Oatmeal Stout

[eviltree]

Going to be brewing this today:
5kg Marris Otter
300g porridge oats
250g crystal
300g chocolate malt
100g roasted barley
25g Nelson sauvin @ start of boil (as they're the only hops I have)

Going to be doing a rest at 45 deg C with 500g of MO & the oats. Adding that to the mash after 20 min rest. Using safale S04 because the wyeast hasn't arrived yet.

Any tips/comments would be appreciated.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. must get started
Will post pics when/if I figure out how.

[philbyford]

Looks good to me.

I have just finished my first oatmeal stout and am pleased with it. My grain bill was similar, but with a total grist of 5kg. However I did fall a few points short on my pre-boil gravity so I think you have the right idea. I used flaked (porridge) oats straight in the mash. You don't necessarily need to steep them first because they are only a small amount. I used 30g challenger (8.7% AA) for boiling hops and a flame out addition of 11g of challenger and goldings each. I have not used nelson sauvin before so can't comment much, this is definately a malt forward beer so any late additions have to be minimal, especially with any fruity hop. I used the wyeast 1187 ringwood which works well with this beer style, but S04 will have a similar profile. In fact when comparing my oatmeal stout to Samuel Smiths it was the yeast character that I noticed was different. Samuel Smiths had a more fruity ester character which was nice. My fermentation was all done in primary, 4 weeks and then 4 weeks conditioning. I did read that this style can suffer from oxidisation, but I never found it a problem. Hope it goes well!

[Barley Water]

I just put my version of an Oatmeal Stout into my keggorator this last weekend. I used way more instant oatmeal in the grist, about 15% if I remember correctly. Of course, I wasn't trying to clone anybody's beer which allowed to to sort of "do my thing". The commerical guys don't like messing with oats because they can cause laudering problems but of course us homebrew types don't labor under that constraint. I also added the chocolate and roasted barley after the main mash to try and keep the astringency down and yeah, it worked (added during the recirculation, about 10 minutes and I recirculate with a pump). I'm happy with the way the beer came out, it is pretty much a meal in a glass which is what I was after. I also used the Ringwood strain by the way.

[6470zzy]

My fermentation was all done in primary, 4 weeks and then 4 weeks conditioning. I did read that this style can suffer from oxidisation, but I never found it a problem. Hope it goes well!

8 weeks in the FV is a bit on the long side, if you have a second FV you might want to consider using it as a secondary so that you don't end up with autolyzed yeast. Just my own opinion

Cheers

[sub82]

Going to be doing a rest at 45 deg C with 500g of MO & the oats. Adding that to the mash after 20 min rest. Using safale S04 because the wyeast hasn't arrived yet.

We've brewed oatmeal stouts with and without this rest and definitely reckon it helps the creaminess. Nelson Sauvin hops sounds interesting!

[eviltree]

Yes, I usually use 5kg base malt as standard as I buy 25 kilo sacks and want to get through them quickly. Thought quite a bit about adding more oats as a percentage but didn't want the dreaded "stuck sparge". Tried to go for 23l in the fermenter but ended up with 20. Don't think I sparged enough.

As Barley Water said, I tend to do my own thing too. Sort of make up recipes as I go or tweaking others. Not too bothered about getting target gravity etc, I'm just doing it to learn, have fun and reap the beery rewards. Do tend to take notes but you know what it's like when you and your brewing assistant have a few during the process.

So anyway, I checked the gravity of this the other day and it's at 1.020. The initial fermentation happened very quickly, with the krausen dropping within 3 days. Never having used s-04 before I cannot confirm if this is normal. I have seen a few posts with people having problems with it. The taster from the sample was promising. Will update soon.
Cheers

[Deebee]

From my experience S04 is a monster. starts fast, ferments fast, drops fast and sticks like s to the proverbial blanket in the fv and bottle.