Pints: Stout #2 (Oatmeal)

I like stouts...and I like oatmeal stouts.  Why not make one?  I needed to build up my Wyeast 1968 to save anyway.  I also wanted to try using coconut sugar in a brew; its light coconut and heavy caramel flavor seemed like it would compliment a stout.  I kept the recipe similar to my first stout, substituting the rye for flaked oats.  The LHBS only had pale chocolate malt though, which left this batch a little lighter than the last.  Overall, I think it was a good batch, definitely room for improvement and tweaking though.

Sweet, delicious wort

A small glass of the finished product

NOTES

• Malt:
  • 4.25# Maris Otter
  • 1/2# Flaked oats
  • 1/4# Dehusked Carafa 3
  • 1/4# Pale Chocolate Malt
  • 1/4# Caramel 120L
• Hops:
  • 1/2oz Fuggles @ 45 minutes
  • 1/2oz East Kent Goldings @ 30 minutes
  • 1/2oz Fuggles @ 5 minutes
  • 1/2oz East Kent Goldings @ 5 minutes
• Sugar:
  • 1 cup Coconut Palm Sugar
• Yeast:
  • London ESB Ale Wyeast 1968 (1 pack)
• Water:
  • City water treated with Campden

~35 IBUs
Mash at 153F for 60 minutes
70% efficiency assumed.

1/24/2016: Brew Day.
51.5f at 9:27AM
153f at 10:42AM
Boil started at 12:03PM
Rolling boil at 12:39PM
Dumped into fermentor at 2:16PM
Brix at 13.2 after mash. Forgot to mash out...doesn't seem to have caused any problems though.  Added 1 cup of coconut palm sugar as it was coming up to a boil.  During cooling the drill pooped out because I forgot to recharge it from the day before.  Was able to run icewater through the chiller for about 5 minutes.  That should have gotten the temperature below 170F at least.  Cooled in a water batch the rest of the time.  Gravity is 1.062 @ 75F, so efficiency was better than expected.  Added fermcap as well.  Aerated with the immersion blender until volume per foam was increased by a quart.  Wort doing into the fermentor had a great flavor... chocolate caramel.

1/25/2016: vigorous fermentation stated overnight.  Fermcap that was just added on top of the aeration foam seems to be working well...

1/28/2016:  gravity is 1.02. Added 1/2 tsp of fermax dissolved in water to give it a boost.

2/1/2016:  gravity is 1.02.  Gave it a swirl to rouse the yeast.

2/5/2016: gravity is unchanged

2/7/2016: kegged with a bit of sugar

2/12/2016:  put on gas

2/25/2016: tasting
Appearance:  dark brown, not quite black.  Tan head that quickly falls away, but leaves lacing.
Smell: cacao, slight caramel and alcohol.  Some roastiness
Mouthfeel: full mouthfeel with maybe a bit too much carbonation.  Somewhat dry.  Not creamy.
Taste:  very little bitterness or astringency. Some dark chocolate and roast flavor.  Bit of burnt sugar.  Hops are not obvious.  Maybe a hint of caramel.

3/20/2016:  sidenote, boilermaker with kraken rum is excellent.

3/29/2016:  keg kicked.  242oz served.