Oatmeal IPAs

Jeezus...what's next? Coffee IPAs?

 

Burn Em Brewing's HippoOATamus is darn good. Oatmeal Pale Ale

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but adjuncts add sugars which turn to alcohol, not flavors.

 

... Abrasive.

 

Omnipollo Fatamorgana hasn't been mentioned yet??

 

I agree that it is usually done for the added body, creamy mouthfeel, and head retention due to the proteins it adds to the wort. However, I would not agree that it is "without extra abv." Oatmeal contributes around 1.032 (some sources have slightly different numbers) gravity points as long as the starches are converted with your regular 2-row or other malt. In other words, the starches are convertible and would increase abv in typical usage.

 

Usually when the word adjunct is used it is in reference to rice and corn used by big brewers to make their low-flavor pale lagers*. However, adjuncts are a very broad category of additives that brewers use for a variety of reasons, including improving body (by thickening or thinning), head retention, color, and added flavorings brewers can't get from just malt/yeast combinations. Examples of adjuncts include, oatmeal, rye, wheat, sorghum, candi sugar, honey, molasses, pumpkin, chilis, fruits/vegetables, coffee, spices, etc. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjuncts

And just a minor nitpick on your comment on sugars turning into "alcohol, not flavors." Alcohol does have flavor (hot, fusel, mildly chemical), but it's usually considered an off-flavor for most beers with some exceptions for high ABV styles. Furthermore, more or less alcohol can influence the overall balance of beer's flavor profile, particularly for styles with more subtle flavor profiles.

* - However, the american/euro adjunct lager has a distinct flavor profile, albeit subtle; so in that sense adjuncts are creating flavor, but not the flavor people on these forums usually prefer.

 

Monkey Paw here in San Diego brews an Oatmeal Pale Ale that is phenomenal! I know the thread is Oatmeal IPA but it's hoppier than most IPAs out there, as are all their Pale Ales......

 

Deep Ellum out of Dallas makes their Pale Ale with Oatmeal

 

IMO the proper definition of adjunct is the one detailed by Dr. Charlie Bamforth in the Oxford Companion to Beer. The first sentence of the write-up is: “Adjuncts are alternative sources of extract used to replace a proportion of the malt.”

The terminology of “alternative sources of extract” may be confusing to some but it means that an adjunct needs to provide some fermentables to the wort.

So, of your above list the following ingredients would be consistent with this definition: “oatmeal, rye, wheat, sorghum, candi sugar, honey, molasses, pumpkin,fruit/vegetables”.

The other ingredients you listed do not provide fermentables and they would best be described as being flavorings/spices in my opinion.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-ingredients/flavorings

Cheers!

 

Fair enough. I did some Googling before I posted that and there are plenty of references that supporting a similar definition to yours. I thought maybe some of those sources were being a little narrow in their focus on just fermentables or splitting hairs- either way it's adding something other than malt, hops, water, and yeast that changes the flavor right? But I won't argue about it if that's the accepted definition.

 

I would not necessarily use the word "flavor" in the above sentence. For example, let's consider oatmeal. I brew Oatmeal Stout three times a year (I have a batch bottle conditioning right now) and I add the oatmeal not for its flavor contribution but because it adds a silky mouthfeel to the resulting beer.

I have brewed with rye in the past and I have read where some folks opine that it provides a 'spicy' flavor to the resulting beer but for the times where I used it I was not able to strictly perceive a flavor that I would label as 'spicy'. I would state that it adds some 'complexity' to the beer but I am at a loss to offer up a flavor descriptor for it.

Now the ingredients that I label as flavorings/spice do indeed consistently add a flavor aspect to the beer.

Cheers!

 

Huh, I was under the impression it was used to thicken body without adding extra abv to bump those beers up into pale ale/IPA territory.

 

+1 on equinox!

 

Oats effect body and head retention as well

 

It's not a style.
It's a permutation of an accepted existing variance within a classic and basic brewing fundamental.

Not every description that a brewery puts on their label is a 'style'.

 

other half makes an awesome one: oat junkie

agree that equinox was nice too (apparently didn't rate it).

hill farmstead / grassroots legitimacy is also amazing. i wrote a review but never posted it. oh well.

 

styles are just family resemblances anyway. rough guidelines to help guide learning brewers and curious bar goers. not much else.

 

Yeah, I know they do, but again, that's not considered an effect of an adjunct. As others have pointed out, the definition of an adjunct is an ingredient that provides fermentible sugars.

 

It seem that if the Oats are mashed they do provide fermentable sugars.

http://byo.com/hops/item/1521-topping-off--brewing-with-oats

 

Abrasive is a phenomenon Dipa.

 

Lervig from Norway brews a nice Oatmeal IPA as well.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18604/190577/

 

I don't know man. If you add Molasses or Honey or anything of that sort they all impart different dimensions to a beer. Like a previous poster said. Adjust IMO would be more in line with Corn or Rice, which in turn still add different characters to beer. I'm not sure what your getting at.

 

Tired Hands/Other Half Oat Junkie was pretty damn tasty.

 

Agreed! I'll do you one better though.. SUCKS!

 

Double Oatmeal IPA by Fate Brewing is one of my top 5.

 

I think the term has changed from it's original intent.

Ex. Cereal grains to keep AALs lower in alcohol vs adding chocolate for flavor.

 

I was expecting quite a few responses with SUCKS. That was the first hoppy beer I ever had that incorporated oats in the grain bill.

 

Maybe the closest parallel is Bourbon. IMO a Rye Bourbon isn't so much spicy as it is Sharp. After all Scotch/ Bourbon/ beer all start the same, until distillation. I don't get a flavor profile either , just an addition that is a bit sharp, maybe a bit abrupt on finish. Lol, it's all I got.

 

You are correct...but it also bumps up ABV if mashed with the rest of the grains. I suppose you could mash (steep) it aside from the grains with enzymatic/diastatic power and you could get what you describe, since it can't convert starches on its own.

 

Could just be a palate perception thing. I definitely would characterize the rye addition as adding a spicy flavor, both in my homebrew and in beers such as Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic). Doesn't mean everyone would. I would also characterize high-rye content bourbons (Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, etc) as having a spicier character in relation to their lower-rye content competitors. Flavor perception is a pretty personal thing. Someone who eats Asian food 90% of the time (me) might perceive flavors in beer/wine/liquor differently than someone who eats only Italian food for instance. Doesn't mean anyone is wrong.

 

The brewing industry terminology hasn't changed - but many people misuse the term "adjunct".

 

Should have said lost...

 

How exactly was Sucks not the most mentioned beer on this thread?

 

No one thought salt and caramel sounded good, so why not give it a try?

 

Coffee IPA's are already here dude!!!

 

I second this … very underrated beer

 

fort George makes a really good one!