• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fermenting for Foodies

Health, Taste and Tradition

  • Types of Fermentation
  • Everyday Recipes
  • Fermentation Supplies

A Classic Oatmeal Stout

How to brew a classic oatmeal stout with five flavour options
How to brew a classic oatmeal stout with five flavour options
Homemade espresso oatmeal stout recipe
Homemade espresso oatmeal stout recipe

There is something about winter that demands warmth and comfort, hearty flavours and earthiness. It is the perfect season for brewing a nice dark oatmeal stout. 

This recipe assumes that you have basic experience with homebrewing. If this is your first time brewing beer, then I recommend reading all about how to brew beer at home. It goes over everything from what equipment you need, to the ingredients and the basic techniques.

This recipe uses a combination of malt extract and malted grains. This is because dark beers require more malt to achieve the higher alcohol levels and deep taste and colour. In an average homebrewing mash tun there just isn’t enough space to hold all the grain required to make a good strong wort.

Flavouring Stout

The best part of homebrewing is experimenting with flavour. Anyone who drinks craft beers knows that beer now comes in all sorts of wonderful flavours… everything from chocolate to gingerbread.

There are two ways of adding flavours: during the boil or during the secondary fermentation. Personally, I like adding flavours during the secondary fermentation because:

  1. You only have to commit one carboy to each flavour, which allows you to experiment.
  2. Boiling flavours can reduce their potency.
  3. The primary fermentation can also reduce the potency of flavourings.

The only trick to adding flavours during secondary fermentation is that there is a risk of contaminating the beer with outside yeasts and bacteria. Rinsing the flavours for 30 seconds should be enough to remove most of the surface bacteria and yeasts. In addition, the alcohol levels of the stout will help to prevent contamination.

Here are some flavours that go well in a stout:

  • Coffee: Brew a strong shot of espresso (or extra-strength coffee). Add 1/2 cup of espresso per gallon of stout when transferring to the secondary fermentor.
  • Chocolate: Add 2 tbsp of chopped cocoa nibs or cocoa powder per gallon of stout.
  • Fruit: Prunes, raisins and dried cherries complement the rich flavours of stout. Only add 2 prunes or 1 tbsp of raisins to 1 gallon of stout. You don’t want to introduce too much extra sugar because it will restart the fermentation.
  • Vanilla: Add 1 or 2 whole vanilla beans to a gallon stout. Split the vanilla beans in half before adding them to the carboy.
  • Spiced: Add 1 1/2 tsp of ground spices per gallon of stout. For gingerbread use an equal mix of ginger and cinnamon. For chia use ginger, cinnamon, cloves and anise.
How to brew a classic oatmeal stout with five flavour options
Print

Classic Oatmeal Stout

Homebrewed oatmeal stout with a mix of whole grains and malt

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Oatmeal stout is earthy and rich. This simple recipe is a perfect base for experimenting with flavour. See the section above for adding fruit, spice, chocolate or coffee.

  • Author: Emillie
  • Prep Time: 2 hours
  • Cook Time: 1.5 hours
  • Total Time: 51 minute
  • Yield: 18 Litres 1x
  • Category: Beverages
  • Method: Brewing
  • Cuisine: European
Scale

Ingredients

  • 5.2 lbs light malt Extract
  • 1.2 lbs Pale 2-row malt
  • 0.8 lb. flaked oats
  • 0.4 lb. wheat malt
  • 0.6 lb. roasted barley
  • 0.2 lb. chocolate malt
  • 0.6 lb. crystal malt
  • 1 ounce Northern Brewer hops
  • Wyeast #1084 Irish ale yeast
  • 3/4 cup dextrose (to prime the carbonation)

Instructions

  1. Heat 4 gallons of water to 71C. Pour over grains and malt in the mash tun and allow to steep for 45 minutes.
  2. Drain wort and rinse grains with another 1 gallon of water at 70C (there should be about 5 gallons of liquid in your brew pot.
  3. Add in the malt extract and bring to boil.
  4. Once boiling add hops and maintain the boil for 60 minutes.
  5. Cool to 20C and pitch yeast.
  6. Ferment at approx. 19C for 1 week.
  7. Rack for secondary fermentation (add in flavours at this point) and ferment for 1 more week before bottling.
  8. Mix the dextrose into the beer and bottle.
  9. Allow beer to mature at room temperature for another 4 weeks. Enjoy!

Notes

  • The inspiration for this recipe comes from Beer Recipes.org with some adaptations to suit our smaller boiling pot.

Keywords: beer, stout, coffee, chocolate, prunes, raisins, vanilla bean, ginger, chai, cinnamon, homebrew

Filed Under: AlcoholTagged With: Beer

Previous Post: « Turkish Chickpea Stew with Kale and Eggs
Next Post: Perfect Gluten-free Sourdough Buns »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

Fermenting for beginners - the best recipes for newbies
Fermenting For Beginner’s – Where You Should Start?
Learn how to use a hydrometer to calculate alcohol levels in homemade beer, wine and cider.
How to Use a Hydrometer
Sourdough kvass is a delicious, lightly alcoholic beverage that only takes 1 week to make.
Traditional Sourdough Kvass

Homebrewing ingredients - malt extract, malted grain and liquid malt
Homebrewing Ingredients
Beer making process - A step by step guide from sparging to bottling
The Beer Making Process: A Step By Step Guide
Brewing equipment - Mash tun, carboys, airlocks and more
Homebrewing Equipment and Supplies

Comments

  1. Travis Sutherland

    May 10, 2019 at 8:18 pm

    We tried the coffee flavour, worked out just right; not coffee enough to notice but complimented the beer nicely. We were worried about getting the batch down in temperature quick enough (we made it in the summer and had to babysit it throughout the night since it was way above average temp where we were), but this beer was quite forgiving.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      May 10, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      Not cooling quickly enough does add risks. Glad it worked out for you!

      Reply
  2. Prashant

    May 18, 2020 at 10:44 am

    I made all the Malts from wheat. Couldn’t get the color. In the end the wart isn’t clear and there is a lot of segregation at the bottom. I have pitched the yeast and now waiting for the result. Is it common (segregation at the bottom, starch probably) or I did some major mistake?

    Reply
    • Prashant

      May 18, 2020 at 10:46 am

      Wort*”

      Reply
    • Emillie

      May 18, 2020 at 2:05 pm

      Did you make your own malted grain? Also, beer is typically made with malted barley because it just has the right combination of starch and enzymes. However, I’m not sure about segregation. Do you mean sediment? That could be the hops, though it typically floats. Regardless, sediment shouldn’t be an issue as you’ll rack it a few times before bottling. Good luck!

      Reply
  3. Brad

    June 4, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    Quick question:

    I see that this recipe uses both grain and malt extract, which makes me think its some sort of hybrid between all-grain and extract brewing. In this case, is the grain used only for flavoring, or do you mash it and use it to contribute to the overall sugar content of the mash?

    Looking forward to trying this recipe soon 🙂

    Reply
    • Brad

      June 4, 2020 at 12:17 pm

      *sugar content of the wort

      Reply
    • Emillie

      June 5, 2020 at 7:29 am

      The grain definitely contributes to the sugar content. However, the smaller mash tun accessible to most homebrewers is not large enough to get the full required sugar from the grain for a stout. This hybrid recipe aims for the flavour of wholegrain beer while using the malt extract to boost the sugar content for stout. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        June 26, 2020 at 4:59 pm

        Makes sense, thanks for the response.

        Reply
  4. Joshua

    November 14, 2020 at 6:39 am

    I love the look of this! Would anyone be willing to share their target gravity with me (or any other notes from the brew log)? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Emillie

      November 14, 2020 at 6:29 pm

      Sorry, just checked my book of brewing notes, and I don’t have it. I’m not really great at remembering to test specific gravity. Maybe someone else will share?

      Reply
  5. Luke Shearer

    December 6, 2020 at 9:27 am

    Hey I’m looking to try this recipe and was wondering what the original gravity usually is for you. Maybe you said above and I just missed it?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      December 7, 2020 at 10:52 am

      I’m sorry! I’m really bad at remembering to check… even more so with brewing because we tend to do it with friends and forget. It should be around 1.06 and finish at 1.01. Please let me know if you remember to check. I would love to include that detail in the recipe. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        January 6, 2021 at 7:32 pm

        No problem! I just bottled and my numbers were 1.051 to 1.012. I typically struggle to hit OG though so I wouldn’t be surprised if it really should be coming in closer to 1.060. Thanks

        Reply
        • Emillie

          January 7, 2021 at 1:48 pm

          Thanks for sharing!

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Emillie, an island dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed feed your microbiome.
Read More →

Related Posts

How to make alcohol - beer, wine, cider and more
How to Make Alcohol: Beer, Wine & Cider

How to sanitize for homebrewing - How to brew beer at home
How to sanitize for homebrewing

Sourdough kvass is a delicious, lightly alcoholic beverage that only takes 1 week to make.
Traditional Sourdough Kvass

Homemade plum wine, cider, brandy
Homemade Plum Wine

Banner gif 320x250

Affiliate Disclosure

In order to run this site, Fermenting For Foodies sometimes earns an affiliate commission on the sales of products we link to. We only feature items we genuinely want to share, and this is an arrangement between the retailer and Fermenting For Foodies. Readers never pay more for products. Thank you for reading!

a stream
Interested in more recipes, DIY projects or outdoor adventures? Check out my Pacific Northwest lifestyle blog: Berries & Barnacles. It celebrates the simple, healthy and sustainable.
  • Terms and Conditions
  • About

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress