Hopeless Condition Oatmeal Stout

Classification: stout, oatmeal stout, Guinness clone, partial-mash

Source: Orville Deutchman (orion@mdc.net), HBD Issue #2136, 8/7/96

My buddy, Andy Q, and I have also been looking for the perfect Guiness lookalike. We spent weeks pouring over recipes from all sorts of sources. As we gathered data, there seemed to be some similarities in some of the better looking recipes. Fortunately, for us, many of the references were for partial grain type brews. Here's our recipe for the stout that we like a LOT!

This recipe is the original creation of Orville Deutchman and Andrew Quinzani, and was first brewed at Q-Brew Brewery on June 20, 1996 ( a special day, indeed!). It was the very first attempt at an oatmeal stout, and combined the best suggestions for ingredients and technique from a multitude of sources. It is a partial grain recipe. It was developed as a 6 gallon recipe.

Ingredients: (6 gallons)

1 1/4 pounds of quick (cut and rolled) oats
2 pounds, 6-row pale malted barley
1/2 pound crystal malt
1/4 pound dextrine malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/4 pound roasted barley
4 pounds light diastatic liquid malt extract
4 teaspoons gypsum
1 oz bullion hops
1 oz willamette hops
1/2 oz fuggle hops
1 1/2 packages of ale yeast (Irish)

Procedure:

Place 5 1/2 quarts of water in a pot. Add 2 teaspoons of gypsum, and stir (gypsum won't completely dissolve). Place malted grains (6-row pale, crystal, dextrine, chocolate, and roasted barley) in a grain bag along with 1 1/4 pounds of oats, and place in the pot.

Add heat slowly and carefully to raise the temp to 130 degrees. Hold at 130 degrees for 1/2 hour. Add an additional 3 quarts of warm water (approx 130 degrees) to the pot. (8 1/2 quarts total now) Add 2 pounds of diastatic liquid malt extract, stirring thoroughly, and raise temp to 150 degrees. Hold at 150 degrees for an additional 15 minutes. Stir in the additional 2 teaspoons of gypsum into an additional 2 quarts of water (150 degrees) in a separate pot, and then add to the pot. (10 1/2 quarts <2 1/4 gallons>total water now) Raise the temp to 158 degrees, and hold for 15 minutes. At this point, the extraction process should be complete, so sparge the bags of grain with 1 1/2 gallons of 170 degree water. This brings the total in the pot to 3 3/4 gallons, or 16 1/2 quarts. Remove the pot from the heat and add remaining 2 pounds of diastatic liquid malt extract, and stir well to dissolve. Raise the heat on the pot until a rolling boil is achieved. Add 1 oz bullion hops At 30 minutes into the boil (30 minutes left), add 1 oz willamette hops At 45 minutes into the boil (15 minutes left), add 1/2 oz fuggle hops, and 1/4 teaspoon Irish Moss. Remove any hot break as it develops! At the end of the boil, remove the pot from the stove, and chill with a wort chiller to 110 degrees. Place 1 1/4 gallons (5 quarts) of cold tap water in the 6 gallon primary. Strain wort through previously rinsed grain bag, into the primary, to remove cold break. Check temp to assure that it is near to 72 degrees (not much over 80 degrees). Record temp: Check specific gravity and record: Stir vigorously to incorporate lots of oxygen. Add yeast, and seal with cover and air lock.

After a week or so (maybe less?), transfer to secondary carboy. Record specific gravity: When final gravity is about 1.011-1.015 (a bit higher than some ales...), or when no fermenting is at all present, it is time to keg and enjoy! Record final gravity:

It may be OK to do the initial partial mash by just bringing mash temp up to 150 degrees for 1/2 hour, and then adding 2 pounds of diastatic for 1/2 hour, and then just going to full boil. However, it was felt that closely following the suggestion of Charlie Papazian was prudent for the first try. While he may not even get any of this brew, this recipe was developed at the urging of Mike (Mr. Toast) Landry. The goal was somewhere between Mill City's Oatmeal Stout, and Guiness Stout.

Specifics:

FG: 1.011-1.015