A Classic Oatmeal Stout

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.

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