I finally ventured into the wonderful world of stouts!
When drafting this recipe, I wanted to create a good base stout recipe that I could use to build upon for other variations moving forward (oak aging, imperial stouts, etc.). I went with an oatmeal stout, because I like the flavor and body the oats impart into the beer, and I wanted to maintain a bit of residual sweetness with the final product.
Here’s the recipe:
McNerney’s Oatmeal Stout
Brew date: 3/30/14
Bottle date: Unknown
Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5 gal
Target OG: 1.060
Estimated Conversion Efficiency: 65%
Actual OG: 1.054
Actual FG: 1.010
Actual Conversion Efficiency: 63.9%
ABV: 5.96%Fermentables (% of GUs contributed):
80% American 2-Row (9.081 lb)
8% Crystal 40 (1.090 lb)
6% Toasted Oatmeal (0.748 lb)
4% Roasted Barley (0.738 lb)
2% English Chocolate (0.271 lb)Hops:
0.5 oz. – Williamette raw hops, AA: 5.7% (75 min)
0.75 oz. – UK East Kent Golding raw hops, AA: 6.6% (60 min)
0.25 oz. – UK East Kent Golding raw hops, AA: 6.6% (30 min)
0.5 oz. – Williamette raw hops, AA: 5.7% (30 min)Finings:
None for this batch.
Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale (washed from batch #12)
Directions
Mash at 154F for 60 minutes. Mash out, lauter, and batch sparge to collect about 6 gallons of wort. Boil for 75 minutes. Cool and pitch yeast and ferment at optimum temperature (60F) for two to four weeks. Decrease temperature to 40F to cold crash for one additional week. Bottle or keg condition, and enjoy while fresh.
Taste Notes
Aroma (8 of 12) – Sweet, creamy malt aroma. Light notes of coffee. Roasted grain aroma low.
Appearance (3 of 3) – Very dark w/ deep copper edges. Near black, with persistent tan head.
Flavor (12 of 20) – Coffee flavor from the malt comes through in the beginning, and mellows quicky. Sweetness comes through, but finishes with a slightly salty aftertaste. This may be attributed to my home water softener… Medium to low carbonation.
Mouthfeel (4 of 5) – Creamy, smooth body. Medium-full substance.
Overall Impression (7 of 10) – Overall very good. Missing roasted malt character, and would like to emphasize oats more by modifying water profile.
Total score: 34 of 50
Next time my goals will be to (1) improve the water profile, (2) use a bit more roasted barley, (3) use golden oats, rather than standard rolled oats, (4) use a British ale yeast, likely S-04, and (5) increase the O.G. slightly for greater body and ABV.
Competition Entry
I entered this beer in the 2014 Hogtown Brewoff and received a score of 30.5 (link to scoresheet).
Here are the highlights…
Aroma (6.5 of 12) – Both judges noted fruity esters and low roasted character.
Appearance (2 of 3) – Dark with good clarity, and good head retention. All positive comments — not sure why I was dinged a point…
Flavor (12.5 of 20) – Sweet malt and chocolate flavors the most noted. Some mention of hop flavor, and fruity yeast esters.
Mouthfeel (3 of 5) – Needs greater body, as well as more predominant oats character.
Overall Impression (6.5 of 10) – Presented as a reserved oatmeal stout. Needed more roast and oat character, greater body, and ABV.