Adding Oats To Stout

[rackemup]

Absolutely it will improve it. Roast Barley is one of the few (if not the only) unmalted grains that doesn't need to be mashed with base malts.

All those can be steeped in hot water (around 70 deg is good) for 30 - 60 mins. Make sure you boil the resulting liquid (not the grains) and make sure you crack the grains first (or buy them cracked)

Crystal will add sweetness and body, chocolate will add roastiness and roast barley will add coffee characteristics. You may need to add a bit of extra hops at certain points in your boil. Don't go overboard though as the kit has a good dose of bitterness - just enough to balance out the grain additions.

Sorry if you already knew this.

thanks! i didnt know that but it sure helps. Any chance of getting rough quantities of how much of each to use with the can and 20ltrs of water? :icon_cheers:

 

[manticle]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=80[/url]

 

[rackemup]

This is a rough guide only but I don't think you will go wrong with:

200 crystal
300 roast barley
100 Choc

Maybe add a bit of extra fuggles hops to the boil (20 grams @ 60)? All very rough but I reckon it will make a nice brew and much better than straight KK

Crack grains and steep in hot water for 30 -60 mins or cold overnight. Strain liquid, boil for 1 hour.

Good article here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=80

I picked up everything i needed from my local hbs and this is what i've done:

1 tin of coopers irish stout
300g roast barley
100g choc malt
200g dark crystal malt
500g dark dry malt extract
300g dex
11.5g US-04 yeast (dry)
I chose not to add any hops this time to see how it turns out ( i'm not a big fan of hoppy beer), it might be bitter enough for my taste as is.
steeped grains @ 65-70 for an hour, then sparged and boiled to kill any nasties,added tin of coopers along with the dex and dry malt, chilled to ~ 30c and added to primary along with water to make total of 22ltr. Aerated well and then pitched the yeast which had been rehydrated in 750 ml water/ldm mix for a couple of hours. It's been sitting overnight and this morning i checked and its happily bubbling away every couple of seconds, no sign of monster krausens i have heard about(just a normal size) this might be due to the cold weather we've been havin( around 15c). Anyway thanks for the advice and i will let you know how it turns out, cheers! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[manticle]

Sounds pretty good. With stouts the flavour is driven by the malt and the hops are mainly for bittering rather than adding a heap of flavour. Because of the amount of malt it can be good to balance it up with a bittering addition but the kit will have a good dose in it already. You'll love the character roast barley gives. I've got a partial stout on at the moment (4kg ale malt + choc + roast barley +crystal grains + extracts + lactose + fuggles& EKG) and it's tasting great out of the fermenter. Can't wait - should be a cracker for the last month or so of winter.

 

[buttersd70]

I never liked stouts before I started HB....yet to brew one myself, but geez I've had some right corkers.

 

[Bribie G]

Coopers were on special at $9 here last month so I bought a heap of stouts and made a partial with 4kg BB ale, roast barley and choc, mashed, plus Fuggles. That by itself would have turned out a nice dry stout but I also tipped in a tin of Coopers and it's turned out really Tasty FES. I'm going to do another one tomorrow and also try some oats for the first time and do it on Ringwood yeast (I note that Ringwood in the UK do a real ale stout) :icon_cheers:

 

[rackemup]

I never liked stouts before I started HB....yet to brew one myself, but geez I've had some right corkers.

I was inspired by the brass monkey stout @ the sail and anchor pub in freemantle,Perth. I'ts the best stout i've ever tried, with great coffee/chocolate aromas and excellent mouthfeel/flavour :icon_drool2:

 

[Bribie G]

I'm doing an oatmeal stout today and chucking in 500 of flaked oats to 2 Kg BB Ale plus roast Barley and, later, a tin of Coopers Stout. I get the impression that rolled oats are steamed first then rolled thus gelatinised, but to be on the safe side I'll turn the oats into porridge first (like I do when I'm mashing polenta or rice).

I'll let you know how I get on with the mash. Does anyone know whether oats kill the head on a stout or not? If so I might go some barley as well.

 

[rackemup]

I'm doing an oatmeal stout today and chucking in 500 of flaked oats to 2 Kg BB Ale plus roast Barley and, later, a tin of Coopers Stout. I get the impression that rolled oats are steamed first then rolled thus gelatinised, but to be on the safe side I'll turn the oats into porridge first (like I do when I'm mashing polenta or rice).

I'll let you know how I get on with the mash. Does anyone know whether oats kill the head on a stout or not? If so I might go some barley as well.

Here is a quote i found on a website -'Oats are rarely used nowadays. The exception is in Oatmeal Stouts, where its inclusion is mainly for nutritional reasons rather that flavour. Oats contain a high percentage of oils which adversely affect the head retention properties of beer.' so it seems the oil in oats could be problem?
What type of sugar do you use to prime your stouts with? i am thinking of using a brown sugar or just dextrose, i have heard of people using black jelly beans and i think this is a great idea so i will definitely prime a couple bottles with them to see how they go.
Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[Bizier]

I will chime in that I think oats are great in beer.
Barret Burston Galaxy Malt is malted to have excess diastatic enzymes, so is a good choice for converting your adjuncts.

And to throw my 2c in, I really prefer to use the lightest extract I can, even for a stout. It means that I can control the roasted flavours, and ensures that they are fresher. So if I am making a K&B dark beer, I will start with a lager or cerveza tin. That goes for dry malt extract as well.

I just use plain table sugar from Aldi to prime, but because dex is cheap (and supposedly clean), I might start using that.

 

[Bribie G]

Thanks for the comments. Now: OATS DISASTER

Grain bill prepared, I went to the pantry and put my hand on the packet of ...............


oat bran :lol: could have sworn it was quick cook oats when I bought it.


So back to plan B and instead I put in 500g of boiled up Polenta. I'm just looking for more complex yummy grain flavours so let's see how it goes.

 

[Bizier]

I would have been keen to hear your results using bran

 

[muckanic]

Grain bill prepared, I went to the pantry and put my hand on the packet of ...............


oat bran :lol: could have sworn it was quick cook oats when I bought it.

It actually makes a fairly decent porridge, so I assume the starch content is reasonably high.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, whole oats have more flavour and the oil is nothing to worry about.

 

[insane_rosenberg]

Grain bill prepared, I went to the pantry and put my hand on the packet of ...............


oat bran :lol: could have sworn it was quick cook oats when I bought it.

Had almost the same thing happen to me. Except when I read the bran pack at the shop I had my wires crossed. I thought it was the germ (which would be good for brewing?).

Oh well. I think I'm going to run with it today. The worst thing that could happen is that I'll make beer.

 

[insane_rosenberg]

Had almost the same thing happen to me. Except when I read the bran pack at the shop I had my wires crossed. I thought it was the germ (which would be good for brewing?).

Oh well. I think I'm going to run with it today. The worst thing that could happen is that I'll make beer.

Tough brew day. Did make beer though.

 

[insane_rosenberg]

I was looking forward to posting back on this thread. It's so rare in my brewing discussion that I can say something with absolute unarguable conviction. I was looking forward to coming back here and saying:

Making a Robust Porter with 15% Oatbran is the shittest idea ever!

And you know what, it really was a shit BIAB day, followed by lots of shit cleaning tasks, including cleaning gluey build up from inside every transfer hose I used between every vessel from the urn to the keg.

But in the end, the beer turned out really nice, and as I'm sitting in the office in Melbourne on this gloomy day, I can't wait to get home and pour myself a pint of that chewy robust goodness.

So next time you dig in the cuboard and come out with oat bran instead of quick oats, give it a try. As long as you don't mind gluey brew days. You might get nice beer.

Hows that for conviction? :icon_cheers:

Edit: spelling