Parti-Gyle Oatmeal Stouts

Oatmeal stout has been a style I have made a yearly tradition with variations in 2014 (plain), 2015 (coffee), and 2016 (coffee and coconut). Something about a full bodied dark beer really hits the spot in the late fall / early winter. This year I decided to return a bit to my original recipe with a tad more crystal 80 malt and a tad less roasted barley than the past couple batches. I did however keep the trend of splitting the batch, this year by doing a parti-gyle with an Imperial(ish) half and a Smoked Session version.

 A little about the thought process and ingredient selection: I had been considering brewing an imperial stout for a while but with just a few months left living on the East Coast I felt that a full batch of high gravity beer would be difficult to consume. On the other hand, while I really enjoy my Oatmeal Stouts I always like experimenting and didn't want a full batch of it. As I've done in the past I determined my target gravity/ABV of each half of the batch, used this simple Parti-Gyle calculator in order to determine the target gravity of the "total batch", then worked backwards to write the "total batch" recipe and estimate percentages for each half, before lastly making adjustments to the smaller half as needed.

The smoked malt was chosen based both off of my last smoked beer and what I had on hand (Applewood smoked malt that I'd received way back at the Baltimore NHC). I also used 3 types of oats (flaked, golden naked, and malt) because I had all of them on hand. The choice to use pilsner malt was also due to having a sack of it, I would probably opt for Maris Otter or a different characterful pale malt were I to do it over.

As I did with my Of Greater Things smoked helles I was able to add the smoked malt to the second "mash" of the Parti-Gyle.

The decision to use Imperial Organic Yeast's A04 Darkness and White Labs 095 Burlington Ale were last minute decisions when at the LHBS due to lack of Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale yeast and their descriptions seeming close to what I was looking for in each.

Both batches took off extremely fast and had blown out their airlocks and were overflowing carboys with krausen within 12 hours. I switched to blowoff tubes and let them keep going for two weeks, at which point each one was exactly at their estimated FG. Primed to have 2.0 volumes carbonation the beers seemed pleasant and promising at bottling.

Imperial Oatmeal Stout:

Appearance - Pours jet black and seemingly opaque with a half finger tan head that quickly fades to a ring. The head retention might be negatively impacted by proteins and oils in the oats and the high alcohol, along with the low carbonation level.

Smell - Dark fruits (cherry, dried cranberry, cabernet sauvignon) and toffee swell as soon as the bottle is opened with notes of toffee, toast, and dark chocolate in the mix and becoming more present as it warms. No distinct hop aromas, but there is a light touch of woodiness and a hint of ethanol booziness.

Taste - Less complex than the aroma with the roast malt dark chocolate character leading with some nice toast and biscuit malt character filling out the rest. Light toffee and fruit characters blend with moderate bitterness (seemingly from both malt and hops) and a warming booziness that leaves a lingering dark chocolate covered raisin meets rum finish.

Mouthfeel - Low carbonation, not bad for style but maybe a touch lower than expected/intended. The mouthfeel is somewhat lighter than the 1.022 finishing gravity would imply with the lingering heat and dryness keeping it from feeling as full bodied as it may otherwise feel.

Overall - This beer got positive reviews at a recent DC Homebrewers meeting with one member asking for the recipe and others praising the balance and complexity, especially as it warmed. While the booziness is a touch higher than I'd like and the carbonation a touch lower I think the beer is a solid offering.

Session Smoked Oatmeal Stout:

Appearance - Almost identical to the Imperial half except for a touch lighter head color.

Smell - Again fruits are big but this time they lean more orchard (apricot/peach and a touch of orange). The smoke melds in as a prominent but not overwhelming (to my senses) component. Baked muffins and a touch of yeasty/fresh dough character also show through. The roast malt seems to be lost. No hop character. No booze apparent.

Taste - Mild smoke blends with light orchard fruit and a finish of semisweet chocolate. There is flavor to the beer but nothing very strong, mild toast, mild currant, mild apricot, mild chimney fire. Finish is equally balanced between low sweetness and a touch of bitterness. Chocolate and toffee come through more as it warms and the beer seems best at fairly warm temps.

Mouthfeel - This beer is more in need of higher carbonation than the imperial version due to the lower body and lack of power in the flavors. The beer comes off as fairly watery and lacking, with just a touch of the creaminess expected from an oatmeal stout. The very long mash and low for the style 1.011 finishing gravity keep it from really feeling like an oatmeal stout, or a stout at all. 

Overall - Perhaps session smoked porter would be more accurate due to the lack of body, but even then this beer would be lacking. There's nothing too offensive about this beer, but there just isn't much of anything to this beer. It's fairly easy to drink, and the smoke is nicely integrated, but this beer would need more oats and more roast to be entertaining at this strength.

General Impressions:

While I'm not in love with either of these beers I'm not unhappy with either as they are both free of off flavors, are balanced and drinkable, and have enough difference to make the split batch worthwhile. I probably would not do this again with these styles but could see doing something similar with either an increased malt addition for the second beer or taking the smaller beer in a completely different direction (Schwarzbier, Black IPA, or Black Saison?). For my next oatmeal stout I intend to use a more characterful base malt, a slight increase in roasted malts, and maybe even a little more caramel or toasted malts.

Hawaiian Breakfast Stout (Oatmeal Stout #3)

My last two oatmeal stouts have been so successful that I've been wanting to brew another one since before the last one even kicked. Batch 2 was still going strong around the time I took a trip to Hawaii and, while my most consumed beer there was actually a hoppy blond, I felt that many of the flavors of breakfast in the islands, including luscious coconut and complex coffee, would go great in my breakfast stout, and Hawaiian Breakfast Stout was born. The recipe is largely a reconstruction of my first attempt at oatmeal stout, with the oak and coffee additions of the second attempt, plus coconut additions that were influenced by The Madfermentationist coconut-vanilla milk stout.

Racking half onto the coffee and coconut.

7/15/16

Brew day. Couldn't get below 80F with immersion chiller, let finish cooling overnight prior to pitching starter of Wyeast West Yorkshire in the morning. Fermentation extremely active within 12 hours.

7/24/16

Fermentation has dramatically slowed but large krausen remains. Added 1 oz medium toast oak cubes.

The Hula Daddy coffee before bagging

8/6/16

The beer is tasting very good. Racked about half to the keg and racked the other half on top of 7 oz of coconut and .75 oz Hula Daddy Red Bourbon Kona coffee. The coconut was bagged coconut slices that had a bit of a rum smell to them but tasted fairly good. They were toasted in a stainless steel pan on medium-low for a little over 10 minutes.

8/9/16

Racked coconut/coffee version to keg. I'm recovering from strep throat so I had a very small tasting and the results from it might not be accurate. Smell had some definite coconut while flavor seemed more the base stout with light coffee.

8/20/16

Finally getting to taste these without a sore throat. Base beer is surprisingly dry and a touch acidic. Hawaiian version is dominated by the coffee with the coconut not really making an appearance. Hopefully a more thorough review to come but next time I would up the amount of coconut, switch to shredded over sliced, and possibly skip the toasting.

Toasting the coconut. Toasting ended up pretty uneven with some pieces getting brown and crispy with a slight bacon-like toasty character while others stayed fairly white and tasted like very mild coconut.

(Coffee) Oatmeal Stout

I was very happy with my last oatmeal stout and with the cold weather coming soon to the area I figured now would be a good time to rebrew it.  While I was very happy with the original it was slightly more berry/fruity and less coffee/roasty than I would have liked. I also currently have a large quantity of American 2-Row that I am using in place of the Maris Otter so a few substitutions were required. To reduce the fruity character I dropped the 4 oz. of Special B and instead upped the Crystal 80 by 2 oz. and switched the yeast from the West Yorkshire strain to WLP002.  To make up for the lack of biscuity character from the Maris Otter  I added a quarter pound of Munich malt and a couple extra ounces of Victory.  Lastly, I slightly increased the roasted barley amount to increase the coffee character that I desire in a stout.  I did make sure to keep the 2 pounds of Oatmeal which seemed to give the original batch a great nutty and silky quality.

I managed to mess up my mash temperature somehow, initially hitting only 146 instead of the 154 I was aiming for. After 10 minutes I added about half a gallon of boiling water to bring it up to 156. I'll be interested in seeing how this affects the attenuation and body of the final beer.

Cooled to 75 F then placed in 65 degree basement and added the yeast.

11/6/15
Racked one carboy to 3 gallon keg. Added .5 oz of medium toast oak cubes to the other carboy, with plans to also add coffee in the future.

11/27/15
Added .25 oz Peet's Major Dickason's Blend and .5 oz Eight O'Clock Coffee Original to the carboy with oak.  Keg kicked of straight version.

11/29/15
Racked to keg at 10 PSI.  Coffee flavor is very strong but not overwhelming in still sample.

Tasting of Coffee Version:

Appearance: Very dark black, almost entirely opaque. Pours with a moderately big head despite the slow exit from the tap. Head is tan and lasts shortly before falling to a foamy covering that sticks around.  Pretty good all around.

Smell: Roast hits the nose first and dominates the aroma with heavy face-in-the-bag-of-coffee-beans character being augmented by a sweet cream-caramel and victory malt toasty/nutty malt characters.  Just a touch of ash that may be from the malts or the heavily roasted coffee.

Taste: Subtler than the nose, the coffee is present but blends smoothly with other roast characters, light creamy caramel, and a moderate to low bitterness.  The coffee character isn't overwhelming but is certainly present.  Oak flavors aren't particularly noticeable, every once in a while I get some definite oak character but it's only just there.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and fairly dry.  The body is a bit lighter than I would like but comes in creamy and goes down easy. I'm not sure if the oatmeal or oak give it the creamy impression despite the dryness or whether that is more a factor of the moderately low carbonation, but it certainly works. The dryness is likely related to the error with the initial mash temp, but it didn't fully sink this beer.

Overall: I can't find too much to complain about in this beer, it's smooth, easy drinking, refreshing, and has just enough coffee and roast to keep things interesting.  While I think the beer could be a little better with Maris Otter instead of 2-row I don't know that I would change anything else about it. If I wanted to give more oak flavor I would probably either double the dosage or contact time, but I don't know that it would necessarily benefit the beer.

The un-oaked, un-coffeed version was enjoyable but without the Maris Otter malt character and a slightly higher attenuation and cleaner yeast profile than the previous batch it came off a tad boring. This version seems to have taken it up a notch without overwhelming the base beer.

#43 - Oatmeal Stout

After a long time off from brewing a dark, malt driven beer I found myself really craving a refreshing, chewy, hearty stout.  I also have been eating a lot of oatmeal recently and really wanted the creamy smoothness and slightly nutty flavor of oats to come through in the finished product.

I based this beer off of the two successful porter/stout beers I have made in the past with some influence from my English pale ale.  The beer is intended to take the middle road between sweet and bitter, but the malt character should definitely be the driving factor.  One other important aspect of this beer is the yeast, Wyeast West Yorkshire Ale. I have wanted to try the strain for a long time and see this beer as an opportune way to build up a culture of it that I can use in anything that could use a bright, peachy yeast presence, from balanced bitters to extremely hoppy double IPAs.

Tasting Notes:

A- Pours with a beautiful big cascading beige head.  Opaque, very dark brown body with some noticeable yeast and hop residue at the bottom.

S- The stonefruit notes of the yeast lead with pear and peach.  There are also some mild roast notes of toast, nuts, and just a touch of dark chocolate.  Pretty much exactly what I want a stout to smell like.

T- Starts with light sweetness, toast and nuttiness, followed by some dark chocolate roast and a moderately bitter finish.  The fruit of the nose is much more subdued, just barely coming through.

M- Slick and creamy, while a little low on the carbonation (the gas disconnect was not properly attached initially so this may have been slightly rushed).  I can still get behind a lightly carbonated stout.

O- Very happy with this one.  While I would have liked more coffee character it is still an oatmeal stout where the oatmeal and roast both come through without being overly strong to make this anything more than an easy, cold weather drinker.  I'm also very happy with the yeast character as it stands out, without dominating or calling too much attention to itself.

Updates:
10/18/2014
Brewed on stove top.  OG of 1.052, a little odd tasting at this point, though maybe I just don't remember what a stout wort should taste like.

10/21/2014
Fermentation has slowed dramatically.  Gravity down to 1.022; hopefully it will keep dropping over the next few days.  Taste is good: a bit biscuity, grainy, and nutty with a definite oat slickness and a touch higher bitterness than expected.

10/25/2014
Gravity still reading at 1.022.  8 ounces of maple syrup added, hopefully this will ferment and rouse the yeast.  The beer might not attenuate any further due to the high mash temp and large amount of oatmeal.

11/1/2014
My inaugural kegging. Set force carbonation to 30 psi to quickly carb for dispensing in a couple days.

11/3/2014
Poured a tiny sample, gas disconnect seems to have not been fully attached.  Will re-attach and begin force carbonation over.