BeerBorg

I've got a good stable of recipes down that I like - a Moosedrool clone, Bell's Best Brown clone, the two White House brews (Honey Porter and Honey Ale), and a nice red. I brewed an Oatmeal Stout and while it was ok, it wasn't great. I'm looking to tweak it. And it's an extract recipe that I would be doing.

7.2 lbs of LME
1 lb of Crystal 120
1 lb of Chocolate
1 lb of Roasted
1 lb of Flaked Oats

1 oz of Challenger at 60 and 1 oz of EKG at 5. S-04 yeast.

I guess what I'm looking for is two things. First, I wanted more mouthfeel, more "silken". Note that I cannot use lactose, as I'm lactose intolerant, so I don't want to head towards a milk stout (I assume that would be more mouthfeel). Second, it's a little "harsh". While I know it's going to be harsher than my browns, or even the Porter, I'm thinking I want to take the edge off a bit.

This would be like a 9 - 12 month supply, so I don't want to screw it up

In looking at some recipes, I noted a few things:

1) The recipe I made has twice the Roasted Barley in it that others do. Since it provides a coffee and burnt flavor, it's probably the burnt that I'm noting, so if I cut it back to 1/2 pound that would lessen it.

2) A bunch of recipes use Crystal 60 instead of 120. That would sweeten it up.

3) One recipe used 18 oz of flaked oats.

Other suggestions?

I would second the increase in flaked oats to the 18 ounce level. I would think that would help improve the mouthfeel that you looking for.

I have to wonder if all three of the crystal, chocolate and roasted malt together is what is giving you the harshness. All three of those are highly kilned. And you have 3 pounds total. I have to wonder if you really need all that much. A small amount of the chocolate and roasted will surely get the black color your looking for.

What if you decrease the chocolate and roasted to 1/2 pound each, increase the LME to stay at the OG your looking for, then sub out the 120 for the 60 as you mentioned. The reduction in the two dark malts may also let the increased amount of flaked oats come through too.

Just some thoughts for you.

Yeah, some of the recipes I have use 3 oz of Chocolate, this is a pound, and 2 oz of Roasted. Going with 1/2 pound of each, and the 18 oz of Oats, seems logical.

That was also the first thing that popped out at me was the amount of dark grains. If it were ME, the only thing I would keep at 1 lb would be the Oats. I would assume a 5 gal batch? I think a half pound of both Chocolate and RB should be plenty and it might ease up the acrid roast notes (harshness). Personally I like to use Crystal 40 in dark beers like Porters and Stouts, the sweetness of the lighter Crystal malt helps make the Roast malts sweeter and more toasty rather than burnt and roasty, coming off more like Chocolate and sweetened coffee. I would suggest some C-40, C-60 or C-80. The darker Crystal is used more sparingly and adds heavy caramel notes with dark fruit (which I'm sure you already know) but when paired with Roasted malts, I always felt those dark crystal malts seem to deepen the roast character/complexity.

As far as the Oats, I know they say they are steepable, but just like a lot of things you get the most impact if they are mashed. But I think if you want to increase the mouthfeel maybe add some Carapils along with the oats. Some also toast the oats in the oven, it helps bring out a different character. I think the S-04 is fine, I just try to keep it around 66*. When I use it with darker beers when I brew all grain I always mash warm with that yeast. Since you can't do that, the Carapils might be a big help. Anymore oats that that might actually be contradicting to the body and mouthfeel.

The recipe looks good and I think you answered your own questions basically. I think the amounts just need tweaking, maybe not so much the ingredients.

Thanks for the ideas. Used to use Carapils all the time with refills, then stopped when I was doing these 5 gallon recipes, I think only one called for it.

Here's what I ended up making:

8.1 lbs of LME (I bought two batches of LME, 7.2 each, and he was not paying attention so I put 7.2 in my Red and the extra in here)
1 lb of Crystal 60 instead of 120
1/2 lb of Chocolate instead of a pound
1/2 lb of Roasted instead of a pound
1.5 lbs of Flaked Oats instead of a pound
0.5 lbs of Carapils (addition)

1 oz of Challenger at 60 and 1 oz of EKG at 5. S-04 yeast.

Grain bags, probably due to the Oats, soaked up a lot of water, and the oatmeal, carapils and lower water resulted in a thicker wort than normal (I start with 2.5 gallons, do my steep, add the LME, boil, ... I only got 1.5 gallons instead of the usual 2, made a note next time to add 1/2 gallon after removing the grains.)

OG was 1.062 @ 57 degrees and smelled very nice.

We'll see how it tastes.

What kind of chocolate did you use? I would like to try making a chocolate stout based on an extract recipe. Not gonna mess with it too much, would like to add chocolate and maybe coffee flavor.

Chocolate Malt.

.5 lb of in what 2 - 2.5 gallons? If so, wow, I use that in a 5 gal of my Cincy Common, it's got a SRM of 25. Yours must be what, like 35?

Mine is 5 gallons.

yeah I saw that on the other site. I was having problems staying on this forum last night every few min loose connection with the page. Or I'd've re-posted here.

a little something from How to Brew:

"Oatmeal 1 L Oats are wonderful in a porter or stout. Oatmeal lends a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a creaminess to a stout that must be tasted to be understood. Oats are available whole, steel-cut (i.e. grits), rolled, and flaked. Rolled and flaked oats have had their starches gelatinized (made soluble) by heat and pressure, and are most readily available as "Instant Oatmeal" in the grocery store. Whole oats and "Old Fashioned Rolled Oats" have not had the degree of gelatinization that Instant have had and must be cooked before adding to the mash. "Quick" oatmeal has had a degree of gelatinization but does benefit from being cooked before adding to the mash. Cook according to the directions on the box (but add more water) to ensure that the starches will be fully utilized. Use 0.5-1.5 lb. per 5 gal batch. Oats need to be mashed with barley malt (and its enzymes) for conversion."