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Author Topic: Oatmeal Stout Advice  (Read 1630 times)

Offline banjo-guy

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Oatmeal Stout Advice
« on: December 30, 2018, 02:40:15 pm »
I am looking at last year’s NHC scoresheets and deciding how to tweak my recipe or process to change what the judges found lacking in my beer. My scores were 40 and 38. I made it into the mini-best of show but didn't move on. Here is my recipe.

Maris Otter  70 %
C80            7.4 %
Flaked Oats (roasted in oven)  7.4 %
Victory Malt.  5.9%
Black Barley (Briess,500 SRM  3.7%
Chocolate (Briess,350 SRM )  2.8%
Chocolate 245 SRM  2.8 %
EKG Goldings at 60 minutes for 29 IBUs
WLP002 English Ale

All of the dark grain amounts were doubled, cold steeped and added at 50 minutes.
Mash at 154, single infusion

Water: Black Full from Bru'n Water:  Calcium 44, Magnesium 11, Sodium 27, Sulfate 56, Chloride 69
Mash Ph 5.44
The dark grains were not included in the Bru'n water input because they were added after the mash.
I brewed this on the Zymatic.

The areas that had lower scores were aroma and flavor. It seems to me the cold steep of dark grains might be the culprit.

What things can I do to improve the aroma and flavor? Should I simply add more cold steep liquid? Maybe I shouldn’t cold steep at all. I've picked up some English Chocolate malts to see if that will bump up the flavor and aroma.
Advice would be appreciated.
What am I missing?
 Thanks.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 08:48:31 am by banjo-guy »

Offline RC

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Re: Oatmeal Stout Advice
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2018, 11:00:39 am »
Can you clarify:

1. "All of the dark grain amounts were doubled"...what does this mean? Is this reflected in the percentages already? Why did you double?

2. "The areas that had lower scores were aroma and flavor"...Does this mean not enough roast/coffee aroma and flavor? Or fruitiness from esters? Or...?

~9% roasted grains is--speaking only to my palate here--on the low side for a stout. I use 12-13% and get a great amount of roasted flavor.

How long did you cold steep for? I've never done this but I've read that 12-24 hrs is the suggested timeframe. Perhaps you didn't steep long enough? (I've never steeped because putting the dark grains in the mash has always worked great for me.)

You could also throw in 2-3% brown malt for an extra layer of roast/coffee complexity.

Offline denny

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Re: Oatmeal Stout Advice
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2018, 11:41:15 am »
Can you clarify:

1. "All of the dark grain amounts were doubled"...what does this mean? Is this reflected in the percentages already? Why did you double?

2. "The areas that had lower scores were aroma and flavor"...Does this mean not enough roast/coffee aroma and flavor? Or fruitiness from esters? Or...?

~9% roasted grains is--speaking only to my palate here--on the low side for a stout. I use 12-13% and get a great amount of roasted flavor.

How long did you cold steep for? I've never done this but I've read that 12-24 hrs is the suggested timeframe. Perhaps you didn't steep long enough? (I've never steeped because putting the dark grains in the mash has always worked great for me.)

You could also throw in 2-3% brown malt for an extra layer of roast/coffee complexity.

When you cold steep it's recommended to double the amount of dark grain.

If I was gonna guess, I'd guess the cold steep mellowed put the roastiness too much.  That's why I seldom do it.  I found that it's possible to really diminish the most character.

Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline banjo-guy

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Re: Oatmeal Stout Advice
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2018, 05:49:02 pm »
Can you clarify:

1. "All of the dark grain amounts were doubled"...what does this mean? Is this reflected in the percentages already? Why did you double?

2. "The areas that had lower scores were aroma and flavor"...Does this mean not enough roast/coffee aroma and flavor? Or fruitiness from esters? Or...?

~9% roasted grains is--speaking only to my palate here--on the low side for a stout. I use 12-13% and get a great amount of roasted flavor.

How long did you cold steep for? I've never done this but I've read that 12-24 hrs is the suggested timeframe. Perhaps you didn't steep long enough? (I've never steeped because putting the dark grains in the mash has always worked great for me.)

You could also throw in 2-3% brown malt for an extra layer of roast/coffee complexity.
I have brown malt and coffee malt. It would be interesting to add a little of either or both. I don’t want to get out of the style because I’m brewing this for competition but I would like to try them for my own taste.

1. I doubled the dark grains for the cold steeped dark grains as Denny mentioned. I steeped for 12 hours. I think 24 hours would be better.  I’ve read about cold steeping in various sources including Zymurgy and notably in a Gordon Strong’s book. It is reported to make a smoother dark beer with less chance of extracting tannins. It seems to come at the expense of flavor and aroma.

2. The comments on aroma were about the need for the coffee/roast aroma  to be more apparent. There was also a mention of a coconut aroma and a comment from one of the judges saying he wasn’t sure what caused it.

I’m going to brew this exact recipe but with the dark grains in the mash. When I brew it again I’ll increase the dark grain percentage additions a bit if needed.

I ‘m trying to see if I’m missing something obvious other than the cold steep that I used. Maybe I should try using  Blackprinz.
Thanks for the comments. There is so much expertise on this site . I really appreciate all of the advice.

Offline denny

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Re: Oatmeal Stout Advice
« Reply #4 on: January 01, 2019, 08:40:36 am »
Sometimes you want a bit of a bite to dark beers.  I found cold steeping was smoothing mine out to the point of making them insipid.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Robert

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Re: Oatmeal Stout Advice
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2019, 05:55:54 pm »




When you cold steep it's recommended to double the amount of dark grain.


Denny, is this doubling recommended to get the desired flavor, or is the color extraction reduced?  I'm using cold steeped black malt just for color  --  Sinamar on the  cheap really -- and wonder if I'm calculating the amount I need correctly.  I have some Sinamar ordered so I could do  comparisons between batches and dial in my usage,  but since you already know everything I figured I should just ask.

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