Oatmeal Coffee Stout feedback

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by CShell1234, Nov 8, 2018.

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  1. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    Looking for any tips or suggestions on a stout I am trying to design.

    5 gallons
    12 lbs 2-row
    2 lbs flaked oats
    1 lb crystal 60
    1 lb chocolate malt 350
    1 lb roasted barley 300
    .5 lb crystal 20
    *added the 20L because it’s already crushed and figured I should use it

    1 oz nugget at 60
    1 oz willamette at whirlpool

    I have US-05 and WLP001 in the fridge right now but I could always get something that might work better

    Distilled water with
    5g calcium chloride
    5g gypsum
    2g sodium bicarbonate

    Aiming for around 7%

    Low to medium-low sweetness, pronounced coffee and roast, but obviously not astringent or ashy, very low to no dark fruit flavors.
    Is the roasted barley and/or chocolate malt over the top?
    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Looks good, I use notty for my oatmeal but 05 should be fine.
     
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  3. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    Is it true you don’t need a starter for dry yeast? Or should you still make one over a certain OG?
     
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Dry Yeast isn't magic. You still need to pitch an appropriate amount of viable cells for the gravity and volume of wort. If the amount of dry yeast you have isn't adequate, you can either make a starter or pitch more than one pack. (The latter is typical with dry yeast, because it's relatively inexpensive.) The reason people often say you don't need a starter with dry yeast is that dry yeast packets typically come with a higher cell count than most liquid yeasts. But you should still be aware of what you're pitching and adjust if necessary. There are a few yeast calculators out there to make the math easy.
     
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  5. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    A quick run of the grain bill and US-05 through BrewCipher suggests "If No Starter, use 1.5 Vials/Packs". It also shows a Predicted ABV of 8.6% if mashing 60 min @ 152°.
     
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  6. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    What is the efficiency set at? My first batch came in at only about 60%, so until I know I’ve got my efficiency dialed in, I’m going to calculate on the low side... that’s where I got 7%, and I figure I’ll be pleasantly surprised if I get anything above that
     
  7. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    72%. Lowering it to 60% returns the same 7% you got.
     
  8. EvenMoreJesus

    EvenMoreJesus Initiate (0) Jun 8, 2017 Pennsylvania

    x2
     
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  9. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    Speaking of my (in)efficiency... I’m doing BIAB with a “sparge” and by that I mean, I have a 10 gallon kettle and a plastic bucket, so after the mash I am putting the bag into to bucket and pouring water over top and letting it soak for a few minutes. Without too much more equipment is there a better way to “sparge”, and if this is an acceptable way of doing things, how long should I let the grains steep?
     
  10. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Where's the coffee in your Oatmeal Coffee Stout?! You ignore it in your original post.

    I've never brewed a coffee beer before so I have no experience to make any comments, but plenty of other folks in this forum have expressed a myriad of opinions about how to get that flavor into a beer. In case you don't have experience either, here's a link to a search of thread titles that use 'coffee' in the wording, and it produces a myriad of posts on the topic. Good luck with your methodology decision. :slight_smile:
    https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/68095978/?q=coffee&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8
     
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  11. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You're basically doing a batch sparge. It will increase your mash efficiency compared to a full volume BIAB mash. At the time you're doing this sparge, conversion has already (hopefully) been completed, so there's no reason to let the grains "steep" from an efficiency standpoint. As soon as the sparge water and the grains have been thoroughly mixed, you can start draining. The exception would be if you are intentionally doing a mash out, i.e. adding water that's hot enough to raise the overall temp to about 168-170F, in order to lock in the wort's sugar/dextrin profile. In that case, I'd let it sit for about 10 minutes.

    ETA: you asked about a "better" way to sparge. Well, there's Fly Sparging, which is more efficient, but does not make better beer. But I can't think of a way to do this with BIAB.
     
  12. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    Ha! That’s because I’m not sure if it’s needed or not. The roast and chocolate should impart some coffee flavor and I think I’m going to wait till it’s ready to drink to see if it needs more, and if so I’m thinking I’ll add some cold brew
     
  13. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Two notes. #1 it's helpful to start looking at your recipes in terms of % per ingredient. That way it doesn't matter what size batch you're doing, you know that you only want to put so much of a certain something in.

    #2 is that I feel the best way to do coffee is with a cold brew. You can google that for more info. and instructions but make sure you use a medium roast coffee. A lighter roast will not give you what you want, and a darker roast can give you harsh acidic notes.
     
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  14. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Breaking it down into percentages this is what I get:
    70.58% 2-Row
    11.76 Flaked Oats
    5.88% Crystal 60L
    5.88% Chocolate 350L
    5.88% Roasted Barley 300L (can that be right?)

    I left out the Crystal 20 as that's just an add on.

    Given those percentages I'd say you're low on base malt and high on dark malts. I generally don't go much past 5.0% on roasted barley - although you can, and I try to keep chocolate around the same. I know it's easier to weight in solid increments but that doesn't necessarily make the best beer. I'd say you need @ 3 % more base malt.

    One more question... why just 2-row and not pale? Or by 2-row do you mean pale? I'm thinking of Briess Brewers 2-Row malt which is a little lighter in flavor and color. Also, on the other end, I see no need to use something richer like Maris Otter in a dark beer.
     
  15. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Do you mean the 300L part? If so, the grain Briess sells as Roasted Barley is 300L.
     
  16. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Exactly. I generally use Bairds which is 550.

    I should probably note, I am not a fan of Briess Malts.
     
  17. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    So on Brewcipher it tells me ~6.5 gallons of strike water and ~2 gallons of sparge water. Does this sound right for the method or do I need to change some parameters?
     
  18. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You can set the mash water to grain ratio to whatever you want. The logic will then direct the rest of the total water needed to the sparge. The most efficient mash and batch sparge is where the runoff from each step is equal. Others can tell you whether that's practical with BIAB. I suspect it's not, but I don't do BIAB.
     
  19. CShell1234

    CShell1234 Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2018 New York

    Well I’m much too new to this to really know one variety from another, but I have seen the 550, and I figured that might be too intense, certainly at 1 pound (or 6%)... as I said in my original post, I thought the 2 dark malts might possibly be slightly high
    And yes, I was trying to make things easier with whole numbers, mostly just so I don’t have random little bits of specialty malts sitting around
     
    #19 CShell1234, Nov 8, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2018
  20. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    And there are professional brewers who only use full increments of 50 or 55#'s because that's what their bags of grains come in. Do you think that those are the best brewers? Exactly.

    As for the 550L vs. 300L, I'll say you'll learn. It just takes time. I do an Imperial stout that's more on the soft side that uses lighter grains and it works, but it's a different beer than most people think of when they hear Imperial Stout. In the same way, many people find Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout to be too fruity, so who knows? And I should also point out, that you're planning on adding coffee which adds roastiness. Why don't you stick with what you've got and see how it comes out? That's the best way to learn. None of my recipes are ever done until they've been brewed again and again and I've made enough changes to them that I'm happy with them. It's very rare that you hit the nail on the head the very first time.

    Best of luck with it.
     
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