brew #035: overtime oatmeal stout
Returning after the wedding hiatus, I brewed a ‘simple’ session-able oatmeal stout. Essentially a clone of my very successful Unbalanced Breakfast Stout, I wanted to get myself antiquated with the brew day and some new process changes. The temperature controller you see displayed is actually my new fermentation temperature controller, but I was using it as a check (probe is submersible) of my mash temperatures. New this batch is that I didn’t batch sparge! Instead I tried the ‘Sabco’ sparge method. Essentially you just throw the plastic hose discharging the hot liquor tank on the top of the grain bed. As the bed drains, you adjust sparge flow to keep 1-2″ of sparge water on top of the bed. Stop when you have enough for the boil. Simple as that and it worked perfectly, really great numbers from a brew data perspective. I will be using this procedure moving forward!
Ingredients
Fermentables
7 lbs 10 oz Pale Malt (2.0 SRM) 72.6 %
1 lbs 2 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) 10.8 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 9.5 %
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 4.8 %
4.0 oz Black Patent Malt (500.0 SRM) 2.4 %
Hops
2.00 oz Fuggles [4.40 %] – Boil 60.0 – 29.8 IBUs
Misc
1 tablet of whirlfloc
1/2 tsp Wyeast Nutrient Blend
Yeast
Safale US-05
The Brew
Soundtrack: NPR, Rooftops
Brew Beer: New Glarus Black Top
Stats
Batch Size: 6 gal
Mash: 3.25 gal @ 156F [1.25 qt/lbs], ‘Sabco’ Tube Sparge ~5 gal @ 168F
Water adjustment: 1 tsp CaCO3 into mash, 0.25 tsp Gypsum, 0.5 tsp NaCO3, 0.5 tsp Salt
Boil Duration: 60min
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.018
Efficiency: 85%
Est. ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 30 [Tinseth]
Color: 39 SRM
Fermentation: 66F
Carbonation: 2.3 vols CO2
Brewed: 9/10/11
Kegged: 9/24/11
This was a special batch; Jenny auctioned off my brewing skills to raise funds for a charter school her company works with. So not only did we make beer and drink beer, but it was all for a good cause. This Belgian ale is a spin off of a brew I did with buddy 
What a way to cap off the long Memorial Day weekend! This beer was put together in order to prepare for pool parties and hot summer days to come. This is my first take on the American amber style with several new twists and experiments worked in. Notably, this is my first time using both UK Amber Malt and Ahtanum hops as well as the first time employing the first wort hopping technique. Smooth day, even despite chipping my hydrometer (was still usable for at least this brew). Priority next will be to make sure my fermentation temperature control is steady and to get ready to brew up another poolside refresher!
