dosed the whole keg, and it's just fine. I'm actually enjoying a glass right now. Its amazing how ph in the final product can massively change the flavor. The roast is still there but, to use an analogy for comparison, before it was like a shot of espresso now it's like a light latte. All of the flavors can be picked out rather than that weird charred lime thing that it was.